11 May
Elihealth

Modern and Traditional ways of hospital marketing

Best hospital marketing ideas to grow despite diverse challenges

Introduction

A hospital undeniably faces mounting challenges like cutthroat competition, finite resources, cost cutting pressures, complying ever-increasing regulation standards. Yet, they need to handle them and fend off competition to survive, sustain and achieve staggering growth. It is an unenviable task, but hospitals are not alone in their quest to grow big. With a proper marketing plan and engaging professionals to implement it considerably ease the burden on the management.

How market helps your hospital?

Hospital marketing allows a hospital to increase patient connections and nurture them to form long-term, loyal patients who are the brand ambassadors by which more patients are connected to the hospital. A successful healthcare marketing strategy leads to successful patient engagement, which in turn makes for to a booming practice.

What is a marketing plan and how to create an effective plan?

A marketing plan involves documenting specific business goals and objectives to be achieved within a specific period of time.

To be effective, your marketing plan needs to satisfy numerous internal as well as external demands. It is certainly a tall order fitting in institution branding and messaging professional reputation, patient satisfaction, wellness initiatives, and government regulations.

A comprehensive hospital marketing plan should provide you with the insights and tools needed to assess, anticipate, prepare and build a roadmap that cover your bases, construct requisite support systems, creating a niche for your product and services using traditional and modern marketing rules, protect your brand in the healthcare marketspace, win consensus of the major and minor stakeholders including administrators, directors, medical staff, employees and many others, set up an inspiring culture in the organization, inculcate a winning attitude among the staff, and measurable marketing success.

Best hospital marketing strategies

After crafting an effective marketing plan, break it into effective marketing strategies. Consider this scenario. In your area or in any given area there are multiple hospitals and healthcare practices that offer same or similar services. Then how a patient chooses you over others? There comes the role of healthcare marketing. Effective marketing by branding your services across online and offline media shows your practice different from others to the potential patients and their decision makers.

  1. Design a good patient experience The number one strategy to grow your practice is to design a positive experience for your patients under your care that should translate into positive reviews for you on influential social media platforms.
  2. Strong physician liaison It is essential for business development and organizational to create and maintain a strong doctor referral program that leads to constant inflow of patients.
  3. Focus on channels that drive maximum response Use both traditional and modern ways of communicating your brand value. Find out which channels are driving more response leading to increased footfall. Focus on those ways to market your practice. All your communications including websites should contain benefit-based language, informative content, patient-oriented copy, redirection to reviews, direct calls to action etc.
  4. Design your personal branding There are multiple hospitals offering similar services to people in your area. How would you entice patients to your practice? An effective way is highlighting the special features which are unique to you such as niche specialists, equipment with latest technology, and attractive value-added packages. Build your brand online by creating healthcare content regularly on industry specific topics, and publish it in industry-related journals. And also self-publish patient-centric informative content through LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media platforms. This will enhance your visibility in the Google search results, people will turn to your profiles for information, increasing your authority and credibility.
  5. After discharge patient follow-up Of course, it is skilful marketing that leads patients to your doorstep. What is much more important is to retain them, for which genuine follow-up after patient discharge regularly is of great value. Despite the modern ways of digital marketing, word of mouth still has great traction. Potential patients not only look up online but also ask friends and family to know about your hospital. They not just want to know what happened at the hospital, what happens after you are discharged equally weights on their mind while making treatment choices. So, it is vital for you to map your marketing strategy against each point of care across the patient’s journey. Taking feedback after a consultation or discharge will motivate them to share their story which will bring in more leads.
  6. Prioritizing budget allocation In this era of cost cutting, marketing budget is sure to have limits. It is better to allocate more funds for areas that get patient visibility. For example, if you are getting more patients via PPC you need to maximize your efforts there and allocate more funds for paid ad. This way you can beat the budget constraint while optimizing the foot traffic.
  7. Patient engagement with brand The best way to engage patients with your brand is giving them unforgettable positive experience. Your service will lead to patient loyalty and patient returns and referrals. Craft a strategy that make your services known to as many people as possible. Engage them with useful information that improves their health and well-being.
  8. Clear internal communication Few in healthcare has given the importance due for marketing. More often than not, the concept is misunderstood and undervalued by decision makers and opinion leaders in the hospital. As a marketer you can dispel this notion by regularly communicating internally your planning, execution and the positive outcome. This will create value for your work internally and also bring more funds for your marketing campaigns.
  9. Create content that adds value to patients Have you thought about whether the content you are posting in social media or your website is really helpful to your patients and prospective clients? There is information overload on the internet, but you need to provide content that means something to the patients and potentials that will differentiate you from the crowd. The focus should be more on patients’ symptoms, struggles and solutions for them, rather on your credentials. Always answer their questions promptly, in detail that creates a good impression.
  10.  Organic and paid ad strategy Divide your resources between organic and paid strategy. Combining organic, that is Search engine optimization with paid, pay per click (PPC) will enhance your chances of getting noticed by users who search for your specialty services. The purpose of driving visitor traffic to the landing page on your site, or in some instances to your social media profiles will be achieved only when you employ the combined strategy.
  11.  Leveraging Patient Base Your best mode of advertisement is always satisfied patients. Find ways to communicate with your patients regularly and extend your services to their family and friends, such as offering attractive packages, informing new services and including loyal patients in your advertisements. Regular email campaigns will do wonders for your growth.
  12.  Strengthen your content marketing Content is the king today. As according to a survey, 80% of the people turn to internet for their health queries, it’s smart to create and publish content that is useful and valuable for your patients and public alike. In addition to pitching your practice, you need to give informative content that creates traction in the form of latest news, health tips, blogs and Q&As by specialists. Although potential clients want to know your services and capabilities to provide them par excellence, they can easily differentiate between promotional content and informative content, hence blending them in right proportions would put you in a positive light. Your website and social profiles should have high-quality, custom content to drive traffic to your doorstep.
  13.  Listen It is surprising but true, research insights reveal that a more effective marketing strategy is listening to people instead of telling them what you want to convey. People want their voices and piece of mind to be heard, answered and concerns assuaged. The more you listen and reply to them more engagement thus loyalty you earn. One more benefit is when you listen to more people you will understand their needs better and tailor your services to the trending needs. Your engagement with the visitors and patients need not be with promotional agenda, instead build interpersonal relationships that could generate more leads.
  14.  Give equal importance to traditional, offline media Traditional marketing via print media, TV ads and outdoor media still very much works, especially for healthcare industry. The main reason being elderly people who are a potential pool of patients are not as computer savvy as the Gen Y. Second, different people have different preferences. Third, you can target the geographically nearer to you. So offline media holds equally huge potential with a right approach as digital media.

