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Marketing Your Practice
Direct Mail Program Provides Incentives for Mammography Patients

Marketing Your Practice

As outpatient imaging centers face increasing competition, marketing plans need to communicate their unique stories

By Renee DiIulio

Marketing is a core strategy for growth and success, said Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle, CEO of the Imaging Center Institute, Orange, Calif, at the OIC [Outpatient Imaging Center] Blueprint for Success Conference, held July 19–21 in Annapolis, Md. Speaking on business management strategies for the OIC, Kauffman-Pickelle suggested that marketing can strengthen an anti-DRA effort, referring to section 5102 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. If allowed to take effect as planned, the new regulation could result in significantly reduced reimbursements.

As a result, competition among OICs can be expected to increase. Centers need to tell their own story before their competitors do, and that story should be written by professionals, Kauffman-Pickelle advised. “Marketing is a profession. Hire the best—don’t try to do it yourself,” he said.

Marketing professionals know that marketing is a process, one that mirrors communication. Marketing actually means being a better communicator, Kauffman-Pickelle said. He divides the process of communication into four stages: research, planning, implementation, and evaluation and adjustment.

1) Research

An OIC will want to develop message points for each customer segment, asking who, what, and how. For instance, a demand of referring physicians may be the prompt return of phone calls. The OIC may decide to implement a policy that all phone calls must be returned within 15 minutes or another specified amount of time. Customer segments include not just referring physicians, but also office staff, payors, patients, employees, and partners.

Research should include market assessment studies, feasibility studies, and competitive analyses. Numbers can be produced through demographic analyses, volume projections, saturation analyses, modality growth, and market share.

2) Plan

Once you have defined the who, what, and how, a plan needs to be developed to deliver the targeted messages to these groups. The marketing mix can include any combination of the following:

• direct mail, including newsletters and payor communication;
• collateral material, such as brochures;
• journal articles on relevant issues—modalities and disease management, for example; Kauffman-Pickelle suggests that the OIC itself become a resource for the referring physician;
• advertising;
• e-marketing, with the Web site as the primary tool;
• direct physician contacts through CME credits, dinners, and lunches, and an ambassador effort can reach out to the referral base;
• event marketing, including meetings and charitable events, and open houses to expose new equipment, physicians, or other improvements;
• promotions, or trinkets;
• publicity;
• community involvement; and
• a positive service orientation that impresses clients.

3) Implementation

Whatever mix is chosen must appeal to the desired audience’s point of view and not the marketer’s, Kauffman-Pickelle suggested. This means focusing on benefits, making each piece customer-centric, reflecting the practice culture and leading by example. Kauffman-Pickelle named the seven Ps of marketing, relating them to the OIC:

• product, the center and its report;
• price, which is important in the patient choice model;
• promotion;
• positioning, with scales including convenience, cost, technology, subspecialty, and service;
• packaging or presentation;
• people, where both attitudes and appearance play a role; and
• place, by which patients attempt to judge quality.

A significant portion of this implementation will be a branding effort. Kauffman-Pickelle shared a quote, which suggests that verbal and visual elements should symbolize how the organization delivers a sustainable competitive advantage. Referring to The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al and Laura Ries, Kauffman-Pickelle noted that branding “starts with your name and your tag line.”

He suggested that OICs ask themselves the following questions: Why you? What is your image? Do you have an image? Are you letting your competition brand you? Are you letting your competition tell your story? Do your patients and referrers care enough to think about you? What is your unique value proposition? Can you penetrate the “noise level”?

4) Evaluation and Adjustment

It is not enough to answer all the questions, develop the plan, and have faith that the noise level can be penetrated, however. OICs also should have measurable objectives that are evaluated and adjusted accordingly. “Marketing is an economic investment, not a frivolous expense. Marketing outcomes can be measured against the investment,” Kauffman-Pickelle said.

Sample objectives include increasing the weekly MRI/CT scan volume by 10% or increasing market share by 5%. OICs can aim to protect referral sources by segmentation or penetrate solid competitive relationships.

A good marketing plan will be key for OICs that wish to remain competitive in a tighter marketplace. Kauffman-Pickelle suggested that market leaders will respond to the DRA legislation with a renewed emphasis on service, protection of referral bases, exploitation of opportunities that increase market share, and growth strategy—all of which can be furthered through marketing efforts. Proactive organizations will emerge stronger than their reactive counterparts. And so, OICs should sharpen their pens; Kauffman-Pickelle closed his presentation with the following thought: “Competition is only going to increase, so be prepared for a battle.”

Renee DiIulio is a contributing writer for Axis Imaging News.