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2017 MHSCN Award of Excellence Winners

Winners of the the 2017 MHSCN Award of Excellence competition were announced during MHSCN Spring Conference Awards Luncheon.

Congrats to our all our winners! See their photos on Facebook.

Thank you!

Thanks to all the professionals who entered the Award of Excellence competition.

Our appreciation also goes to the 2017 Award of Excellence judges from the Nebraska Healthcare Marketers (NHM).

Best Advertising Campaign

Print and digital ads about the Richfield Clinic's September 2016 move

The Award of Excellence for Best in Advertising goes to Hennepin County Medical Center for their campaign to support the move and expansion of the Richfield Clinic.

For years, the HCMC Richfield Clinic was located in an outdated strip mall. The clinic had high productivity, but was cramped and services were limited to primary care.

By moving only a few blocks away, the clinic was able to double in size and add several specialty areas – including geriatrics which was identified as a need in this area.

Goals of the project included:

  • to increase both the commercial and Medicare payer mix
  • to increase the number of HCMC and Hennepin County employees, which are a patient population in other clinics, but historically had not been in the Richfield Clinic.

To achieve this they used both an internal and external campaign. Three message platforms were used as a unified creative thread across all media.

Results include:

  • The clinic has shown very positive results in patient volume.
  • The percentage of commercial payer mix is steadily rising.
  • Percentage of Medicare payer mix is also steadily rising due to outreach with senior living centers nearby.
  • HCMC and Hennepin County employees who are patients have increased.

What the judges said:

  • Objectives were clear. The background information was helpful to understand the marketing direction.
  • Great situational analysis-lots of description to visualize each campaign.
  • Love the graphics and the use of the logo throughout all three ads. Results clearly show this was an effective campaign.
Honorable mention goes to FirstLight Health System for their We Specialist in You campaign.   

Best in Print

The Award of Excellence for Best in Print goes to Suburban Imaging for their updated patient brochure.

The last time their printed patient brochures were updated was 2007. Nine years old seems like 90 years old in the marketing world.

After reviewing survey feedback from patients, the overwhelming theme was that patients appreciated our staff; our people made patients feel comfortable, cared for and relaxed. Attitudes about healthcare have changed, and people want to be more informed about their health.

Suburban Imaging hired a photographer to take new pictures specifically for the brochure covers, saying, "We didn’t want to feature scary MRI or CT scanners. The goal was to showcase our calm, friendly doctors and staff in the imaging room environment – featuring the actual people who will provide you with exceptional care, and the imaging equipment as a secondary element... Overall, the tone of the brochures is not something scary or nerve-wracking, as getting an imaging exam can sometimes make people feel. The message is about the exceptional care patients receive from these wonderful people."

Results included:

  • Featuring staff in printed brochures was a great way to recognize their dedication and hard work.
  • Clinics who use the brochures say they are much more informative for the patient. Additionally, it’s great to hear patients recognize the techs on the brochure. "Hey! You’re the lady on this MRI brochure!”
  • The initial order of brochures is already used up with two two reorders placed.

What the judges said:

  • The public perception is a great gauge on a success of a program.
  • Graphic design is pleasing, good use of photos humanizing the department/procedure.
  • The objectives were clearly defined and the need is there.
Honorable mention goes to Johnson Consulting Services for designing Mayo Clinic Charter House print material.

Best in Digital

The Award of Excellence for Best in Digital goes to the Center for Diagnostic Imaging Viewpoints Blog.

As one of the largest diagnostic imaging companies in the country, CDI recognizes that when a patient finds themselves in one of their centers, their health is in question and they’re seeking answers.

They also recognize that more and more, patients are going online to search for answers to their health-related questions before they even step foot inside their centers.

In 2016, they launched a digital content strategy to provide answers to consumers and help them in their journey to better health.  With this new content strategy, patients can:

  • Learn from radiologists, technologists and referring providers as subject-matter experts.
  • Be informed about what to expect in exams.
  • Hear other patients’ stories,
    and meet care teams.

While developing content, CDI also considers things like business needs that can be supported with online content, Information from referral sources about types of injuries patients are experiencing and related questions. Most importantly, they ask,  “Will this content serve the consumer?”

