on January 20, 2012 |
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Topics: Service Lines, Neurosciences, Strategy, Volume Growth, Service Line Growth, Marketing, Consumer Marketing
Emilia Thurber
While many neuroscience programs have robust direct-to-patient marketing programs for stroke and spine, traditional consumer marketing methods may not have the same return on investment for all subspecialty services, such as epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. Many of these programs may have existing capacity issues due to high demand and/or a limited number of specialists.
Patients also tend to come from specific demographics, and self-referrals are often less common than for other neuroscience areas, such as spine. Given these characteristics, it is unlikely that expensive, mass marketing techniques will result in large returns for these services.
Determine whether to market subspecialty services
Some programs may not need to market their subspecialty services at all. When deciding whether to market services, programs must consider internal capacity, competition, and profitability. Programs experiencing capacity issues and long wait times may derive little benefit from marketing their subspecialty offerings and may better use resources for other services.
Local competition is another important consideration, and programs may wish to ask questions like:
- Are our competitors marketing this subspecialty program?
- Have any competitors recently entered the market for this service?
- Are we trying to increase your market share in this area?
Finally, programs must consider the profitability of the subspecialty program and whether it truly merits status as a strategic growth priority. Low procedural volumes, poor reimbursement, and long appointment times can result in low margins for some subspecialty services, reducing the strategic benefit to growing them.
Prioritize targeted marketing tactics
After considering these factors, some organizations may expect to derive sufficient benefits to justify marketing their subspecialty services directly to patients, particularly new programs, expanding programs, or programs with excess capacity. In these instances, marketing leaders can utilize targeted tactics that minimize costs.
Potential marketing techniques include partnerships with disease-specific patient associations, education seminars, or free screenings. For example, the Clinical Neurosciences Center at University of Utah Health Care partners with the American Parkinson’s Disease Association to provide education seminars, annual meeting support, and newsletter content. While these tactics are simple, they are well-targeted and cost-effective.
Another option is to highlight subspecialty programs as a market differentiator in mass marketing campaigns. If utilizing this strategy, programs should position clinics as an example of the specialized, comprehensive care available across the service line.
For more information
Ultimately, organizations should fit any direct-to-patient marketing within the context of broader neuroscience program marketing strategy, which should include an effective and efficient physician outreach strategy. To learn more about both consumer and physician neuroscience marketing, please refer to “Strengthening Referral Relationships” in our recent publication Neurosciences: Service Line Strategic Outlook.
