I implemented a campaign to grow patient volumes for our pediatric cardiology program. The surgical outcomes exceed national benchmarks, but we have found that referring providers in our secondary service area are sending patients to our competitors and some families in our own community are traveling to Richmond for care.
Approach:
Develop and implement a strategy targeting both referring providers and patients leveraging superior outcomes and patient testimonials.
Tactics Include:
Referring provider outreach: Using our physician relationship management tool, we identified providers that have a relationship to UVA but are referring patients elsewhere. The liaison team then schedules in-person visits and calls to connect a member of the pediatric cardiology team with the referring provider.
Referring Provider Email and Direct Mail: We developed a statewide email blast to relevant pediatric sub specialists highlighting clinical outcomes and inviting them to collaborate on complex cases and refer patients.
Search Engine Marketing and Digital Display: Recognizing that families use the internet to find experts, seek a second opinion and validate a referral, we launched a statewide campaign with a heavier investment in key markets. Our goal was to drive surgical volumes and complex cases. Research conducted with the Mended Little Hearts support group helped us identify effective messaging that included: clinical outcomes, compassionate care and the ability to coordinate complex care.
Patient Story/ Content Marketing: We identified a grateful family in our competitor’s market and produced a video that we promoted on social media, shared on our blog, posted on our site and pitched to the media.
Result:
The search engine marketing campaign is driving approximately 28 calls and 200 clicks per month with an average cost per click around $11.00. Without a CRM we are not able to easily tie calls to appointments but surgical volumes have increased by over 10% since the campaign launched.