 

Conclusion

An effective marketing plan that consists of tangible objectives, goals and strategies with a balanced approach to traditional and modern ways of marketing, strong internal communication, strategies that give patients positive experiences will take your hospital to the next level of success. Combining promotional agenda with genuine concern to address patient need gives you the edge. Conscious and sustained efforts are the key to continuous success.

11 May
Elihealth

Modern and Traditional ways of hospital marketing

Best hospital marketing ideas to grow despite diverse challenges

Introduction

A hospital undeniably faces mounting challenges like cutthroat competition, finite resources, cost cutting pressures, complying ever-increasing regulation standards. Yet, they need to handle them and fend off competition to survive, sustain and achieve staggering growth. It is an unenviable task, but hospitals are not alone in their quest to grow big. With a proper marketing plan and engaging professionals to implement it considerably ease the burden on the management.

How market helps your hospital?

Hospital marketing allows a hospital to increase patient connections and nurture them to form long-term, loyal patients who are the brand ambassadors by which more patients are connected to the hospital. A successful healthcare marketing strategy leads to successful patient engagement, which in turn makes for to a booming practice.

What is a marketing plan and how to create an effective plan?

A marketing plan involves documenting specific business goals and objectives to be achieved within a specific period of time.

To be effective, your marketing plan needs to satisfy numerous internal as well as external demands. It is certainly a tall order fitting in institution branding and messaging professional reputation, patient satisfaction, wellness initiatives, and government regulations.

A comprehensive hospital marketing plan should provide you with the insights and tools needed to assess, anticipate, prepare and build a roadmap that cover your bases, construct requisite support systems, creating a niche for your product and services using traditional and modern marketing rules, protect your brand in the healthcare marketspace, win consensus of the major and minor stakeholders including administrators, directors, medical staff, employees and many others, set up an inspiring culture in the organization, inculcate a winning attitude among the staff, and measurable marketing success.

Best hospital marketing strategies

After crafting an effective marketing plan, break it into effective marketing strategies. Consider this scenario. In your area or in any given area there are multiple hospitals and healthcare practices that offer same or similar services. Then how a patient chooses you over others? There comes the role of healthcare marketing. Effective marketing by branding your services across online and offline media shows your practice different from others to the potential patients and their decision makers.

1. Design a good patient experience

The number one strategy to grow your practice is to design a positive experience for your patients under your care that should translate into positive reviews for you on influential social media platforms.

2. Strong physician liaison

It is essential for business development and organizational to create and maintain a strong doctor referral program that leads to constant inflow of patients.

3. Focus on channels that drive maximum response

Use both traditional and modern ways of communicating your brand value. Find out which channels are driving more response leading to increased footfall. Focus on those ways to market your practice. All your communications including websites should contain benefit-based language, informative content, patient-oriented copy, redirection to reviews, direct calls to action etc.

4. Design your personal branding

There are multiple hospitals offering similar services to people in your area. How would you entice patients to your practice? An effective way is highlighting the special features which are unique to you such as niche specialists, equipment with latest technology, and attractive value-added packages. Build your brand online by creating healthcare content regularly on industry specific topics, and publish it in industry-related journals. And also self-publish patient-centric informative content through LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media platforms. This will enhance your visibility in the Google search results, people will turn to your profiles for information, increasing your authority and credibility.

5. After discharge patient follow-up

Of course, it is skilful marketing that leads patients to your doorstep. What is much more important is to retain them, for which genuine follow-up after patient discharge regularly is of great value. Despite the modern ways of digital marketing, word of mouth still has great traction. Potential patients not only look up online but also ask friends and family to know about your hospital. They not just want to know what happened at the hospital, what happens after you are discharged equally weights on their mind while making treatment choices. So, it is vital for you to map your marketing strategy against each point of care across the patient’s journey. Taking feedback after a consultation or discharge will motivate them to share their story which will bring in more leads.

6, Prioritizing budget allocation

In this era of cost cutting, marketing budget is sure to have limits. It is better to allocate more funds for areas that get patient visibility. For example, if you are getting more patients via PPC you need to maximize your efforts there and allocate more funds for paid ad. This way you can beat the budget constraint while optimizing the foot traffic.

7. Patient engagement with brand

The best way to engage patients with your brand is giving them unforgettable positive experience. Your service will lead to patient loyalty and patient returns and referrals. Craft a strategy that make your services known to as many people as possible. Engage them with useful information that improves their health and well-being.

