Illness, Hidden in Plain Sight

One of our favorite things to do is to shed light on healthcare topics and share powerful information with our readers. This time we’d like share with you an article from Catherine Boyle, Chief Operating Officer at Northfield Ministries, to touch on a subject few know about in detail but 24 million suffer from: eating disorders.

“If one illness killed more young women than all other illnesses combined, there would be just cause for alarm. Outraged groups would form, fighting to save lives. Prominent leaders would organize creative fundraisers for research. Scientists would tirelessly study until test-tube miracles resulted.

There is such an illness, hidden in plain sight, striking down predominantly women on the cusp of adulthood. This illness is eating disorders.

Some recent statistics reveal the devastating impact of eating disorders on our society:  24 million people in the United States have an eating disorder. For 86% of these people, the eating disorder started before age 20. Up to 30% of college-aged women are eating disordered.  Though eating disorders are typically thought of as young woman’s struggle, reality is that eating disorders know no age, gender or ethnic boundaries.

Once emotional, physical and spiritual condition, eating disorders typically take years to develop and years to recover from; If you recover.  Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate for all other mental illnesses combined, and are the number one cause of death for women aged 15 – 24.

The cost of lives lost to the eating disorder beast is incalculable, but the cost of treatment is readily available, and unfortunately it isn’t cheap:  one-week hospital stays average over $11,000 for an eating disorder patient, but each hospital stay also has significant costs for insurance companies, as well as the local, state and federal government (for Medicaid and indigent patients).  More importantly, hospital stays do not resolve the eating disorder, but are merely a band-aid to keep women alive, only to return to the same behaviors and environment that resulted in hospitalization. A vicious cycle of frequent hospitalizations often results, which means unstable and poor health for the patient, and consequentially, difficulties with employment and growing financial burdens.

Specialized treatment options are available but given the significant death rate and medical complications associated with eating disorder, most options are prohibitively expensive, often in the range of $2000/day and up.  Virtually all of the costs of specialized treatment are borne by individuals.

So, where is the outrage, the research, the funding?  Almost non-existent.  Eating disorders are significantly underfunded compared to other illnesses with similar rates of occurrence. Though eating disorders have been in our national vocabulary since the death of Karen Carpenter 30 years ago, the complexity and painful nature of the issues that make up eating disorders have resulted in a lack of significant financial and other tangible support.

Against formidable odds, one brave mom is on the forefront in the battle to rescue this generation from eating disorder.  Motivated by the multitude of young women who came to her through her church and the community, all seeking help with their eating disorders, Gwen Seiler. She dreamed of a place where women could break free from their eating disorders without bankrupting their families. In 2006, Northfield Ministries was born.

Northfield Ministries is a Richmond-based Christian non-profit working with women struggling with eating disorders, depression and self-harm. Northfield currently provides mentoring services and helps women and their families find care providers appropriate to their specific needs. The benefits from Northfield’s work are obvious: women are connected to the right resources for healing; they are mentored with Christian principles; they learn their worth and purpose. Wonderful byproducts include reduced spiritual, emotional and financial burdens on families, and ultimately lower costs to insurance companies and to society.

In early 2012, Northfield is opening a 12-bed residential treatment facility 30 minutes west of Midlothian, VA for women who need to work through the issues underlying their eating disorders in a focused way.  Located on 49 acres of Virginia farmland, Northfield’s Cumberland Home offers a beautiful, safe, serene location where women can separate from environmental triggers and begin to rebuild the identity and purpose God desires for their lives.

Northfield Ministries believes that healing from eating disorder is possible.  We’ve seen it over and over.  But we can’t help everyone who comes to us without support.  If ever there was a cause that needed help, eating disorder is that cause.

Maybe this is why you are reading this article. Be the voice for those who have lost theirs. Support Northfield Ministries. The life you help may be the life of someone you love.”

For more information about eating disorders or Northfield Ministries, contact Catherine Boyle, Chief Operating Officer of Northfield Ministries, catherine@catherineboyle.com or visit www.northfieldministries.org. 

Statistical source:  Commonwealth of Virginia Joint Commission on Health Care, Healthy Living/Health Services Subcommittee ‘Study of Eating Disorders in the Commonwealth’, September 19, 2011.

Future Designs in Healthcare

The way hospitals deliver healthcare to consumers continues to be a hot topic.. From changes in insurance to new technology, healthcare organizations are re-evaluating the best channel for keeping patients healthy and costs down.

With a laundry list of desired (and required) changes needed for continued success, hospital administrators have big steps to take. (New Year’s resolution, anyone?)

