Page 13 - SFHN1218pagesFINALSP.qxp_Page layout

MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS... MARKETING & RELATIONS...

Health Care Marketing - Bold New World

The health care industry has and will continue to change at a All staff members are ambassadors.
breakneck pace, forcing marketing professionals in this space to Including all levels of the staff in a marketing strategy
adjust accordingly. As the delivery model switches from traditional can make the difference between a campaign that delivers
hospitals to outpatient centers, even telehealth, mainstream advertis- results and one that flops. Madsen remembers one inte-
ing no longer is enough to increase patient volume and offset grated marketing strategy her team implemented for a
decreasing reimbursement rates. major South Florida hospital system that included creat-
Chris Madsen, who founded Mad 4 Marketing in 1992, has provid- ing a “manifesto” for everyone from top executives to the
ed successful marketing strategies for many of South Florida’s health front desk team members to embrace. “Engaging employ-
care giants, including Broward Health and their individual areas of ees, especially those most directly in contact with
specialty like the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital, and Baptist patients, was key to achieving specific objectives,” she
Health. She offers four key marketing tenets for supporting health stressed.
care providers:
Think integrative.
Create a brand that resonates with the consumer. The days of simply producing ADDY®-award winning
While conducting a “Brand Discovery Session” with Baptist, Mad print and broadcast ads are long gone. Today’s marketing
4 Marketing identified their unique selling proposition and devel- BY ELLEN CRANE, APR efforts have to touch on a wide range of areas, including
oped the tagline, “Get Treated Better.” They also renamed the social media, both paid and organic; thought leadership
“Medical Plazas” to “Urgent Care and Diagnostic Centers” to be more tactics, such as blogs, speeches, webinars and published
recognizable for patients. This drove a campaign to increase awareness, which articles; media relations; community outreach; physician relations; employer
was successful in increasing traffic to the existing 14 locations, launching a new and payor relations; and strategic trade association activities.
children’s diagnostic center, as well as introducing Baptist into Broward County. One area that has not changed over the decades, however, according to
Madsen, is the need to align with the provider’s overall business strategies and
Physician referrals the vision of leadership. “Like patients who need individualized treatment
are essential. plans, health care providers demand marketing programs that highlight their
Not always first of mind in traditional marketing plans, a robust physician differentiators and reach target audiences.”
relations program is a key aspect of any marketing program designed to
increase patient volume. When the Mad 4 Marketing team designed such a pro- For more information, contact Christine Madsen, CEO and President of Mad 4
gram for the Broward Health Heart Center of Excellence, they knew it had to Marketing, Inc., at chris@mad4marketing.com
be more than pretty pictures. “We not only designed a package that looked or (954) 485-5448.
nice,” she said. “We created an operational flow that ensured the entire process
would be easier for any physician referring a patient to the Center.”

“If I was down to my last dollar

I would spend it on public relations.”

– Bill Gates

Be like Bill.

PiersonGrant.com

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com December 2018 13