8. Clear internal communication

Few in healthcare has given the importance due for marketing. More often than not, the concept is misunderstood and undervalued by decision makers and opinion leaders in the hospital. As a marketer you can dispel this notion by regularly communicating internally your planning, execution and the positive outcome. This will create value for your work internally and also bring more funds for your marketing campaigns.

9. Create content that adds value to patients

Have you thought about whether the content you are posting in social media or your website is really helpful to your patients and prospective clients? There is information overload on the internet, but you need to provide content that means something to the patients and potentials that will differentiate you from the crowd. The focus should be more on patients’ symptoms, struggles and solutions for them, rather on your credentials. Always answer their questions promptly, in detail that creates a good impression.

10. Organic and paid ad strategy

Divide your resources between organic and paid strategy. Combining organic, that is Search engine optimization with paid, pay per click (PPC) will enhance your chances of getting noticed by users who search for your specialty services. The purpose of driving visitor traffic to the landing page on your site, or in some instances to your social media profiles will be achieved only when you employ the combined strategy.

11. Leveraging Patient Base

Your best mode of advertisement is always satisfied patients. Find ways to communicate with your patients regularly and extend your services to their family and friends, such as offering attractive packages, informing new services and including loyal patients in your advertisements. Regular email campaigns will do wonders for your growth.

12. Strengthen your content marketing

Content is the king today. As according to a survey, 80% of the people turn to internet for their health queries, it’s smart to create and publish content that is useful and valuable for your patients and public alike. In addition to pitching your practice, you need to give informative content that creates traction in the form of latest news, health tips, blogs and Q&As by specialists. Although potential clients want to know your services and capabilities to provide them par excellence, they can easily differentiate between promotional content and informative content, hence blending them in right proportions would put you in a positive light. Your website and social profiles should have high-quality, custom content to drive traffic to your doorstep.

13. Listen

It is surprising but true, research insights reveal that a more effective marketing strategy is listening to people instead of telling them what you want to convey. People want their voices and piece of mind to be heard, answered and concerns assuaged. The more you listen and reply to them more engagement thus loyalty you earn. One more benefit is when you listen to more people you will understand their needs better and tailor your services to the trending needs. Your engagement with the visitors and patients need not be with promotional agenda, instead build interpersonal relationships that could generate more leads.

14. Give equal importance to traditional, offline media

Traditional marketing via print media, TV ads and outdoor media still very much works, especially for healthcare industry. The main reason being elderly people who are a potential pool of patients are not as computer savvy as the Gen Y. Second, different people have different preferences. Third, you can target the geographically nearer to you. So offline media holds equally huge potential with a right approach as digital media.

11 May
Elihealth

Why engage digital marketing services to boost your practice?

Reputation is the golden key that unlocks patient loyalty and in turn revenue since time immemorial.

Starting from word of mouth, through paper ad, to online digital world reputation has always reigned supreme in encouraging patients to choose a specific doctor/clinic/hospital.

The explosion of digital technology wide opened the world to connect with rest of the world as never before. Tapping the potential of the online space to your advantage would be a powerful technique in increasing the patient volume and in generating income in this tough competitive business scenario.

To assist you in this endeavour there are top-notch firms that offer social media marketing, online reputation management, website design services, online marketing services, and healthcare digital marketing services in India and beyond.

Importance of Digital Marketing Services

Healthcare practices and hospitals today face daunting operational and organizational challenges, such as income generation, competition, maintaining reputation as well as compliance to regulatory standards, insurance requirements and energy mandates.

Amid these ever-present challenges, instead of spending your own precious resources to market your practice enlist professional digital marketing services. Choose an experienced healthcare digital marketing services company that can market your practice well.

For small practitioners competing with their huge brethren for patient share might seem an uphill task. That is absolutely a myth. Irrespective of the size of your practice, employing smart marketing strategies proved winning patient numbers. Small practices can also outsource their practice marketing and online reputation management to a professional healthcare digital marketing services company.

Markers of a Good Digital Marketing Service Company

You need to scramble couple of basics before embarking the online journey with healthcare digital marketing services to take care of social media marketing and online reputation management in the quest of boosting your reputation: create branding for your practice and focus on your unique strengths that set you apart from others in your domain.

Ability to demonstrate positive digital marketing ROI

A good healthcare digital marketing company understands the objectives of your practice and strive to work with you in order for you to achieve them. Your digital marketing service partner must be able to produce positive ROI on the amount you spent on digital marketing within a span of 9 to 12 months.

Ability to create and establish your brand online

A good healthcare digital marketing company begins your online marketing journey by creating a unique branding for your practice and focusing on your unique strengths that set you apart from others in your domain.

This brand creation involves coming up with a professional-sounding practice name, catchy slogan, cool colour theme, and logo. The digital marketing services company must be able to establish your brand by using all its facets consistently across all your marketing efforts so that it is impressed upon patients and potential patients at all times.

Ability to identify your unique practice features and popularize them

A good healthcare digital marketing company analyses what special features you offer to patients that make you a niche player.

For example, among all eye care practices in your area, if you are the only one with laser technology device, your digital marketing partner highlights it in your website and in other marketing efforts.

Key Strategies That Boost Your Practice’s Online Reputation

1. Your digital marketing services partner will boost your online presence using social media marketing strategies.

a. List your practice in important healthcare, review, and directory websites

These listings will have accurate practice information which includes description of your practice, the infrastructure you have, resources you own.

