Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008 - (Page 29)

The Bottom line In an increasingly crowded marketplace and with the threat of new technology looming, it’s essential that you find a way to differentiate your cardiac CT practice from the others in your community. Your efforts don’t have to come with a high price tag – with some imagination and effort you can either come up with your own guerilla marketing tactics or adopt those of others. It’s worth the effort to put your practice out there and to make more potential patients and referring physicians aware of the value of cardiac CT as a diagnostic tool. tives or friends that he or she brings with them,” Osborne says. “We can do a virtual autopsy of their heart using the monitor and show them exactly where any problems or potential problems are, linking that with a treatment plan for the future if that is necessary. Before they leave, we give them a CD of their heart images as well as some pictures. It’s a great way to utilize physician time because we get all the labs and results we need at once and can fully inform the patient during our meeting and it is great for the patient, who goes home with their images and shares them with family and friends.” The word of mouth referrals that have come into the practice as a result of this point-of-care cardiac CTA approach has enabled State of the Heart Cardiology to keep their scanner busy five days a week, completing 12 to 15 CTAs per day. In fact, the practice is so busy with CTAs that they don’t do calcium scoring tests, although Osborne says he may open the scanner on Saturdays and offer $50 calcium scoring tests for the general public at some time in the future. The practice grew its CTA practice by 30 percent the second full year the scanner was in use, he notes. getting your message across to the general public than television,” he says. “A radio call-in show is the best, where people can call in and ask questions. There are an amazing number of people who listen to those shows religiously.” He and several of his partners also have been interviewed for local newspaper and magazine articles, which have reaped good publicity for the practice. Corporate leaders and community groups. South Jersey Radiology Associates widened the focus of their public relations efforts by approaching corporate leaders and community groups. “With healthcare costs rising, corporations are interested in any technology that has the potential to prevent more expensive care down the road, so we’ve made a point of meeting with local corporate executives to explain and demonstrate the technology,” he says. Besides the corporate executive meetings, the practice has a nurse who not only goes out to meet with primary-care physicians in their offices, but who also speaks at meetings of local community groups, such as the Rotary Club, to inform club members about the technology and answer questions. While many insurance companies do not cover calcium screening, practices can still include the service in their marketing campaigns. this patient has severe coronary artery disease and a calcium score of 802. (provided by Cardiology Associates) Public relations Public relations involves communicating with the local media; community relations efforts targeted to corporate leaders and community groups also can be a component of an overall public relations plan. Media. Communicating effectively with the print, radio and television reporters in your area is another way to build awareness of your practice. Focus on health reporters within the media venues, as well as business reporters. Approach both local and regional media in your area. It’s been an ongoing effort for Cardiology Associates in Mobile, which has been featured on local television health news segments as well as in the newspaper. “When we initially acquired the technology, we sent out a press release to the reporters in our area and invited them in to see the CT scanner,” says Chunn. “We were the first private practice in the area to install a CT scanner, so we made a big splash locally.” Cavanaugh of New Mexico Heart Institute has appeared on talk radio shows several times and touts radio as a highly effective medium to get a message across. “Radio is a much better backdrop to CardiovascularBusiness.com Cardiovascular Business 2 http://CardiovascularBusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008

Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008 Contents The Ticker: Quality Pays in Several Ways Cover Story: The Proof: Why Evidence-based Medicine Improves Cardiac Care Clinical Study Digest: Co-payments and Cath Labs Cardiac PET/CT Fills in Gaps Left by SPECT Tapping into IT to Improve the Office-Based Practice SPECT–Proving Its Value Cardiac Images in the EMR: Just a Click Away The Top 20 Ways to Market Your Cardiac CTA Practice The Big Picture: Medical Displays for Cardiac Images Statins Work But Pharmacoeconomic Caveats Abound Driving Data Protection: Opting for Storage On- or Offsite News & Views Calendar Reader’s Resource

Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008

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