The marketing department at General Hospital has developed a new approach they call “Billboards 2.0.” They developed the strategy after reviewing search terms people used to find the General Hospital website. When they discovered that visitors were using very specific terms, they realized it could help them target their billboard messages. Read the full story »

In a move aimed at supporting long-awaited reform of the U.S. healthcare system, the Obama administration announced a federal infusion of $5 billion for the implementation of magic beans at hospitals across the country. The statement induced applause from advocates and warnings from critics.

“The use of magic beans by hospitals will improve quality while saving trillions of healthcare dollars over the coming years,” said Mark Keepitt, chair of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Magical Bean Systems, the independent agency charged by the government with approving adoption of magical solutions. “Magic beans really will solve all of our healthcare ills. Not to mention, they will improve our ability to grow giant bean stalks.” Read the full story »

Transparency is one of the hottest trends in healthcare right now. At Neptune Hospital, they’ve fully embraced transparency with a new advertising campaign titled “We’re really trying.” (See sample ad after story.) The 330-bed hospital has suffered from more than two decades of poor clinical care, awful customer service and horrible mismanagement. In 2002, an orthopedic surgeon performed knee joint replacement surgery on a patient’s shoulder. (The same error was repeated in 2004 and again in 2005 before the surgeon retired.) In 2006, the hospital opened a $20 million medical spa called “Facetastic” on land behind the hospital. Unfortunately, the land covered a deteriorating portion of the city’s sewer system, and the facility was closed and condemned one year later. The system constantly ranks in the lower percentiles of quality, safety and customer service in national studies. Obviously, it was time for a change. Read the full story »

For the first time in 20 years, the hospital message “we care” has been usurped as most valued message from a hospital. The new champ? “Our physicians are board certified.” That’s according to the annual consumer survey conducted by the Center for Research About People. Each year, it randomly polls 10,000 adults between the ages of 37 and 38 in the U.S., and asks them the following question: “Which message is most likely to get you to abandon the physician you’ve seen for years, drive 100 miles out of your way, or otherwise choose a hospital service you ordinarily would never consider?” Read the full story »

In a stunning sixteen-part series set to release today, the business magazine WiseBucks will reveal that hospitals are, in fact, businesses. The report follows an article in Smart Money magazine, “10 Things Hospital CEOs Won’t Tell You,” which took a fair and balanced look at how hospitals operate.

“Once we dug into this, we couldn’t believe what we uncovered,” said WiseBucks editor Joe Duhh. “Hospitals – believe it or not – are actually run like businesses. We were floored.” Read the full story »