HCP Senior Strategist/Partner, Eric Polins said, “What separates Zen on the Green’s golf training program from the other 22,000 certified instructors from The United States Golf Teachers Federation is D’Agostino’s use of Zen meditation.

“Learning to master your mind’s ability to focus, and your body’s ability to perform and rise to the challenge with unshakeable confidence, are the essential elements to perfecting your game,” said D’Agostino.

HCP will is in the process of negotiating a dedicated golf veteran spokesperson for Zen on the Green, in addition to a full public relations and broadcast media campaign for national sales.

The series is also currently in the process of being converted into Mandarin Chinese for overseas sales in the Asian market.

To learn more about Zen on the Green, visit www.zenonthegreen.com or visit them at the PGA show in Orlando from January 25-28, 2012.  Arthur D’Agostino is also a featured speaker at the upcoming show.

The revised look of the company reflects the sweeping success SMI has experienced in the past seven years, providing high quality, price-conscious maintenance to retailers and a variety of boutique locations nationwide. Research, strategy and marketing firm HCP, along with SMI, have designed a look that reflects the brand, the culture and the continued added value that SMI brings to its customer base.

HCP will be providing quarterly strategic planning sessions with the company’s stakeholders and senior management in order to create a new platform for the company’s expanded service offerings in current and new markets.  Other services will include a full public relations campaign, tradeshow management, creative advertising and elements of social media.

SMI President, Scott Crennan, is excited about the new look and believes it reinforces their corporate culture, “We want to brand our services in a way that reflects the balance we provide to a complex industry. At SMI, we develop a unique maintenance strategy for every client, which eliminates unnecessary spending while ensuring every location looks its best. We like to think of it as doing the job smarter, which means better.”

For more information on SMI and their 24/7 support, visit www.SMI247.com, or call (800) 508-5884.

HCP Senior Strategist/Partner, Eric Polins said, “TAGWEAR is a very reputable and strong competitor in the promotional branding industry, but there is potential for positioning the company more competitively. After President and Founder Tom Gordon met with us to explain his long-term goals, we went to work researching various gaps in the market space and in his competition.  When the new brand and position are complete, TAGWEAR will have a presence like no other that truly represents why they are different than the rest.”

HCP will be providing market and competitor research, branding and positioning, corporate identity design, web design and programming and public relations for the 2012-2013 season for TAGWEAR.

For more information on TAGWEAR visit www.tagwear.com , or call 813-623-2040.

So what happens when we shift gears, to talk about health care—when the “customers” become patients? Patients too, are increasingly taking charge, and becoming more attuned and knowledgeable regarding issues from increasing insurance deductibles and co-pays, to regulatory changes and health care reform. Patients are also sensitive to even high unemployment, evaporating assets and savings.

Enhanced knowledge is resulting in profound changes to the way patients view and interact with providers; how have health care practices reacted? Not much at all.

Herein lies the challenge; understanding the shift in patient expectations and how their behaviors have changed, is the first step toward successfully navigating the next five years. Recognizing, and adapting to these changes will increase everything from patient flow, to reimbursement, to malpractice insurance costs – all while making you increasingly competitive and less vulnerable.

This is not supposition or prediction; it is today’s reality. So, in reverse order:

Expectation #10 – New and better drugs: A cure for cancer is an amorphous thing. A drug that cures cancer, now, that is tangible. Today, patients are exposed to a constant stream of new drugs claiming to treat everything from chronic pain to restless leg syndrome. As a result, they assume and expect something to be available to treat them—whatever their health issue may be. The reality of medicine is different, and how you relate and communicate with your patients will make the difference.

Expectation #9 – Portable Medical Records (PMRs): The media, government spokespeople and politicians speak of PMRs as a thing of today. They are, but only if you have invested in interactive Electronic Medical Record technology and staff training. Being an early adopter of medical technology is subjective, and can be preference-based. This one is not. The fact is, the National Institute of Health estimates that 25% of the cost of medicine is administrative. Automation reduces that cost, and when properly applied, provides a fast and favorable return on investment.

Expectation #8 – Off Hour Accessibility: Requiring patients to call off hours voicemail is frustrating for them and time-consuming for you. Providing a cell phone number is a nice gimmick, but slogging through voicemails takes time and leaves anxious patients hanging. Think about texting. Reading and responding to texts takes seconds and everyone associates texts with immediacy. An automated response telling the patient that their text has been received and that their concerns will be addressed is a huge leap in perceived service. A response at a later time is a smart use of technology. Abusers can always be blocked. The bulk of your patients will appreciate the convenience, and accessibility.