With the fast (and continuing) growth of technology inside and outside of the point-of-care service, patients are more empowered than ever. The question is: how do hospitals take full advantage of the technology to make the care of chronic diseases require less resources?

The first step? Shifting from in-office to satellite visits. Using smaller, more easily maintained facilities reduces costs associated with expensive hospital facilities. The decreased cost of more (but smaller) facilities will help manage the expanding population of Americans with chronic diseases.

Next up? Arming hospitals with the ability to provide care responsibly even during extreme events, like hurricane Katrina. Most hospitals are aging buildings with insufficient infrastructure. Updating water systems, back up generators and underlying structural issues will make be paramount for healthcare organizations. New technology will not only make these behemoth buildings more cost efficient and resilient during crises, but also reduce the environmental impact.

Want to read more? Check out “The Future of Health Care Design, Look Beyond the Hospital” by Fast Co.

How do you envision the future of healthcare?  What steps has your organization taken to update channels of care? We want to know! 

2011 Best of Junto Healthcare Marketing

It’s that time of year again. Wrapping paper, ribbons, bows and forced family fun.

And time for our annual “Best of” post. Here are a few staff and fan favorites from this year on Go Junto. Thanks for making 2011 so fantastic. Cheers to an even better 2012!

See how we did picking the top trends of 2011 – 5 Trends Influencing Healthcare Marketing in 2011

Our favorite inspiration this year – The Next Idea for Healthcare Marketing Inspiration

The healthcare take on a popular tech trend – Using QR Codes in Healthcare Marketing

Who’s side are you on? – Facebook v. Foursquare: Healthcare Social Media Showdown? 

Get out of the rut – Rethinking Your Agency RFP Process

O, you shouldn’t have! – Is Kindness Trendy?

Learning from Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins: Healthcare Marketing Guru

In addition to our regularly scheduled content, we seek out the best and brightest in healthcare from docs to gurus. Check out a few of our favorite guest posts from 2011.

Rise’s take on social television – At the Intersection of TV and Digital Media

Richmond’s own digital savvy MD – How One Doc Does Social Media Right 

From one #HCSM sensei to another – Q&A with Reed Smith, Healthcare Social Media Guru

Happy Holidays!

From one awkward family photo to another, Happy Holidays.

Facebook, Privacy and Health…Oh My!

Did you know that an overwhelming 86% of Facebook users think “it’s no ones business but my own” when asked about sharing personal health information on Facebook? Thanks to the group at the Path of Blue Eye Project for commissioning this infographic that lays out all of the juicy details on why the social media giant, Facebook, isn’t for sharing…yet.

It’s important to know where your clients and prospects are and what they’re willing to share. The numbers of people using the internet to research doctors, illness, and hospitals is rapidly increasing. How will you exchange information with them?

Have you had a different experience with users sharing personal information with you? We want to know! 

This awesome infographic is from the cool people at Cool Infographics!

A Better Healthcare Brief

I recently heard Earl Cox from The Martin Agency (Geico, Wal Mart) speak on trends in branding and advertising.

He offered us a way to write a better creative brief.

It’s simple, and changes the way we think about how our campaigns can engage audiences.

• What is our audience really interested in?
• What ideas can build a bridge from their interests to our brand?
• Why might they talk about this idea?
• How and where can they get involved?
• What will keep the conversation going?

The goal for any campaign is for people to have a thought and take an action. I want to jog pain free…I’ll buy these Bondi B shoes.

3 Secrets to Becoming a Destination Hospital

Why Now? 

With healthcare costs growing around 5.8% annually, savvy employers and consumers are now looking for the most affordable ways to get high quality care. And according to a study conducted by Deloitte, 80% of people are willing to travel outside their community for outstanding medical care, especially if they can get it at a reasonable rate.

Looking to lower healthcare costs, employers are driving the domestic medical travel trend.  Fortune 500 companies like Lowe’s are sending employees to regional hospitals for healthcare. Their large insured groups are seeking the best outcomes for the best prices—which probably can’t be found in the health systems closest to their employees.

Destination hospitals attract patients from across the country by excelling in one core surgery service line and providing value-based pricing to businesses.

BridgeHealth, a surgery benefit management company, helps manage surgical costs for large insured groups. BridgeHealth looks at claims data to see which employees are headed towards surgery. Then they help educate the employee/patient on best treatment options and the right hospital for best outcomes.

BridgeHealth has a network of hospitals that rank top in the nation* for specialty surgeries. The growing importance of third-party care coordination is visible in the nation’s largest corporations: a major Fortune 100 company just signed a deal with BridgeHealth to manage all their employee surgical procedures.

