The Beryl Companies Issues White Paper On Measuring Accountability of Hospital Marketing, Highlights Importance Of ROI

BEDFORD, Texas, Dec. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Beryl Companies, the nation's largest healthcare-exclusive customer interaction center, has released a white paper that examines the need for hospitals to objectively measure the effectiveness of their marketing investments. The document examines trends and discusses the central role the hospital's call center plays in gathering specific demographic information on each caller that can then be used to calculate the return on investment (ROI) for individual marketing initiatives.

"One of the greatest challenges that has historically confronted hospitals of all sizes and sponsorships is how to measure the ROI of their marketing efforts," Paul Spiegelman, CEO of Beryl, said. "In today's competitive environment, measuring ROI has become an essential and expected part of the marketing discipline. Over our 20-year history of serving healthcare clients, we have discovered the drivers for ROI measurement and the determinants of that measurement."

The white paper is a result of Beryl's experience of working with more than 500 healthcare organizations and responding to more than 15 million callers and more than one million Internet users. The document includes information derived from studies conducted by some of Beryl's strategic partners including The Strategy Group and Solucient, LLP.

According to the white paper, there are two underlying reasons for hospital marketers, CFOs and CEOs to analyze marketing ROI. First, an ROI analysis is a sound, practical activity that helps ensure that limited marketing resources are focused on the most productive areas. Second, a sound ROI analysis is the best defense of the marketing budget in the almost inevitable annual challenge.

The key to measurement is found in the hospital's call center. "If the emergency department is, for many hospitals, their 'face' to the community, the call center is the 'voice,'" Spiegelman said. "On average 20 percent of a hospital's customers will call the call center in any given year. Studies have shown that an average call center caller generates nearly $14,000 in hospital charges within 12 months after calling versus $5,500 for hospital patients overall. A four-year study by Solucient concluded that call centers drive the most profitable patients into the hospital."

Today's well-designed call centers have become the critical compass towards revenue enhancement and market share potential as they provide the starting line to quantifiably measure the ROI of dollars spent marketing an institution's program and services. In addition, best practice call centers can measure income generated by targeted marketing campaigns and can then provide the framework to overlay this income on related expenses to accurately and fully measure ROI.

As call centers have evolved, an increased emphasis has developed on how to gather complete and important demographics on each caller. Carefully trained call advisors using the right software are able to collect such information in a manner that is helpful and supportive of the caller while critically vital to growing the hospital's database. The database provides opportunities for the organization to cross-sell its programs and services and it offers a foundation upon which the healthcare organization can build its customer relationship management (CRM) programs.

The white paper outlines the simple step-by-step process organizations can use to determine ROI. In determining ROI, a hospital takes the average dollars per call received (income) and subtracts:

   * The cost to reach a patient -- how much was spent on
     marketing/advertising efforts that generated the call into the call
     center.
   * An appropriate allocated cost for operating the call center.
   * The costs of providing care to that patient once he/she is
     hospitalized.  Every hospital has its own formula, but typically this
     can range from 35 to 80 percent of gross charges.
   * A pre-determined percentage of new patients who most likely would have
     come to the hospital without any marketing efforts.  This number is
     often determined by using the hospital's share of market according to
     the most recent marketing studies available.

Once these numbers are calculated, the hospital can determine if a specific marketing campaign attracted enough profitable business to make the campaign worthwhile. And, by factoring in the "how-heard" information, the hospital begins to get a clear picture of how and where to best spend its dollars next time.

"Measuring ROI doesn't have to be a complicated process," Spiegelman said. "It does, however, need to be dependable in order for the report data to have integrity and to prompt appropriate changes. Taking the time to track callers, reconcile revenue and calculate ROI allows hospitals to more wisely spend their finite dollars and more intelligently execute their marketing programs in support of revenue enhancement."

The white paper concludes that measuring ROI has a number of other strategic benefits:

   * It responds to boards and other stakeholders who seek assurances that
     hospital resources are being properly managed.
   * Perhaps for the first time, it makes Marketing and Finance true
     partners in understanding each other's needs and working towards a
     common goal.
   * It properly positions the call center as a vital source of information
     and, in doing so, demands that the call center function with a degree
     of maturity and sophistication that makes all of this possible.
   * It paves the way for driving desirable patients into the organization
     by assuring that marketing efforts are targeted, relevant and strategy
     driven.

"Through proper measurement of ROI and arming themselves with the right information, hospital marketers have the ability, now more than ever, to forecast success with increased proficiency," Spiegelman said.

For a copy of the white paper -- "Understanding the Importance of Accountability for Hospital Marketing Investments" -- call The Beryl Companies at 817-770-8003 or email beryl@beryl.net .

The Beryl Companies

CONTACT: Tom Peck of The Beryl Companies, +1-214-528-9577

Web site: http://www.beryl.net/