Expectation #7 – Communication: Being reactive will never keep you ahead of the curve. Being proactive using email, Internet and texting to educate, inform, respond and book and confirm appointments is a key to patient retention, patient referrals and a more efficient overall operation. A relatively small investment in experienced professionals to perform the tasks yields big gains in revenue, reduced costs and retention.

Expectation #6 – Personalized Medicine: With highly publicized advances in genetic research, medical care is becoming even more customized to a person’s health, family history, and genes. People are beginning to expect customized treatment, better results and fewer side effects. Keeping up with the latest technology, and with what is being “popularized” by media, will help you when it comes time to explain why something is not available or why you do not recommend it for that patient.

Expectation #5 – Better Coordinated Care: Higher deductibles and co-pays, and millions of uninsured and under-insured people, have made patients acutely aware of the cost of care. Patients expect their providers to coordinate their care with other providers, facilities and allied health care not only for convenience, but to keep the costs down without compromising safety or outcomes.

Expectation #4 – More Outpatient Procedures: These equate to less expensive procedures with less down time and recovery time. With high unemployment and increased demands to perform, people can rarely afford long recovery times or hospitalizations unless there is no other choice. With the most frequent surgeries such as hip, knee and spine becoming minimally invasive and moving to outpatient settings, the feasibility of having a dedicated purpose ambulatory surgery center attached to a practice has superseded economics to a near necessity. A single continuity of care structure from diagnosis to recovery holds strong appeal to today’s patients.

Expectation #3 – New Alternatives to Pay for Care: While high deductibles and co-pays play a role, paying for necessary care for the uninsured and under-insured has become a fiscal reality that is allowing easily treatable conditions to progress into more complex and acute stages. People understand that if they put off treatment, whether it is a sore back or a sore tooth, things are likely to get worse. They hope against hope that they will get better, and insurers exacerbate the problem by being more generous with emergent situations than minor ones. The problem is so prevalent that medical finance companies such as Care Credit, which were built upon cosmetic dentistry and plastic surgery, have hit the mainstream, and have been joined by the likes of Bank of America, Chase and other large banks. Don’t just require payment at the time of service; help your patients to pay by providing a range of personal financing options.

Expectation #2 – Customer Service, Technology and Outcomes: Three fundamental systemic changes: access to information, expectation of quality service and quality care, and the patient perception that technology has evened the playing field making skill less of a factor, have taken permanent root:

• Access to Information: People don’t look for credentials, they look for a solution, and their search is easier than ever. Eight of ten people do their health care research using the Internet, the vast majority using Google. They also post their experiences with providers, good and bad, and they are all just a search phrase away. Search engine rankings not only make your practice more visible, higher rankings have a profound effect on how prospective patients view your capabilities, status and popularity as a provider. Further, your website must be changed from an electronic brochure to an interactive, integrated element of your operation. Websites are no longer mere marketing vehicles; they are a primary service delivery point and are integral to the quality of service and care.

• Quality of Service and Care: It is necessary not only to say what you do, but to do what you say professionally, effectively and consistently. In short, your operational processes from the first telephone encounter to discharge should be equal parts quality of care and quality of service. With more and more personal responsibility for payment, comes the expectation that patients will be treated as paying customers.
• Differentiation: There is an old adage – pick a young doctor and an old lawyer. The moral? Experience counts in the court room, and experience with new technology counts in the operating room. It may not be fair, it may not be right, but it is. Providing quality of service equates directly to the perception of competence. You may be getting away with doing things the way they have always been done, but not for long. The industry is changing, and perceptions and expectations have changed, and are changing, with it. Those who fail to adapt will likely be employees of those that do.

Expectation # 1 – Access to Care: The primary decision metric for most patients is accessibility. Waiting in line may enhance the guest experience for Disney, but waiting to be seen when you are sick and scared, whether it is for an appointment or in the waiting room, does not enhance the patient experience. In fact, it complicates it on numerous levels including clinically. It impacts physician and patient referrals, patient retention, patient acquisition, patient attitude, patient perception and a host of other issues Prompt, professional and accessible wins the day every time. For specialists in particular, long waits for appointments have much more to do with patient screening and the quality of their referral system than logistics. Attracting appropriate patients, and using RNPs or PAs to assess patients can broadly expand accessibility – and solve a myriad of problems.

Meeting patient expectations is more than accommodation—it is risk management (happy patients do not sue). It keeps you competitive and results in improved clinical care (good patient experiences lead to better outlooks, outcomes, an enhanced sense of security and wellbeing). Meeting patient expectations is also a practical reality, and the sooner steps are taken, the better your outlook.

About HCP

This article is authored by James Doulgeris, Senior Strategist, Health Care – HCP.

Healthcare Strategies for the 21^st Century.

