Arizona Hospitals Post Wait Times for ER

According to FierceHealthcare, Arizona-based Scottsdale Healthcare has begun posting the wait times for the ER for each of their three locations. Updated every 10 minutes, the home page of the healthcare system's web site clearly notes how long you can expect to wait before gaining treatment.

While I doubt anyone would check a web site for wait times for an extreme emergency, I can tell you this sounds like a fabulous idea if you feel you need to visit the ER for a non-emergency. It's good to see healthcare embracing this level of customer service -- perhaps the next evolution of this might be some sort of online pre-registration.

Imagine entering your basic information -- even if it's just your name, medical problem and perhaps an  estimate of how many minutes you might be away -- into the site. This might allow whomever is updating the wait time to have some idea as to what cases will soon be appearing and plan ahead accordingly. 

Most Physicians Avoid E-Mail From Patients Like the Plague

A story over at Yahoo News talks about how physicians are avoiding communicating with their patients via e-mail, despite the fact that a Pew Internet Project survey recently cited that 92% of Americans regularly use e-mail as a way to converse with others. Another survey by Pew even stated that consumers prefer to use the Internet as a source of research for important life decisions over experts and professionals (58% vs. 53%).

Reasons why the physicians avoided using e-mail, the story continued, included liability and privacy issues, not being compensated for this type of communication (though, physicians have never been compensated for telephone conversations either, though when was the last time you spoke to a physician and not a nurse?) and worries that their inboxes would be flooded with long, rambling e-mails.

All of this is truly a tragedy. Physicians never liked being judged and up until recently, most seem to think their patients should get care and attention at the doc's pace. Ask any physician what he or she thinks about rating systems and you'll rarely hear anything positive nor a peep of enthusiasm.

Some of my clients include homebuilders in major market areas. In this industry -- especially since the Fall of 2007 -- they've been scrambling to reinvent the way they do business and interact with prospective customers. Many have shifted most of their budgets over to web and Internet marketing. Still more have hired Internet Concierges who's only job is to facilitate, enhance and encourage interactions over the Internet. The results of this strategy, we've seen, have been staggering. Most builders who embrace this tactic have seen dramatically increased sales, especially during these dire economic times.

I can imagine a time when healthcare will have to abandon its dated methods of patient interaction. Smart healthcare marketers might contemplate such strategies as patient-physician information web portals, physician-driven online seminars, live chatting set up as a sort of "Ask a Doc (or Nurse)" or their own version of the Internet Concierge who's sole purpose is to interact via e-mail, whether it's answering inquiries, following up or taking Internet-originated appointments.

Whatever the tactics, healthcare had better be ready -- the Internet is a wonderful thing, but the one thing using it doesn't tolerate is patience.

The Internet: Trusted Health Information Resource

Today, I want to pass you over to a very tear-jerking story. It's about a couple who found out they were expecting but were faced with a terrible medical condition that came out at a routine ultrasound -- the fetus had a giant omphalocele.

No, I didn't know what that was either (so I "wikipedia-ed" it) and neither did the couple. So, according to the story, the couple's OB gave them the correct spelling of the condition and suggested they consult a specialist immediately.

Makes sense, right? You think everything is going fine. Go in for a normally scheduled check-up. A problem comes up. Your OB goes over the findings. Tells you to see a specialist.

Guess what the couple did next ("immediately" according to the news story)?

Yep, they went to the Internet for research. This is becoming a more and more common situation. According to a Pew Internet Project study, 58% of American consumers consult the Internet first when faced with a problem they need to resolve. This is more than those that consult a professional or expert (53%), family or friends (45%), newspapers or magazines (36%), or a company's or government web site (34%). In fact, of those who did consult the Internet for research, according to the same study, 94% felt they were successful in getting or finding the information they were seeking.

Now, I'm sure that couple went to see a specialist -- who wouldn't. But the key thing here is that the couple's first inclination -- the action they took right away -- was to go research the condition on the Internet.

I'm not suggesting - and never would -- that the Internet is a replacement for your physicians, specialists and other experts. But just keep in mind that the Internet -- for all it's anonymous, nebulous, unorganized and not 100% correct aspects -- is what consumers tend to trust and turn to.

If this is the case, perhaps your marketing strategy is ready to go beyond your web site and a couple of banner ads here and there. Perhaps you can capitalize on that perceived trust to uniquely position your network first in the minds of consumers.

Welcome to the eHealthcare Marketing Blog

My name is Jim Tome and I am the author of this marketing-driven blog for smart healthcare advertising, marketing and public relations professionals. I have a long, storied background in innovative healthcare marketing and web advertising in general and you can look to this blog to present some great insight into what healthcare marketing should be doing online as well as strategies and tactics to accomplish those goals.

I hope that you visit often as my plan is to post to this blog about every other day, but certainly as I seek out healthcare news to comment on. Should you have any questions, you can always contact me directly and I encourage every reader to participate in what I am sure will be some pretty spirited discussions.

Thanks again and welcome!