Visuals such as photos and videos will be added whenever feasible. All listings have your present address, website link, phone number, and business hours. Regular monitoring of your listings and updating the information will also be undertaken by the digital marketing services partner.

b. Build an optimized website

A best web design services provider builds a lead-based website with a modern layout, easy to navigate and SEO-specific web pages, compatible to be accessed in all devices.

A best healthcare website development company will create custom healthcare content for your website. The website will be linked to your social networking sites listings to obtain patient reviews and testimonials.

A best website design service provides prominent call to action (CTA) for visitors to schedule an appointment.

c. Make your social media pages mobile-friendly

Another social media marketing strategy adopted by online digital services is to make your social media pages mobile-friendly.

Mobile website and mobile app development for your practice are other strategies followed by internet marketing services to boost patient engagement.

2. The digital marketing services provider implements best SEO practices for your volume growth and online reputation management.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a process by which your website and other listings are top ranked by the search engines.

As SEO practices mainly focus around your website, your partner must be a best healthcare website development company.

Some of the best SEO practices that could be adopted by your internet marketing services partner are:

  • Listing you in local search web pages like Google+
  • Listing your practice in multiple SNS to draw more engagement
  • Encouraging patient engagement as well as reviews on your website and publishing them on social media to boost rankings
  • Creating and populating the website and other listings with the right keywords
  • Defining your metadata with title tags and meta descriptions to be picked up by search engines locally and globally

Conclusion

Employing an experienced and domain-specialist digital marketing services company is prudent in these challenging times to achieve goals of your practice.

As internet marketing services are available dozen a dime, you need to evaluate which is the best healthcare website development company, as an optimized website along with best SEO practices is a major strength in your online reputation management quest.

There are many small-time players who might give a lesser quote but their ability to sustain positive ROI is a big question.

Hence choosing a reputed healthcare digital marketing services company in India that can provide comprehensive web design services, mobile app development, internet marketing services and social media marketing and online reputation management will go a long way in successfully managing your online reputation.

11 May
Elihealth

Seven reasons to opt for an integrated HIS/ophthalmology EMR

It is time to up the ante.

Yes, when all around you practices are powering ahead with the help of latest technology and professional services why do you have to lag behind with a billing software and outdated Practice Management Software?

Multiple challenges from all directions are trying to drain you of energy, cost and resources. How to take them up heads on, while working towards enhanced patient care, increased billing and collections, and decreased overhead/administrative costs?

Why not opt for an integrated HIS/EMR and Practice Marketing suite? It gives the much-needed fillip to your practice. A combination of commonly given features with ophthalmology-centric process features makes this suite the best candidate for adoption in attaining the organizational goals of improving patient care, enhancing productivity, and optimizing billing and collection.

GENERAL FEATURES OF A GREAT HIS/OPHTHALMOLOGY EMR

Electronic medical records

Using various ready-to-use templates physicians can prepare patient medical records at every point of care digitally. Medical records are updated in real time across departments. These records can be shared among practitioners of that hospital/clinic, and selective viewing by patients through patient portal is facilitated.

E-prescription

Doctor can electronically prepare and send patient prescription to pharmacy directly. This eliminates human error, helps to keep track of patient drug history, and saves time for patients and pharmacists as no re-entry of prescription is required at the pharmacist’s end. Doctors can view the stock and prescribe the suitable available medicines eliminating the use of substitute drugs.

Computerized physician order entry (CPEO)

Doctors can enter further treatment instructions using this function in the patient medical record. These may be lab tests, radiology, or medication details. The system is designed to check for duplicate instructions before sending it to the concerned sections electronically.

Patient portal/mobile app

It’s a safe and secure channel for patients to be in touch with hospital and also access their selective health information anytime from any location, just with an internet connection. Using their login credentials patients can access the system and perform various activities such as appointment scheduling, information enquiry, direct messaging, make payments, and update their profile.

Clinical decision support

EMRs offer clinical decision support by suggesting diagnoses based on the recorded complaints and vision. Most of EMRs check for drug allergies. Some may also recommend alternative treatments or suggest physicians to perform a particular test.

Examination details, investigations required and appropriate medication can be found in the templates to be used as prompts for complicated cases. Diverse reports like medical analysis reports, administrative reports and graphical reports can be generated in specialty EMRs leading to better informed medical decision-making.

OPHTHALMOLOGY-SPECIFIC FEATURES OF TOP-CLASS HIS/EMR

What’s more, there are some fantastic ophthalmology-specific features most of the leading HIS/EMRs have that strongly favor the suite.

Eye care specialties workflow management

Workflow is designed to cater to the needs of ophthalmology specialties, which includes interaction between patient and physician for booking an appointment, and subsequent primary work up by the physician, vision testing examination and other testing, integration of test results into EMR, diagnoses, integration of image workup, e-prescription, corrective lenses ordering and reminders for follow-up visits.

Ophthalmology/optometry templates

Top-ranked EMRs have SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) note templates customizable for unique eye care practice needs. These EMRs include optometry templates for eye exam, lost or blurred vision, lens evaluation, corrective laser surgeries, conjunctivitis, corneal conditions and ocular surgeries, among others.

Detailed Eye diagrams

EMR facilitates the physician to document ocular occlusions and other problems graphically by providing scores of detailed diagrams.

Integration of vision testing device

Autorefractor, keratometer and other vision testing devices are integrated to the EMR, allowing instant population of workflow template and supporting diagnoses on the spot.

Coding support and e-prescription

Because of the equipment integration to it, EMR suggests probable diagnoses and apt ICD-10 codes and also recommends prescriptions, decreasing the chances of over or under prescription and inaccurate coding.