HCP offers innovative strategic and tactical advisory and implementation services combined with cutting edge marketing programs. Our programs are specifically tailored and customized to maximize revenues and position you to thrive in an era of regulatory, reimbursement and competitive changes. Our decades of executive level health care expertise in hospital, private practice and medical devices and strategic direction, research and marketing deliver a formidable competitive and strategic advantage.

Doulgeris’ background includes over 35 years of healthcare and biotechnology executive management experience. His expertise stems from serving as President, CEO, and Director for a number of boards, for-profit, non-profit, public and private companies, in the hospital, ancillary provider, medical device and health­care service industries.

Attendees of the event will benefit from Doulgeris’ insight regarding the latest trends in healthcare marketing, and how changes in patient behavior and expectations can impact your marketing strategy. The discussion will explore the top 10 changes in patient expectations, and how to properly identify and address them. Doulgeris will also delve into patient retention and referral strategies, as well as best practices for hiring a capable team to adapt to the changes occurring. Participants will leave the seminar with actionable steps that can be implemented for immediate success.

The St. Petersburg Carillon Park Hilton will be hosting this event for the Tampa Bay chapter of the AMA on Friday, January 27^th, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. For more information on the seminar, and registration details, please visit, http://www.amatampabay.org/our-events.aspx.

Jan 2012 Healthcare Marketing Invitation

In short, not just who, but why and what.

We focus on key areas such as:

• Strategic support and implementation from service expansion to acquiring complementary specialty practices;
• Branding and building public authority and reputation using quantitative measurements and strategies;
• Marketing techniques focused on attracting the most desirable patients and gaining a strong competitive and strategic advantage;
• Patient retention, physician referral base expansion, earned patient referrals and patient win back; and,
• Operational process improvement to maximize revenues, efficiencies and to support strategic, branding and marketing initiatives.

In our experience, we have noted several factors that contribute to the success of companies in the defense industry. We have determined “rules of thumb” to help companies present themselves such that they gain that competitive advantage necessary to take the next step in business growth.

These experiences have provided HCP with invaluable proprietary knowledge and understanding governmental as well as public/private organizations, and as a result, we are prepared to meet and exceed the expectations set forth by our current governmental clientele and any future opportunities that arise.

Based upon our collective experience in the public/private sector, we have discovered some common challenges faced by government entities. These challenges are outlined below:

Client: MyBackOffice

Industry: Administrative Service Organization (ASO)

Challenge: The start firm like many ASO’s was built around serving 1-5 employee companies and found itself seeking a way to grow and broaden its business.

Solution: HCP researched the clients they serve and explored the markets those clients were in and helped to develop a marketing plan that included business development with marketing.  First, it was important that the brand itself be modified and refined to complement and appeal to the industry and positioned themselves with a clear and concise service statement.  Once the brand platform was completed we were able to develop print, web and trade show related collateral materials into a clear and consistent message.  The message “We help you stay independent by serving your basic back office needs allowing you to focus on clients and prospective clients”.  Once all the primary sales and marketing materials where in place we supported the sales force by helping them clearly define the services they offer and included a lead generation program.  The result was consistent year over year growth of clients and the operations today is now three times as large as it once was after only 3 years.

Client: EMS

Industry: Professional Employer Organization (PEO)

Challenge: EMS provides customized, quality, human resource services to small and mid-sized businesses. The team approached HCP with a needed to refine its sales process and develop new ways to sell the company’s services.

Solution: A management shift resulted in the hire of a new president, who desired insight into how to sell EMS’ services. The new president wanted to better understand the process being undertaken by the sales team at the time, and develop a common message that the team could take to the market, to gain new leads.  

HCP embarked on a process of interviewing sales team members as well as clients, to determine the current approach of the sales team, and the message that was being sold. The goal was to determine whether there was consistency within the message and whether what was delivered was a true reflection of the initial communication.

With the feedback in hand, HCP worked with EMS to develop and roll out their marketing plan. The plan incorporated various elements that HCP had identified as weaknesses during the preliminary client and employee interviews, and focused on generating qualified sales leads, refining the messaging used for those sales leads, and developing a plan for follow-up as well as client retention.

The process began with direct mail outreach, followed by a telemarketing follow-up. During the follow-up, if the prospect was not interested in EMS’ services at the time, the sales representative would still take the opportunity to gather information from the prospect to add to a prospect database, for future follow-up.

To ensure that the EMS team remained consistent and up-to-date with industry trends, HCP developed periodic advisory meetings for both ESM and its clients, to share relevant updates and new information.

To build loyalty, HCP developed a monthly newsletter on behalf of EMS to go out to clients. HCP also conducted periodic research of EMS’ client base to gauge interest in new service offerings, level of satisfaction and to show a general interest in their feedback.