Results included:

  • Since launching the blog in 2016, traffic to the website from organic search has increased 37%.
  • Page views of the blog have also steadily increased since launch.
  • The project has also supported content for a consistent social media presence, including articles and videos.
  • Creating the content has fostered a feeling of connection between our field teams and our corporate support teams. When the marketing team travels to a market to hear local stories, it helps demonstrate that corporate cares about what’s happening in the field.

What judges said:

  • Improving SEO is a difficult thing to accomplish.
  • Their strategy worked very well with increased traffic of 37% and increased blog views – impressive!
  • This project clearly resonates with consumers.
Honorable mention goes to Allina Health for the Healthy Set Go blog.

Best in Communications/PR

The Award of Excellence for Best in Communications/PR goes to Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) for Healthy Matters radio show.

Healthy Matters is a weekly 60-minute broadcast on WCCO Radio hosted by Internal Medicine Physician Dr. David Hilden. The show features Dr. Hilden discussing a wide variety of health care topics and answering questions from listeners via text, phone or Twitter. Dr. Hilden's engaging, conversational personality has been key to the show's success.

One of the main marketing goals of the program is to bring in HCMC providers as guests to introduce them to listeners and potential patients. Healthy Matters is also an extension of our commitment to improving the health care of our communities.

In 2016, Dr. Hilden added a blog, myhealthymatters.org, to further engage the community and elaborate on topics presented on the radio program. He has quickly built a strong following. Over his first year, Dr. Hilden covered a broad range of relevant topics to keep his audience healthy, including a post titled Maybe Your Doctor Should be a Woman.

Results included:

  • The Healthy Matters Radio show is the #1 rated show for adults 25 plus in the Minneapolis/St. Paul DMA within its time slot.
  • Listenership continues to increase with a 44,799 cumulative increase in listeners in 2016 over 2015 for adults 35 plus. (That’s more than selling out Target Field!)
  • The My Healthy Matters blog has 537 subscribers and continues to gain popularity.
  • The advertising schedule related to the show programming provides 23 promotions/commercials per week.
  • Annual reach for these promotional spots is 444,300 adults 35 plus, with the annual gross impressions of 14,892,000.
  • Podcast downloads from the Healthy Matters show average 634 per month in 2016 These advances make for a successful platform to achieve HCMC's goals of increasing awareness of health related topics/issues and offering expert health information to the community.

What the judges said:

  • Radio is a great way of getting the message out to the masses and this looks fun and uses some diversity in presentation to keep the audience guessing.
  • Physician engagement in the community is extremely important but often times difficult for marketing to have the physician commit to a regular event.  
Honorable mention goes to CentraCare Health for Our Best Begins with Me culture campaign.

Miscellaneous/Potpourri

The Award of Excellence for Best in Potpourri/Miscellaneous goes to Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) for awareness building of their Traumatic Brain Injury Center / Traumatic Brain Outpatient Program.

The goals of this campaign were to:
  • Increase awareness of HCMC’s expertise in traumatic brain injury
  • Increase the number of new patients and market share
  • Increase the overall understanding of brain injuries and how to recognize them.

Some highlights of the campaign include:

  • "Head On" as the main campaign featuring a variety of sports. Although a brain injury can occur many different ways, sports seems to resonate with people the most.
  • March is Brain Injury Awareness Month
  • They created a specific campaign featuring a four part brain which emphasized the four major components of their program and center.
  • In July 2016, after HCMC was named the exclusive medical services provider for US Bank stadium, they placed online ads in the Star Tribune with three different messages.
  • HCMC also created a partnership with the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance and conducted extensive community outreach.

Results include:

  • Search has generated 130,152 impressions with a click rate of over 4% for August to December 2016
  • Viewers of the Star Tribune who clicked thru viewed an average of 5.65 pages on the site and spent an average of over 6 minutes during their post-click visit
  • Outpatient therapy visits from TBI Clinic referrals were up 19% from 2015 to 2016 ; new evaluations were up 23% over the same time period.

What the judges said:

  • Great job on reporting results!
  • Graphic design is pleasing,
  • Impressive that click-through rates were favorable and of those who visited the site did so for quite some time.
Honorable mention goes to Midwest Dental for their Community Open House.
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