Integration with opticals and pharmacy

Some specialist ophthalmology EMRs offer integration with opticals and pharmacy, expediting the sale and inventory management of drugs, glasses and contact lenses.

SEVEN MAJOR REASONS TO ADOPT AN INTEGRATED HIS/OPHTHALMOLOGY EMR

1. Digitize patient records

It improves clinical reporting, clinical decision-making and patient care. EMR helps in creating reports that can identify the ailments without delay, track patient health condition and assess risk factors. It also aids physicians in making an accurate diagnosis of the present condition and advising future course of action.

2. Optimize revenue

While using paper-based charts many of the services rendered are missed and never billed (e.g. service posting). EMR software facilitates capturing of charges for all services provided, thereby optimizing billing, which in turn increases collections.

With the implementation of an EMR the storage space of paper-based medical records is freed, which can be used as additional consultation rooms, generating more revenues with same costs. HIS/EMR provides checks and reminders of patients who are due for recommended consultations or for upcoming annual check-ups, thus boosting patient volume and revenue.

3. Maximize insurance reimbursement

EMR software allows producing sufficient supporting documents to comply with insurance criteria and supports the apt level of services to be billed. Correct coding paves way for speedy reimbursement process.

Still better, HIS/EMR helps in submitting fully completed claims in the very first attempt, majorly decreasing the number of denied claims.

4. Increase productivity

When EMR is not used physicians have to spend more time in creating and reviewing patient records. Whereas an EMR generates progress notes automatically that can be signed by the doctor on the spot or from anywhere, anytime.

Time is also saved when patient medical records are accessed by doctors and technicians without sifting through scores of paper-based records, when lab results are received digitally and when e-prescription is followed.

EMR reduces waiting time at every point of care. Time thus saved can be utilized by the physicians and technicians to attend to more patients each day, increasing productivity and efficiency.

5. Improve patient care

HIS/EMR features like integrated databases, suggestion of diagnoses based on symptoms recorded, and drug allergic interaction verification greatly aids in correct medications and dosages.

An HIS/EMR provides standardized clinical reports that can be shared digitally among specialists and technicians, which results in better care coordination.

Timely checks and reminders provided by the HIS/EMR can be sent to all patients who are due for recommended consultations or annual check-up. This results in increased volume and continuous care.

HIS/EMR allows physicians to share medical information to their patients digitally, increasing the chances of patients coming back for their future medical needs.

EMRs enable physicians to maintain better communication by delivering information directly to their patients electronically. Staying in touch drives patients to come back for future medical needs.

6. Decrease services cost/overhead

HIS/EMR software allows for medical charts to be created at the points of care, eliminating transcription costs. EMR reduces the costs and time related to storing and retrieving paper charts.

Patient Portal module in EMR facilitates patients enter their profile even before the first visit, hence eliminating man hour spent by the admin staff on the same and reducing data entry costs.

7. Predict actionable business outcomes

Smartly generated data using a good HIS/EMR allows for business intelligence process analytics that calls for analyzing data and predict actionable outcomes for management to take informed business decisions.

These decisions are mainly based on such data EMR produces by which augmented intelligence tools can utilize to ask questions, predict outcomes and visualize results.

CONCLUSION

EMR plays a powerful role in all spheres of a medical practice in the current high-tech scenario. Ophthalmology-specific features of an integrated HIS/EMR contribute around 60% for the success of the suite.

Given that selecting an appropriate integrated HIS/ophthalmology EMR software, with practice management, having high-priority features like integration with optical, pharmacy and lab as well as equipment integration is essential in achieving clinical and organizational goals.

11 May
Elihealth

HIS/EMR Vendor Selection Criteria and Process

INTRODUCTION

The decision to move from paper-based medical records and complex workflow management to an integrated HIS/ophthalmology EMR is a prudent transition to benefit from the advantages it offers, making hay when the high-tech sun shines. While implementing an integrated HIS/EMR solution results in more efficient workflow, a decrease in number of staff who create, index, file, and retrieve manual patient records, and a decrease in time spent to complete clinical tasks such as referrals, lab, and diagnostic orders, the process of implementation might prove to be a sticky wicket without adequate preparation and owning responsibility on your part. It is essential to define clear vendor selection criteria, and have a proper EMR and vendor assessment process to avoid being bogged down in the implementation quagmire.

EMR IS NOT JUST AN EMR TODAY

In the present times all health care providers have undergone practice methodology changes and administrative and management changes as well. This is the age of transformation in many respects.

  • The earlier model of home-visiting family doctor has given way to single-physician and general practice or single-specialty clinics. Then the practices were mostly owner driven, with multiple visiting physicians. Hence paper-based patient record keeping helped the owner to have the overall knowledge and control of the hospital management.
  • Gradually, multi-specialty hospitals came into existence and grew in number. Their administration was run not by a single owner but by a group of young professional business managers who kept abreast of latest technology developments. These managers brought in EMR for better process management and patient care, informed decision-making, and enhanced revenues.
  • Now not only big hospitals but physicians who run clinics on their own also want to go for EMR to ease their administrative as well as workflow burden.
  • To go by the latest trend, detailed and accurate data capturing capability of an integrated HIS/EMR is used for smarter business intelligence analytics and outcome prediction.
  • More and more hospitals are opting for accreditation to compete in the global field. An HIS/EMR with its exhaustive and accurate documentation capabilities is a boon in complying with the accreditation procedures, which call for regular documentation of the organization-centered process flow and patient-centered care procedure standards.
  • With the advent of technology patients are well informed. To meet their demand for quality care and competitive pricing, hospitals are increasingly opting for EMR.
  • Streamlining insurance process claim submission has become imperative for hospitals to increase patient numbers and improve collections. EMR plays a major role in accurate data capture for complete claim submission, reducing number of rejections to miniscule percentage.

