Urgent Care Marketing Tip #9: ENGAGE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Urgent Care Public Relations Firm

Public relations (PR) provides exposure for an urgent care center by creating stories that are of interest to local media outlets. PR tactics include activities such as writing press releases about the center’s services and topics of health care interest, making providers available to reporters as a subject matter expert, writing letters to the editor, and participating in community organizations.

The point of PR is to raise awareness of the urgent care center as an innovative health care delivery channel and awareness of the urgent care doctor as an expert on medical affairs. When relationships are established with local reporters, they will likely interview the urgent care operator whenever a relevant story brews.

Not only is PR free of the expense of paid advertising but there is increased credibility to “objective” coverage by third‐party media outlets. Sample topics of media interest include immunizations for seasonal and H1N1 flu, school and sports physicals, emergency
room overcrowding, and health care accessibility and affordability.

Urgent Care Marketing has a professional Public Relations Staff to handle all of your marketing needs with years of experience in the Urgent Care industry.

#5 Marketing Tip for Urgent Care Facilities: DEFINE YOUR CORE CAPABILITIES.

Urgent Care Marketing’s #5 Marketing Tip for Urgent Care Facilities:

DEFINE YOUR CORE CAPABILITIES.

Creating “competitive advantage” entails meeting consumer needs better than competitors. A successful urgent care center will be differentiated from other health care options on factors that are important to consumers like:

• Location

• Operating Hours

• Wait Times

• Scope of Services

• Appearance of Facility

• Signage Visibility

• Participation in Health Plans

• Friendliness of Staff

• Affiliations/Referral Relationships

• Self pay Pricing

• Accreditation/Certification

• Experience of Providers

A competitive advantage chart provides a diagnostic tool that identifies strengths and weaknesses relative to competitors on each factor. Strengths make up a center’s value proposition while weaknesses become the focus of improvement.

Urgent Care Competitive Advantage Chart

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#4 Urgent Care Marketing Tip – IDENTIFY YOUR COMPETITION.

An urgent care center’s competition extends beyond other walk‐in facilities and encompasses all of a patient’s options for basic health care.

Urgent Care potential competitors include:

• primary care
• after‐hours pediatrics
• hospital and freestanding emergency rooms
• retail host model clinics
• pure‐play occupational health clinics
• telemedicine
• self‐care with over‐the‐counter products

Understanding all of a patient’s options for care is a requisite to developing a service offering patients will value and creating messages that will bring patients through the door.

10 Activites for Marketing Your Urgent Care Center

Beginning Monday, 6-7. Urgent Care Marketing will be posting the 1st of a 10 part series titled “Ten Activities for Marketing Your Urgent Care Center” authored by Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Content Advisor, Urgent Care Association of America, Vice President of Strategy and Execution, Concentra Urgent Care.

A great marketing tool for Urgent Care Centers, Walk-in Clinics, Immediate Care and Ambulatory Facilities.

Urgent Care Marketing Group Targets Nation’s 9,000 Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Care Centers nationwide now have a new source for increasing their business profitability. The Urgent Care Marketing group is an all star team of Urgent Care experts in the fields of public relations, marketing, graphic design, video production, advertising, and social media. The Urgent Care Marketing group has a proven track record of increasing business for urgent care centers. Many of our experts have been presenters for the Urgent Care Association of America.

Stuart, FL (PRWEB) June 4, 2010 — The nation’s nearly 9,000 urgent care center owners and operators now have a new single source of marketing, public relations, internet, video, and design services with the announcement of the web-based resource www.UrgentCareMarketing.com. Founded as a consortium of leading marketing, public relations, internet, graphic design, and video production experts to the Urgent Care Industry, the site is a one-stop-shop for urgent care providers.

The announcement of the formation of the Urgent Care Marketing group comes as the Urgent Care Association of America held its annual convention in Orlando, Florida. “Every year during the annual meeting of the Urgent Care Association of America, the need for urgent care focused marketing is forefront on the agenda of the owners and operators of urgent care centers,” said Sam Yates, Urgent Care Marketing spokesperson. “Now urgent care owners, whether they are individual physicians, group practices, or hospital owned, have a marketing source that speaks their language and delivers results,” added Yates.

“Urgent Care professionals who want to increase their profitability need the professionals from the Urgent Care Marketing group.”

Yates, who has been a presenter at the Urgent Care Association of America conferences and supplies public relations and marketing services to select practices throughout the United States, saw the need for a specialty group to supply service to one of the fastest growing industries in America. “There is no doubt that urgent care is a growth industry. That means successful urgent care center operators will have to be more competitive in their overall marketing efforts. We have assembled a team of experts to supply them the tools needed for more profitability,” Yates concluded.

The group of Urgent Care Marketing professionals will provide access to web design, brochures, marketing videos, direct mail, advertising, public relations, and a full range of marketing activities. To learn more about the services created specifically for the Urgent Care Industry, visit www.UrgentCareMarketing.com. You may also call (772) 463-8152 or send inquiries to Urgent Care Marketing, 506 South Federal Highway, Stuart, Florida, 34994.