1. Select a planning committee. Ms. Sasso recommends that ASC leaders begin planning for their events by selecting a team of approximately 15 people to serve on an event planning committee. Each member of the committee can then be assigned various roles, including venue selection, sponsorship solicitation or marketing.
The planning committee will then be responsible for all aspects of the event — from planning, to setup and tear down, says Ms. Sasso. The committee should also be responsible for asking other ASC employees to volunteer on the day of the event.
“Every single one of my staff members volunteered on the day of the event,” says Ms. Sasso. “Each was assigned a different duty, and we provided them all with matching shirts so that they could easily be recognized by attendees as volunteers.”
Ms. Sasso also suggests the ASCs give themselves plenty of time to plan for a successful event. “I would suggest planning begin approximately six months in advance,” she says.
2. Select a venue and date. The next step in planning an event is selecting a venue and a date for the event.
Ms. Sasso recommends that ASCs try to host the events at their facilities, as her center did, in order to make community members more familiar with the facility. When hosting an event at the ASC, administrators or planning committee members will likely need to get approval from their board of directors.
“When I approached the board for their approval, I sold the event as a way to market our physicians and facility,” says Ms. Sasso “However, it turned out to be much more than a marketing event and really turned into a way to better our community and their health.”
The ASC of Union County’s event took place in a tented area in the ASC’s parking lot. “Using a tented area allowed us to bring visitors to our center without being limited by our indoor space,” said Ms. Sasso.
In order to determine a date for the event, Ms. Sasso requested each physician’s availability for weekends in the spring and then selected a Saturday when a majority of the physicians were free. She also called her city government to determine if any competing events were occurring on that date.
An ASC planning an event may also need to seek permits for the event from groups such as the fire department and the health department if prepared food is being served, advises Ms. Sasso.
3. Decide on the scope of the event. Event planners need to consider the purpose and desired size of the event. They should consider questions such as:
• Will it be used to promote ASC services and physicians only or is the purpose to promote better health in general?
• Will only ASC-affiliated providers attend or will other healthcare providers be invited?
Union’s health fair, although originally approved as a promotional event, morphed into a much larger community event.
“We had planned to host something smaller to promote our physicians, but with the downturn of the economy and decreased access to healthcare, we felt we could use the event to promote overall healthy living and offer resources to people, such as free screenings, to which they would not otherwise have access,” says Ms. Sasso.
4. Promote your event and your ASC. Ms. Sasso hired a graphic designer to create flyers and brochures for the event and worked to promote the event through local media. The materials distributed at the center and throughout the local community.
At the event, T-shirts featuring the ASC logo were distributed to attendees and the names of event sponsors were prominently displayed. In addition, each attendee’s primary care physician’s contact information was requested on the raffle entry form so that the ASC could promote their services to these providers.
5. Solicit partners and other business to participate in or donate to the event. Ms. Sasso gained sponsorship from her local chamber of commerce to further legitimize the event. Because the goals of the her facility’s event was to promote overall health, Ms. Sasso invited local healthcare-related businesses, such as physical therapy groups, nutritionists, imaging centers, chiropractors and fitness trainers, to participate.
She also asked local government and charitable organizations to participate. The local police department provided fingerprinting for children and discussed bike safety, and the local fire department provided tours of an ambulance. Local chapters of the United Way, Red Cross and the American Heart Association attended to promote their causes, and a local blood mobile was onsite for those willing to donate blood.
Each partnering organization was assigned a booth at the event and was asked to provide some sort of educational information or giveaway to attendees. “Because the purpose of the event was to give back to the community, we required that all participating groups provide our attendees with something our guests could use to improve their health,” Ms. Sasso says.
In addition, Ms. Sasso asked ASC vendors and local businesses to donate items that could be used as giveaways. As a result of her efforts, Ms. Sasso received a large number of prizes, including sports paraphernalia, gym memberships and gift certificates to local businesses. Whole Foods also chipped in by providing reusable grocery bags to hold the various items attendees received at the event.
6. Encourage your physicians and staff members to interact with attendees. A health fair or an open house event is a great way for members of your community to interact with your physicians and staff. At ASC of Union County’s event, each specialty group of physicians provided a different service or information to draw attendees to their booths. Gastroenterologists, for example, provided information about colonoscopies; orthopedic surgeons presented information on device replacement; and gynecologists provided handouts and offered raffles for cosmetic treatments, including Botox injections.
ASC staff members also staffed booths. Nurses, for example, took blood pressure and glucose readings, while infection control staff helped children use a black light to test for dirt on their hands.
Ms. Sasso recommends that event organizers require signed forms from attendees before any invasive tests, “The forms are good in the legal sense, but they also gave us a way to follow-up with anyone with abnormal results,” she says. “For example, the form we distributed for the blood pressure tests provided ranges of healthily and abnormal rates, and the nurses circled the corresponding rate for the individual. If the rate was abnormal, the form and the nurse urged the patient to see their primary care physician.”
7. Ask for feedback from attendees to improve the event. If you plan on making your event an annual one, Ms. Sasso suggests having attendees complete evaluations regarding their experience. “Overall, we had a really great response from attendees,” says Ms. Sasso. “However, there were some great suggestions for changes and additions that we will make for the event next year.”
8. Do something special to thank your sponsors. In addition to providing signage promoting the sponsor at the event, Ms. Sasso wrote each participating group a thank you note and solicited feedback for suggestions to make the event stronger next year. “All of the different groups really helped to make this event a success, and we wanted to show them our gratitude,” she says.
ASC of Union County’s event was a great success. More than 350 people attended event. Ms. Sasso’s personal goal for the event became to save at least one life, and it’s likely that the event may have done just that. Of 180 people who had their blood pressure taken, 40 were abnormal and we encouraged to see a physician, 35 men and women over 50 who had never had a colonoscopy were encouraged to do so and one women over 40 without insurance received a free mammography and a dexa scan.
“I know that through this event we have saved lives,” says Ms. Sasso. “It’s more than marketing your center or the ASC community — it’s a way to promote health and wellness in your community.”
Marcy Sasso (msasso@ascunion.com) has been the director of operations of the ASC of Union County for 4 years and has more than 25 years of experienced in the healthcare.
Learn more about the ASC of Union County.