Hence an integrated HIS/EMR comprehensively takes part in decision making, enhancing clinical reporting, improving workflow management, increasing care coordination, boosting collections, complying regulations, and augmenting patient loyalty. Today an HIS/EMR is no more for electronic medical records documentation and maintenance; it has been further expected to play multiple decisive roles in running a health care service successfully.

KEY DRIVERS TO HIS/EMR/PMS TRANSITION

Digitizing patient medical records is only a starting point for opting an Integrated HIS/EMR/PMS package. The patient record data can launch analytics. They help in predicting outcomes, visualizing results and sharing information aiding in diagnosis and management decision-making. A good HIS/EMR facilitates business intelligence analytics using AI by its data capturing and custom report generating capabilities.

To put it in a nutshell, the following are the major reasons for a hospital or a health care provider to switch over to EMR or upgrade to an integrated HIS/EMR/PMS software solution for their daily operations:

  • Digitize patient records
  • Optimize billing
  • Maximize insurance reimbursement
  • Increase productivity
  • Improve patient care
  • Decrease services cost/overhead
  • Deploy predictive analysis in decision-making

PREPARATION AHEAD OF HIS/EMR SELECTION

Once the decision to implement/upgrade HIS/EMR is taken, preparations to that effect need to be put in place prior to actual implementation/upgradation. Though the selection and implementation of a most suitable HIS/EMR is a slippery slope, having a clear-cut plan before selecting the HIS/EMR and vendor will significantly sidestep the rocks on the way.

There are a number of key components that need to be crystallized prior to the initiation of the HIS/EMR selection process, which have the potential to make or break the successful transition to HIS/EMR. These include:

Clarity

Be clear on the high-priority requirements that need to be addressed by the HIS/EMR to make the transition useful and worth the efforts and cost. Differentiate between must-have features (e.g. ophthalmology-specific modules) and nice-to-have features (e.g. HR module).

Goal

Set practical, prudent clinical, productivity and work environmental goals, which will result in tangible outcomes.

Time line

Decide on a time line for selection, negotiation, and implementation of EMR to make it effective in achieving goals.

User consensus

Arrive at a consensus with HODs and end-users as their cooperation and active participation will help in attaining the above criteria and also will result in smooth implementation.

Budget

Freeze the budget based on the size of your practice, the required add-on features, deployment location (cloud based, remote, or on premises), and additional warranty required, among other factors. Always allot an additional 30% for hidden charges or customization requirements for the first year.

Level of automation

Decide on the level and the number of processes to be automated depending on your budget and time line. Keep in mind that achieving 100% automation is a phase-by-phase process, that is, complete automation doesn’t occur at the very first stage of implementation.

Compliance

Finalize which statutory regulations need to be complied in toto, such as HIPAA, HL-7, ICD-10 and NABH standards.

STEP-BY-STEP SELECTION PROCESS

1. Need assessment

Based on the above key considerations, the hospital should prepare a requirement document.

2. Vendors selection

Pick five popular vendors after checking up with other practices that have implemented HIS/EMR and any medical association of which you are a member for HIS/EMR evaluation resources and also after searching online for suitable vendors.

3. Request for information (RFI)

Design a RFI document containing relevant details you need for EMR and vendor evaluation. The said document solicits information about the solutions and services offered by the vendor, vendor’s business profile (support structure, team quality, skill set, experience, domain knowledge, previous experience, financial stability), HIS modules, EMR capability, ophthalmology-specific features, statutory compliance, interoperability, equipment integration capability and interface, data security design, implementation and training methodology, ongoing support services, patient tracking capabilities, warranty and extended warranty details, estimated cost, site visit possibility, and availability for demonstrations, among any other specific details you need.

4. Comparison and short listing

Based on the RFI, compare the vendors and shortlist a minimum of three vendors and call for a proposal from each of them. Insist on detailed proposal covering deliverables in no uncertain terms. The exhaustive the proposal the better is the selection.

5. Demonstrations and site visits

Schedule demonstrations of all three shortlisted vendors and have a face-to-face interaction with each team. Obtain two references of the vendors’ clients where the same HIS/EMR model has been implemented. Contact both references, discuss, and collect their feedback and reviews on the vendor. Make sure you visit their websites too to get another angle, as these days most of the patients rate and review their treatment encounter online. Site visit along with the development office visit is highly recommended.

6. Negotiation

Negotiate for the total cost of EMR inclusive of HIS components. Keep in mind hidden costs such as additional implementation charges, additional customization charges, and support charges while working out the final cost. Arrive at the final cost after taking into account the cost that would be incurred for next three years including AMC, for a reasonable expenditure estimate.

7. Finalization

Finalize the best vendor with a stable financial background, solid project management capability, and proven track record in execution that meets you half way and ready for a long-term partnership. Make certain that the vendor is ready to do some customization to suit your needs, at the same time remember that too many changes will lead to distortion. So it is better to strike a balance.

During the finalization freeze 15 to 20 must-have MIS reports, for example daily, weekly and monthly collection summary, payables and receivables, and patient registration summary so as to confirm no necessary input capture is missed by HIS/EMR while customizing.

GO THE EXTRA MILE

As the saying goes well begun is half done, but the other half of the successful implementation of HIS/EMR rests with you. To put it clearly, 50% of the success depends on your owning the responsibility for implementation and maintenance.

