After finding success in using focus groups to evaluate advertising campaigns, Sheepherd Hospital has applied the consumer research tool to its surgical suite. In September, a focus group consisting of four community members, three former patients and a ventriloquist from a traveling circus provided feedback that led to significant changes in the hospital’s open-heart surgery program.

“We have had a long history of success using focus groups to improve our advertising,” said Sheepherd CEO Jerry Feeble. “They have consistently provided invaluable advice, like how our ads should include more doctors in them, or how the logo should be much, much bigger. Read the full story »

In a growing trend, hospitals and health systems across the country are increasingly pushing the emerging “Russian-nesting-doll” brand strategy. The opposite of a unified brand strategy – in which one name is used across the entire organization – the Russian-nesting-doll approach calls for using as many brand names as humanly possible.

Take the new Tyler T. Tylerton Center for Knuckle Replacement Surgery in Chicago, IL. The “TTT Center,” as system marketing lead Jonathan Sampson J. Johnson calls it, is part of the Mary Ginger Bone and Joint Institute, which is housed in the Western Southside Chicago Medical Center, which is part of the Prairie Meadows Health System, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PMS Health LLC. Read the full story »

In a follow-up to last year’s groundbreaking study that uncovered the stunning truth that hospitals are actually businesses, WiseBucks magazine issued a follow-up report showing that to remain open, hospitals have to attract patients to receive care. The follow-up report is timely, given new legislation announced in Vermont that seeks to ban hospitals from spending money on marketing and advertising.

“Like the legislator in Vermont, we were flabbergasted that hospitals actually have to attract patients with marketing and advertising,” said WiseBucks editor Joe Duhh. “That’s how regular businesses operate, sure. But hospitals? That would be like saying politicians have to spend money to get elected – doesn’t it just happen?”
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A routine business meeting at Evergreen Hospital ended with the vice president of marketing agreeing to perform heart surgery. The move followed a heated discussion on the merits of a marketing tactic suggested by a heart surgeon.

Janet Nolan, MD, a cardiovascular surgeon, was advocating for printing advertising on java jackets (coffee cup wraps) to help address a persistent lag in cardiology consults.

“Everyone drinks coffee, and many will eventually require cardiovascular intervention,” said Dr. Nolan. “And think of all the caffeine-induced arrhythmias we’d be in front of. The strategy is so obvious it makes you question the intelligence of our marketing staff.” Read the full story »

National hospital rating firm MedRankers has announced new weekly awards for clinical quality. The weekly awards will replace the annual awards already in place, with additional categories and classifications also in the offing. 


“We’ve done patient surveys, and people have indicated that they can’t make informed decisions based on quality awards that are only given annually,” stated company spokesperson Cindy Hinky. “From our perspective, the more ways we can slice and dice quality rankings, the more information patients will have. If we can have 10 rankings, why not 100, or 1,000? More is always better.” Read the full story »

In response to the worsening economy, healthcare advertising agency Stedman, Trust and Devinshire (STD), New York, has announced a new promotion for hospitals and health systems: free consulting for life.

“For new clients who sign up with us before July 1, we’re offering to work for free for the life of the relationship,” said STD president David Pogilvy. “The margins are low – hell, they’re zero. But tough times call for tough action.”

According to Pogilvy, the agency will provide new clients with free marketing, PR, advertising and communications work, without any costs, for as long as the client remains active. The move comes in response to the ongoing budget cuts at hospital marketing departments, which were followed by discounts on services and offers of free consulting by other advertising and marketing firms. Read the full story »

The couple who made hospital and health system advertising familiar to so many across America is calling it a day. Steve Madson, 74, and his wife, Sherry, 73, are the famous couple seen in so many hospital advertisements riding a tandem bike. They have graced billboards and newspaper ads in the healthcare world for more than three decades, but have decided to hang up the bike and retire.

“Good thing we weren’t actually riding all those times the picture was used,” joked Steve, a former barber. “We would have put a million miles on that bike!”

Steve and Sherry’s introduction into healthcare advertising began in 1973, when Steve’s brother, Brian, snapped a shot of the couple riding a tandem bike through Hyde Park in New York. Brian happened to work at a nearby hospital and brought the picture into work the following day, showing it around the department. Read the full story »