Independent surgery centers like Richmond, Va.-based Medarva Stony Point Surgery Center face several unique challenges when it comes to standing out from the competition.
Medarva Healthcare's Marketing Director Eddie Edwards is up to the challenge and helps Medarva stand out in a crowded healthcare field.
Becker's ASC Review asked Mr. Edwards about what he does to market the center and retain patients.
Note: This interview was slightly edited for clarity.
Question: With most surgery centers offering similar services, how do you help Medarva Healthcare and Stony Point Surgery Center stand out?
Eddie Edwards: I find unique marketing or educational opportunities that allow Medarva to stand out without the clutter of other healthcare systems. I’m able to locate opportunities that other healthcare organizations aren’t already using.
If all of the healthcare facilities are dominating a particular media or event, I find other opportunities that give Medarva its own spotlight. It’s a lot more work, but it allows Medarva and the network of surgeons to stand out and not be overshadowed.
Q: In relation to your online expertise, what are patients looking for when they visit a surgery center's website?
EE: I find a majority of people fall into three different categories:
1. Patients already scheduled for a procedure who are looking for information about the surgery center, patient information and directions.
2. Potential patients that are researching their surgery or symptom will find us while researching their procedure, symptoms or surgeon. This user may not be a Medarva patient or have a surgery scheduled, but if they like the information provided on the site, they may now have an interest in having their surgery with us, and may find a surgeon to perform their surgery if they don’t already have one.
3. Surgeons that are looking for additional locations to support them with available surgery space/times.
Q: How is the site setup to anticipate a patient's every need?
EE: We provide clear navigation and visual choices to help all three types of visitors to our site find the information that they are trying to find. We also provide a clear path to the information without popup surveys and banners.
Q: How critical is marketing to patient retention? What do you do to ensure a patient stays with Medarva or Stony Point forever?
EE: As an independent surgery center, our patients get to us through different channels, that is, surgeons that schedule surgery at our facility.
Then by providing great customer care, a positive experience and a value price, those patients will stay with their surgeon — who will in turn schedule additional surgery time with Medarva surgery centers.
By providing positive customer service, we're able to retain surgeons, which reflects back [on] the surgery center.
Q: What do you consider the most difficult aspect of surgery center marketing?
EE: As an independent surgery center, the most difficult aspect is competing with the budgets of larger hospital systems. We have to work strategically and efficiently.
In general, finding unique opportunities for healthcare marketing is more difficult than traditional marketing for other services and products.
For example, Crazy Larry’s Used Car Sales might be able to do crazy and outlandish marketing and advertising because that works for many products and services to catch the attention of potential customers. When you’re marketing in the healthcare field, your brand is held to a higher standard by that same person looking to buy a car. Your message needs to be clear and compassionate. People researching healthcare would probably rather be searching for something else.