For it not to be a protracted process, the hospital must provide a conducive atmosphere for the vendor to implement HIS/EMR seamlessly, while conceding that the process takes 3 to 4 months to settle down.

The following steps from your side guarantee a successful implementation experience:

  • Allocate a dedicated resource or a team to go-between the vendor team and decision-makers and end-users. This will ensure there is no gap in communication on the scope that has been finalized and what is being implemented among all stakeholders. The single-point of contact provides the vendor team clear directions and coordination, in turn ease in implementation.
  • Apply the top-down approach, which is highly essential for smooth and stable implementation. It has been found from research that the major impediment for implementation success is user reluctance. The end-users willingness to take HIS/EMR training has to be ensured by dispelling their misconception about productivity disturbances, workflow changes, and level of skills needed to work on HIS/EMR by the decision-makers convincingly.

Management has to take into confidence the end-users by enlightening them about the need for HIS/EMR and the advantages it will bring in the realm of ease of use, productivity, and patient care.

CONCLUSION

Although going for an integrated HIS/ophthalmology EMR in this high-tech era is a wise choice, freezing on select-featured EMR and vendor might prove to be a tricky process. This can be handled by systematic approach. Post selection implementation also holds key for a successful EMR transition.

Joint efforts of both vendor and the customer go a long way in seamless implementation and maintenance. To overcome the initial user reluctance and promote user adaptation, the decision-makers should apply the top-down approach by confidence building measures like organizing training sessions, motivational lectures, practice sessions, etc.

The vendor on their part have to provide pre-requisite training, manuals, training videos and enough hands-on training sessions to boost the confidence of users. Further, the management should own the responsibility of implementation and take an active part by dedicating a team to coordinate with the vendor for the best implementation and maintenance experience.

11 May
Elihealth

DIGITAL MARKETING SERVICES IN PRACTICE MARKETING

Reputation is the golden key that unlocks patient loyalty and in turn revenue since time immemorial. Starting from word of mouth, through paper ad, to online digital world reputation has always reigned supreme in encouraging patients to choose a specific doctor/clinic/hospital. The explosion of digital technology wide opened the world to connect with rest of the world as never before. Tapping the potential of the online space to your advantage would be a powerful technique in increasing the patient volume and in generating income in this tough competitive business scenario. To assist you in this endeavour there are top-notch firms that offer social media marketing, online reputation management, website design services, online marketing services, and healthcare digital marketing services in India and beyond.

First Things First

You need to scramble couple of basics before embarking the online journey with healthcare digital marketing services to take care of social media marketing and online reputation management in the quest of boosting your reputation: create branding for your practice and focus on your unique strengths that set you apart from others in your domain.

Creating and establishing your brand:

Come up with a professional-sounding practice name, catchy slogan, cool colour theme, and logo. Establish your brand by using all its facets consistently across all your marketing efforts so that it impressed upon patients and potential patients at all times.

Identify your unique practice features and popularize them:

Analyse what special features you offer to patients that make you a niche player. For example, among all eye care practices in your area, if you are the only one with laser technology device, you need to put it in your website and in other marketing efforts.

Why to Enlist Digital Marketing Services?

Healthcare practices and hospitals today face daunting operational and organizational challenges, such as income generation, competition, maintaining reputation as well as compliance to regulatory standards, insurance requirements and energy mandates. Amid these ever-present challenges, instead of spending your own precious resources to market your practice enlist professional digital marketing services. Choose an experienced healthcare digital marketing services company that can market your practice well.

For small practitioners competing with their huge brethren for patient share might seem an uphill task. That is absolutely a myth. Irrespective of the size of your practice, employing smart marketing strategies proved winning patient numbers. Small practices can also outsource their practice marketing and online reputation management to a professional healthcare digital marketing services company.

What a Digital Marketing Services Company Can Do For You?

1. Your digital marketing services partner will boost your online presence using social media marketing strategies.

a. List your practice in important healthcare, review, and directory websites.

These listings will have accurate practice information which includes description of your practice, the infrastructure you have, resources you own. Visuals such as photos and videos will be added whenever feasible. All listings have your present address, website link, phone number, and business hours. Regularly monitor your listings and update the information will also be undertaken by the digital marketing services partner.

b. Build an optimized website.

A best web design services provider builds a lead-based website with a modern layout, easy to navigate and SEO-specific web pages, compatible to be accessed in all devices. A best healthcare website development company will create custom healthcare content for your website. The website will be linked to your social networking sites listings to obtain patient reviews and testimonials. A best website design service provides prominent call to action (CTA) for visitors to schedule an appointment.

c. Another social media marketing strategy adopted by online digital services is to make your social media pages mobile-friendly.

Mobile website and mobile app development for your practice are other strategies followed by internet marketing services to boost patient engagement.

2. The digital marketing services provider implements best SEO practices for your volume growth and online reputation management.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a process by which your website and other listings are top ranked by the search engines. As SEO practices mainly focus around your website, your partner must be a best healthcare website development company. Some of the best SEO practices that could be adopted by your internet marketing services partner are listing you in local search web pages like Google+, list your practice in multiple SNS to draw more engagement, encourage patient engagement as well as reviews in your website and publish them in social media to boost rankings, create and populate the website and other listings right keywords and define your meta data with title tags and meta descriptions to be picked up by search engines locally and globally.

Conclusion

Employing digital marketing services is prudent in these challenging times to achieve goals of your practice. As internet marketing services are available dozen a dime, you need to evaluate which is the best healthcare website development company, as an optimized website along with best SEO practices is a major strength in your online reputation management quest. There are reputed healthcare digital marketing services in India that can provide comprehensive web design services, mobile app development, internet marketing services and social media marketing and online reputation management.