Companies like BridgeHealth are filling a void by providing coordination services for the difficult-to-navigate sea of health systems, insurance companies and government regulations. And marketing to both patients and companies is getting results. Focusing on choices and first-class care, BridgeHealth’s latest campaign shows that more options is always better.

Becoming a Destination Hospital

It can be hard work—but it’s not a complicated process, and the benefits are many. Specializing is always a tough business choice as it seems to limit choices, but becoming an expert in one particular field can be worth it. When people know that your hospital is the place for (Insert your key service line here) care, you will experience increased volume—resulting in higher revenue, more experience for your staff, and better quality. And it just gets easier and easier as more patients roll in, creating a snowball effect, as your staff gets more experienced and your brand becomes more well-known.

So how do you become a destination hospital, making the most out of the increasing trend toward domestic medical tourism?

Here are our three steps for success:

1. Differentiate yourself. Choose a surgical service line that you can build a center of excellence around. Be a market leader in that area. The most sought-after hospitals are the ones with narrowly defined differentiation strategies.
2. Market yourself as a “destination hospital” emphasizing your core service line. Target businesses, insurance companies, TPAs and individuals.
3. Establish partnerships with businesses to offer their employees care in your core service line. The increased traffic from the partnership will give your staff more experience, leading to higher quality service.

Looking for more? Here are a few of our favorite articles on medical tourism and destination hospitals.
PepsiCo strikes a deal with Johns Hopkins
Surgery deals lead employers and consumers to destination hospitals
How one company is saving businesses big bucks on employee medical treatments

*CareChex is a medical quality rating service of The Delta Group — the nation’s largest privately held healthcare information service company. CareChex provides clinical, financial, and patient satisfaction findings to consumers, providers, and purchasers of U.S. medical care. Unlike other publicly available hospital quality ratings, CareChex provides a comprehensive evaluation of all components of medical quality including process of care, outcomes of care, and patient experiences.

CHPRMS: Recap of Carolinas Healthcare Marketing Fall 2011 Conference

This year’s Carolinas Healthcare Marketing and PR Society fall conference in Asheville, N.C., is all about changes in “altitude.” Waking up to views of the Blue Ridge Mountains is perfect inspiration to think bigger.

Sessions focused on hot topics from managing physician relations to connecting with generational audiences to overcoming administration’s challenges to social media to guerrilla tactics.

Here’s a quick synopsis of some of our favorite sessions and conversations.

We’re Family so Why Are We Fueding (Physician Relations)

• Tess Niehaus and Jennifer Benz with St. Anthony’s outlined how to manage physician expectations, Family Feud style.
• To help avoid issues between employed physicians and non-employed physicians, it’s critical to educate both groups up front about Stark law, hospital policy and marketing priorities. That should help manage expectations.
• What’s the top requested marketing vehicle requested by docs? Print ads. But St. Anthony’s results (and we agree) show direct initiatives are three times more effective, on average.
• Of the four P’s, most only consider promotion, but price, product and place are important as well.
• When marketing employed physicians, don’t flaunt to non-employeds. For example, take non-employed physician names off direct mail promoting employed docs.
• Include physicians in service-line promotion, like this.

The Cautious Consumer:  10 Tactics to Engage Them Post-Recession

• Target by generation and customer group. Understand what drives them and tailor messages accordingly.
• Find ways to get to consumers when their filters are down.
• Affordability is the second most important definition of quality according to customers (Choice of physician is first!)
• Most consumers price shop for diagnostics, labs, and outpatient surgeries.
• High income consumers care about quality ratings. If you’ve got it, flaunt it, but do it like this.

Social Media

Is your C-Suite STILL not supporting social media? Perhaps having them talk with a third party may help. Here are more ideas.

Strategies for the Trust & Value Economy

• In a consumer-driven trust economy, your image, perception, brand is everything.
• Pull, don’t push potential consumers. There are distinct differences.

Campaign Launches for BridgeHealth, Surgery Benefit Management Company

Earlier this year, BridgeHealth, partnered with Franklin Street to develop a campaign for their unique role: “the premier provider of access to Centers of Excellence in the US and beyond for planned major surgeries.”

From direct mail to brochures to email campaigns, Franklin Street developed a complete advertising campaign.

Free Your Feet

We’ve said it before: we are more than just health and wellness marketers. We are health and wellness nuts. And the newest Franklin Street fad? Jogging.  From 5ks to half marathons to mud runs, our team has tried them all and we can tell you one thing: a good pair of shoes is your best jogging partner. Here’s one take on the growing shoe-less running trend.

Thanks again, Tony Shin, for another awesome infographic.

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