Gail Schwartz, Vice President-Healthcare,  trg Marketing Works

Gail Schwartz, Vice President-Healthcare,
trg Marketing Works

Think of it as a GPS to guide your practice to reach its goals.

By Gail Schwartz

The good thing about radiology today is that we have access to a lot of data. What matters is how we use it. We have an abundance of tools at our fingertips. Consider data to be the GPS that can get you to your chosen destination faster.

If your marketing strategies are already informed by practice, referral, and external market data, great. If not, you’re employing the “spray and pray” approach—spraying a little here or there and praying that it works. Escaping that trap starts with a thorough review of your data. The success of your marketing plan and your ability to demonstrate results depend on it. Let’s take a look at some of the most useful data categories.

Basic Business Data

There are important data elements that you probably capture already and use for some business decisions—but maybe not yet for marketing. These include:

  • Volume and/or revenue by facility and/or modality
  • Referral volume and/or revenue by physician, sliced further by modality; imaging center; and referring specialty and modality
  • Patient origin by zip code, facility, and modality
  • Payor mix

The marketing applications of these data sets may be obvious to you. Patient origin trends, for example, have numerous applications, from understanding the impact of competitors to identifying potential new opportunities.

Digging Deeper for a Competitive Edge

Beyond the basics, mining certain less obvious data sets can help you assemble an even stronger base of intelligence and insights—especially if you analyze things that your competitors might be missing. Here are some examples:

Patient Data: Beyond Origin. Detailed information about your patients can help you glean numerous actionable insights. For example, are there variations in the gender or age mix across modalities (other than the obvious ones, like women for mammograms and DEXA)? These indicators can help you in a variety of ways, such as alerting you to possible age- or gender-based trends that could affect the programs and services you want to emphasize, or uncovering gaps in who your marketing reaches. Comparing new vs. existing patients can also reveal whether you are attracting enough new patients and retaining existing ones. Mining data about your patients’ medical history may present cross-marketing opportunities.

Customer Satisfaction. If you don’t systematically measure patient and referring physician satisfaction, it’s a good idea to start. Changes and trends can show you what you are doing right and alert you to where correction is needed when your service misses the mark. It’s important to understand that every interaction with a patient or referring physician is a marketing interaction that affects your reputation, customer loyalty, and brand perception.

Employee Satisfaction. Internal satisfaction is also important. High-morale cultures deliver better customer service. But low morale eventually manifests in ways that jeopardize customer relationships. Measuring employee satisfaction is the foundation of your internal marketing, which shapes how your team represents your brand.

External Market Data. Keeping an eye on the outside world avoids “the ostrich trap”—head buried in the sand, feeling safe in the assumption that all must be well outside if everything seems fine inside. Here are a few examples:

  • Your market share relative to competitors (insurance reps and vendors may be able to help you secure this information)
  • Population, demographic, economic, and lifestyle trends in your service area
  • Epidemiological and health statistics to assess the alignment of your services and programs with local needs

Brand Awareness and Perception. As the number of influences on brand awareness and perception increases (think of channels like social media and consumer review Web sites that may not have even existed when you began your healthcare career), measuring them becomes more challenging. While it can be difficult to inexpensively measure and monitor brand awareness and perception trends, various methods can help, like periodically surveying a sample of consumers or implementing online reputation management practices.

Want to Market Successfully? Be Data Driven!
Marketing strategies are more effective and measurable when you understand what your data tells you about the state of your practice and market. If you don’t know where to start, or if you’ve analyzed your data and need advice on how to maximize your findings, talk to a consultant. At the end of the day, your marketing program should generate business and that only happens when you have a well-constructed plan—driven by data as your GPS.

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Gail Schwartz is Vice President-Healthcare for trg Marketing Works, with offices in York, Pennsylvania, and Norfolk, Virginia. She has an extensive background in planning and executing strategic marketing and branding initiatives for entire healthcare organizations and specialty service lines. Her work has been recognized with Quest Awards, Aster Awards, and the Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards.