Button Pays off for FindUrgentCare Members!

Who'd have known that creating a simple button would more than double the use of the FindUrgentCare Patient Pre-assessment Form?

Since the kick-off of this feature, which is included in FindUrgentCare membership for urgent care facilities nationwide, patients have shown excitement that they may automatically notify facilities prior to their arrival , while clinic managers have also appreciated the added tangibility of their successful advertising on FindUrgentCare.com.

But FindUrgentCare noticed a puzzling trend; the Pre-assessment Form was only receiving hits from a fraction of the patients searching for urgent care. Although the linked form was located on a secure webpage and notified patients of HIPPA compliance, it was not reaching its full potential of patient utilization.

Is it possible that paitients aren't noticing it? FindUrgentCare decided to test this theory by creating a virtual button, that would further communicate to patients the ease and accessibility of the automatic form.

Bingo! The weekend saw a major increase of the utilization of the form and is expected to continue receiving positive reviews from patients nationwide!

Stay hip on HIPAA

Although it may be against the instincts of many patients to openly disclose private health care information, either over the phone with the receptionist at their primary care office, with health insurance agents, or even healthcare websites, they may not be aware of their own rights regarding patient privacy.

As a patient, you are protected by "HIPAA"- a patient privacy act that states patients must be made aware of all uses of their healthcare information by a provider or handler of that information. Providers and handlers are also required abide by secure methods of obtaining and transmitting that private information.

As a way to help consumers and health care organizations get information about what HHS is doing to enforce the Privacy Rule and pursue violators, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new “enhanced” website.Check it out by clicking here for more information.

This is a reminder that FindUrgentCare encourages all levels of patient privacy in the use of the Patient Pre-assessment Form and complies with HIPPA regulations.

FindUrgentCare Patient Pre-assessment Form

Thanks to Steve Miller from Medframe, and lots of patience from our members, our automatic FindUrgentCare Patient Pre-Assessment Form was launched last week! This means that the same great form that has been available to patients on FindUrgentCare.com is now automatically sent over to clinics by fax and/or email.

The FindUrgentCare Patient Pre-Assessment Form is a quick, online form that patients may fill out to notify clinics prior to their arrival. The patient simply finds a clinic on the FindUrgentCare national database by city & state or zip code, clicks on the desired profile, fills out the linked form.

Clinics that have membership with FindUrgentCare may utilize this feature to streamline the paperwork process required during patient-intake or use it to track the success of their advertising on FindUrgentCare. A clinic's use of this feature can also be used to distinquish themselves among local competition and may be mentioned in ad campaigns and marketing.

It is important to mention that the The FindUrgentCare Patient Pre-Assessment Form complies with all HIPAA (patient privacy) regulations. The FindUrgentCare website uses a secure server to transmit all patient information directly to the desired clinic and patient informaion of certain information on the form is made optional. Patients are also required to read and acknowledge their understanding of patient rights as well as uses of the form prior to its transmittal.

This feature is just another added benefit of FindUrgentCare membership and its use is at no additional cost to the clinic. FindUrgentCare simply wants to make healthcare of all types more convenient and easy to access for patients nationwide!

To read more about our Patient Preassessment Form in the news, click here!

Happy Holidays from FindUrgentCare!

Season’s Greetings from the little worker elves at FindUrgentCare!Working around the clock to bring you extra exposure this holiday season!

Can Patients Find your Urgent Care?

In my quest for Urgent Care centers nationwide, I seek out the internet. According to market research, so do 94% of US consumers as their first stop for healthcare information. An advantage to performing the same research as our target consumer market, is that I experience the same frustrations and am able to tailor my site according to their needs. Have you seen the website of your competitor? Have you searched online for local urgent care centers? I encourage you to surf around, and find out how to market your clinic competetively.

Surprisingly, my biggest frustration as a potential consumer is the lack of vital clinic information posted on most primary websites. If I am fortunate enough to find a clinic's webpage, I often find that contact information is insufficient. Let me make a few suggestions that will help patients find your clinic:

* Include the zip code and a mapquest link if you can- providing an address without a zip code makes it much more difficult for mapquest users; most of the time, the program requires a zip code.

* Include the major crossroads, while still providing the exact address. It doesn't help a traveling patient who does not know crossroads if this is all you provide.

* Include the name of the shopping center and a familiar landmark. If a McDonald's is next to your clinic, you are allowed to mention this. Also, feel free to let the McDonald's know you are including their name in your marketing. Businesses generally appreciate more exposure, unless you mispell their name or they do not want to be associated with your business. You may even get a free Happy Meal =)

* Post pictures of your location, especially if your decor or building is something to be proud of! Either way, it will help patients quickly identify your building in your time of need.

* Use temporary, portable signage on sidewalks to attract passing traffic. This will especially help if it includes an arrow and "walk-in clinic". Clinics tucked deep into a plaza will especially benefit from this.

* Use bright or distinct permanant signage that is visible from the street. Make sure you adhere to all tenant policies if located within a plaza.

* The most obvious rule for helping patients find your clinic: Location, location location! Purchasing a great location will save you marketing dollars in the long-run by making it easier for patients to find your clinic.

* Update your website or online listing regularly!! There is nothing more dissappointing than driving to a location only to find that the hours, location, prices, or even clinic name aren't as advertised.

* Is your website on page 8 of the search results? This is where FindUrgentCare becomes valuable, you may have a beautiful website, but it won't benefit patients unless they can find it. FindUrgentCare stays up-to-date on search engine standards to provide clinics with optimal exposure.

* Did you know FindUrgentCare.com allows clinics to post a picture, provides a map, a Patient Pre-assessment Form, a link to your primary website (optional), services offered, and hours of operation?? Patients may find us by performing a search for local urgent care in major search engines.

Lastly, make sure your direct mail or ads are consistent with your website and feature landmarks, pictures, and marketing highlights.

UCAOA Fall Conference: Marketing Lecture

Amy and I managed to break away and head out to Chicago for the UCAOA Fall Conference despite all the fun at home surrounding Halloween. I couldn’t make it to all the marketing lectures that were offered, but I did attend “Hands on Marketing: Effective Campaigns & Ideas”, instructed by Cynthia Rilling, Director of Operations & Marketing of Acute Injury & Illness Centers, LLC.

As Ms. Rilling was instrumental in all stages of development for three successful urgent care centers, she has learned the "dos and don’ts" of marketing a clinic. Like many tend to agree, much is in a name. Although Urgent Care has many noted differences from Emergency Care, some states regulate the use of this name as it may be misleading to patients. Ms. Rilling spoke about the importance of checking your state’s legislation on this. She also spoke about adding words like “injury and illness center” so people know exactly what you do. Sometimes, depending on your area, short names like immediate care, walk-in center, urgent care or convenient care might not be as familiar to patients.

Ms. Rilling’s clinics have undergone name changes as well as adaptations to the logo. After realizing that using the red cross shape in their logo violated the Red Cross organization’s rights to this symbol, she had to replace all signage and marketing materials as well. Ms. Rilling described it as an expensive mistake for a brand new clinic, especially since stacks of marketing materials were fresh off the press, and the signage hadn’t even seen the clinic’s opening day. However, she was able to make it as cost effective as possible by only cutting the symbol out of the signage.

The logo underwent another conversion later on down the road, to a speedier looking red and yellow italicized cross. She also had another clinic that needed a backlit sign since it blended in too much with the building. Additional transformations like these required allocating valuable marketing dollars towards improvements in existing materials, but a simple change like this makes a world of difference in getting the patient's attention as well as to their first impression of the facility.

In fact, Ms. Rilling is very passionate about the patient’s first and lasting impression of the facility. She knows that the clinic’s design has almost as much impact on the patient as the care they receive. In her presentation, she noted “If your signage, your landscaping, and even the building you’re in isn’t the image you want to project, you will lose patients before they even meet the physician.” Her facilities’ designs employ everything from outer-space x-ray rooms, to custom murals in the waiting room, local art, plant life, a jungle themed pediatric room and a facility with a plasma screen TV. The list goes on because Ms. Rilling believes in exceeding the patient’s expectations. This is all part of removing the “white coat effect”- an expression she uses to describe the feeling of an uncomfortably sterile and bare facility—the last place you want to go when you are not feeling well.

More highlights of the lecture:
• Offer free or flu shots for a penny- for marketing purposes, not for profit
• Add more freestanding removable signage for the sidewalk
• Always mention a popular landmark in marketing materials, also include hours or other attractive benefits of your clinic, and a great picture of the facility
• Keep employees updated with your latest ad campaigns and specials
• Invite the community into your clinic for an open house with snacks and send them home with a magnet or other marketing materials

We have a winner!!! The 8gb iPod Nano was claimed by...

Dr. Husain of Northwest Ohio Urgent Care! Our hearts are warmed to hear that he will be sharing it with his adorable son who accompanied him at the recent UCAOA Fall Conference in Chicago, where we featured the iPod drawing at our exhibitor booth. Congrats to Dr. Husain and family!