After initially viewing Web sites only as online brochures, many PR and marketing departments at healthcare organizations are viewing the Web as an effective way to be more
proactive in sending out messages to market programs and services.
Admittedly, there are barriers to embracing this new technology. After all, hospitals and other healthcare institutions generally don't have a sales and marketing orientation
and the healthcare culture is typically conservative. However, "providers that want to differentiate themselves, increase business and respond to what their customers and
physicians want have an opportunity to develop information-rich, transaction-enabled Web Portals,'' says Michael Parker, a vice president in the healthcare unit of New York-based
digital consulting company, Razorfish.
"The Web has to be a core element of the marketing mix [of hospitals]," declares Bill Mulligan, a director in charge of the healthcare sector for New York, N.Y.-based consumer
advertising agency, JWT. "Hospitals don't have the resources and time to do all the marketing that is necessary. The Web becomes, in essence, an on-line sales person.
"The Web is quickly becoming the second opinion,'' he says. "Consumers are turning to the Web for information to make decisions about treatments and doctors,'' he says, noting
that sites that rate hospitals and doctors are becoming particularly popular.
Already, many healthcare organizations have integrated Web sites into their public relations and marketing repertoire. Many are tailoring information to the user, and
licensing content that is more dynamic. On many sites, you can search for a specialist or scroll through a listing of doctors. On some sites, visitors can request an
appointment.
"There are tremendous opportunities for hospitals to use Web portals to drive business,'' says Parker, adding that hospitals are not taking advantage of dynamic customization
or sophisticated content management systems.
"Ideally, you should be able to access the same kind of rich content you can access on WedMD, but have it private labeled. Then you should be able to click on information about
a health concern and get to see what hospital X is doing in that area. You should be able to schedule a screening. That's how hospitals could really use it to drive revenue."
Says Mark Hollander, executive vice president with New York, N.Y.-based Deepbridge Content Solutions: "All healthcare providers, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, have in common
the need to provide timely information, as well to make it easier for customers to do business with them.''
For a Preferred Provider Organization, this can be as simple as getting forms out online or posting information about the locations and operating hours of its satellite
clinics.
Hospitals Craft Unique Marketing Applications
Individual hospitals that have incorporated the Web into their marketing programs have tailored marketing applications to their individual needs and priorities.
New York-based Memorial Sloan-Kettering's (MSK) Web site has been up for five years. The site, which gets 175,000 hits per month, is "owned'' by the PR department. MSK's Vice
President/Public Affairs, Avice Meehan, states that the site's primary focus is on education, because MSK believes that's the best way to market the institution. Another marketing
feature of the site is an e-donor function, whereby people who want to support MSK's work can pledge money online.
Other marketing and customer service examples include:
- online chats for common health problems, adopted by the Philadelphia-based Jefferson Hospital Center. Its Web site features an online chat program with regularly
scheduled sessions hosted by members of the healthcare center's medical staff. - Intermountain Healthcare, a Salt Lake City-based non-profit healthcare organization serving Utah and Idaho, boasts job searches, physician finding, and the ability to view
recently born babies' photos online.
(Mark Hollander, Deepbridge Content Solutions. 202/777-6030; http://www.deepbridge.com. Avice Meehan, 212/639-3580,
Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Michael Parker, Razorfish. (http://www.razorfish.com) 212/798-7946)