11 May
Elihealth

Why Practice Marketing Is Essential to Boost Your Practice

Times have changed

The days of friendly neighborhood family doctor were extinct. Today’s practice scenario is vastly different from that of the past decades. In the 1970s and ‘80s no commercial advertising was needed to market practices. It is mainly because the practices aimed to acquire patients from geographically proximate areas and because the referrals were through word of mouth of the existing clientele. 1990s saw the practices advertising in local newspapers for new patients acquisition. Although this widened the patient base, there was no fierce competition yet.
Furthermore, the concept of polyclinics or multi-specialty hospitals was not caught on furiously then.
Hence, operations management was comparatively easier.
In recent times, unprecedented changes have taken place in every walk of life. Physicians practice scenario was not immune to it either. Higher costs, highest competition, individual decision making by youth, proliferation of digital medium, digitally misinformed patients, ever-increasing demands for increased quality care and world moving towards online presence are major pressure points now.
Practicing and marketing the practice are no more a catwalk.

Looming threats to your practice today

Identifying the myriad challenges lurking around every corner and surmounting them in the bid to boost the practice are the biggest time and cost-consuming factors of the healthcare industry
worldwide. Though there are horses for courses, the common thread connecting all practices irrespective of the size and location are these looming threats.

Cutthroat competition

In tune with times, the healthcare practices have been corporatized to the hilt where big players either acquire small clinics or start the satellite clinics in various locations.
Most of the practices acquire latest technology equipment, making a particular practice first among equals very difficult. Hence practices have to make efforts to distinguish themselves among the
contemporaries. No practice today affords to let the guard down. Well-informed by internet, patients can switch over to other healthcare providers anytime, resulting in decreased collections.

Tough income generation

Though the patient numbers have increased, continued overheads
threaten to keep the revenue flat. These include investment in infrastructure development (such as building, machinery and equipment), labor costs (training, salary and social security measures), ever-
expanding statutory regulation standards (compliance of which puts pressure on time and resources), and tightened insurance norms (reduced margin, additional outstanding days), which
gobble a sizable part of the income.

Negative reviews

Dramatic growth in online rating in the recent decades made the healthcare professionals to sit up and take note of the patients’ power to say anything they want and anywhere
they want. Reviews gained more important than websites for practices. Online reviews directly affect the number of new patients. It looks like that impact of negative review is more than that of
positive reviews. While the positive review enhances the chances of patient traffic, the negative reviews do severe damage to hospitals’ reputation in turn revenue.

While overall these threats are to be handled and fended off by the management, practice marketing companies can definitely share a considerable chunk of this burden. When the healthcare
providers work to find ways to deal with some of the pressure points such as scarcity in skilled and experienced workforce, cutting cost and regulation compliance processes, practice marketing
professionals can lend a huge helping hand in managing other challenges by ramping up a practice’s online reputation, providing heightened visibility for that practice, thus influencing patient
treatment decision choice in favor of a particular practice. As visibility and reputation are the keys to increased patient numbers and revenue, availing online reputation management services of a
Practice Marketing Company goes a long way in boosting patient volume, augmenting patient engagement and retaining patient loyalty.

Practice marketing in patient treatment decision
Every day, 30% potential patients are looking for trustworthy healthcare providers. How to impress them to choose your practice? Practice marketing plays a major role at this crucial juncture. First,
practice marketing enhances your online visibility across a spectrum of websites, social networking sites, blogs and other web locations. Second practice marketing boosts your reputation through
deriving positive reviews, offsetting the effect of negative reviews and pushing your rank up in digital searches by potential patients.
When a person encounters an illness, he/she is suggested various care providers by family, friends and acquaintances, based first person or third person care experience. In addition to these
word-of-mouth referrals, the potential patient looks for best and affordable treatment on the internet. The search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo scrambles a list of top-ranked practices for
the potential patient to peruse. These lists include branded review sites, branded websites of practices, and branded social networking sites. The potential patient goes through all reviews at
multiple sites, based on the online reputation decides on a physician or a hospital for their treatment. Then he/she comes for enquiry and then patient conversion takes place.
Hence timely employment of practice marketing services aids in patient treatment decision choice in your favor by directing them to discover you digitally and then impress them with your
reputation.

Win over this scene with wisdom
Surmounting the looming threats and providing highest quality patient care on the one hand and maintaining an online presence and ramping up reputation relentlessly on the other put the
healthcare practices between sea and hard rock. Would the practices be striving to generate income staving off competition and complying regulatory norms, while keeping an eye on reputation
successfully? It is more or less handful. If the latest buzz is to be observed, healthcare practices have offloaded their online reputation management to professional practice marketing services who have
the requisite skill sets, technical expertise and experience. It is the most prudent way, engaging a professional digital marketing services company instead of spending one’s own precious resources.

Summary
The changed times that brought with them increased complexities for doing a business, especially in the health care sector, prompted the healthcare professionals to take a critical look at their

methodologies of running and marketing their practices. The looming threats of modern times set the decision-makers of the practices at edge. In addition, the power of patients’ reviews to affect
new patient numbers is overwhelming. In this multiple challenges scenario, professional practice marketing services have sprung up as a boon. There are available dozen a dime. But it is imperative
to choose companies that have specialized online reputation management strategies in their portfolio because since beginning till date the reputation of physicians, later hospitals, was the primary driver of patients towards the particular practice. Hence choosing a credible company to take up your online reputation management lifts most of the weight off your shoulders in the uphill
task of making your healthcare practice a runaway success.