ER Wait Times: To Text or Not to Text?
That is the question and the answer is very simple.
If your hospital is focusing on ER admissions and generating
ER wait times under the staggering national average of 4 hours,
then yes, by all means, let people know about it. Texting ER
wait times is one of the strongest arrows in the healthcare
marketing quiver.
In 2009, over 1.6 trillion–with a “tr”–texts were sent and received
in the United States alone. People are texting more than they are
talking or e-mailing. Texting enables people to make a quick decision
about which hospital provides the shortest ER wait time and that in
turn enables people to begin their positive patient experience.
Studies show that many hospitals that market their ER wait times have
shown double digit increases in ER admissions. Although this has generally
meant a combination of tactics such as billboards, web site postings as
well as texting, the anecdotal evidence is there: people waking into the
ER, cell phone in hand, asking if the wait time is “really just 22 minutes?”
And speaking of people walking into the ER: some hospitals servicing larger
populations have worried over the idea of creating a further burden on their
already strained system. But think about this: marketing the text code
4ER411 to the marketplace is totally controlled by the hospital.
The hospital chooses who learns of the text code, how they learn about it,
when they learn about it. It can be geo-targeted, age targeted,
demographically targeted, so the hospital can maintain better control
of their overall ER targeting.
If your hospital is trying to open up that front door just a bit wider,
then promoting ER wait times is definitely the way to go.
written by Matthew Blakely
HOSPITAL MARKETING BUDGETS DOWN, CREATIVITY UP!
There’s a growing trend among hospital marketers, that is:
Budgets are going down and moving in the direction of online.
What else is new? That’s what most industries are doing.
However, technology is playing an even more unique role in some
hospitals’ marketing efforts. The ER or ED, long the front door and
bringer of patients both coveted and tolerated is now the focal point
for marketing in many hospitals nationwide.
So what makes for great ER/ED marketing? Simple. Speed. Oh of course
quality matters, but in many cases of minor emergencies, quality is assumed.
Therefore, it comes down to the quality patient experience and how quickly
the hospital can get it going.
Many hospitals have gone to publishing live ER wait times on the web on billboards
and the latest trend, via text message. The leader in this technology is ERTexting, Inc.
out of Florida, providing a nationwide vanity text code: 4ER411 that can be accessed
by all potential patients. Hospitals can buy the service for a fraction of what it would
cost them to implement the service on their own. And without all the IT hassles.
So put it on your “To-Do” list. If you’re in charge of marketing your hospital and your
ER/ED is important to you, put your live ER wait times on the map. In this crazy
“techy” world we live in, it’s what potential patients want to see.
ER Texting Emergency Services
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Marketing Emergency Medical Services
ER Texting Emergency Services
ER Texting, Inc., a Miami-based healthcare technology company today announced the launch of its ER Texting services for hospitals nationwide. Using ER Texting, patients can send a text message to a dedicated number (4ER411) and instantly receive a message in return which lists the emergency room wait times for participating hospitals in their area. The innovative application enables patients to find hospitals with short wait times and helps hospitals market efficient emergency rooms and emergency departments.
Rather than spend large amounts of money on traditional advertising for their ER’s/ED’s, hospitals can now utilize this low cost alternative for target specific areas of patients in their marketplace. The system allows hospitals to buy specific zip codes in their market, even on an exclusive basis. This allows them to control their ER/ED marketplace
by providing potential patients with the information they most need in an emergency.
HCA hospitals were the first to try this system in Florida in 2009. The results were so great, that it was quickly implemented across the HCA system nationwide.
Now, ER Texting has this technology available to all hospitals nationwide interested in creating a strong marketing effort for their ER/ED. For more information, log onto ertexting.com.
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How to Increase ER Traffic in Your Hospital
Many hospitals around the country are struggling with the same issues: It’s fiercely competitive, we know people want better service, we know it feeds the rest of the hospital. But what can you do?
Here’s one suggestion: implement live ER wait times available to potential patients via text message. That’s right. The system is fairly new, but is gaining in strength and popularity due to its low cost and incredible returns. Some hospitals have seen increases of over 25% in their ER traffic.
HCA was the first to try it in South Florida in 2009 and the results were startling. So startling, in fact, that they went from trying it out in 6 hospitals to implementing it in over 200 hospitals in just a few months.
But now the best part is competition: ERTexting is offering a low-cost live ER wait time platform to hospitals nationwide. And the pricing is tiered to the size of the hospital’s market as well as multiple hospital groups. They even have marketing co-op programs for hospital groups that qualify.
The system, known as “4ER411” is available anywhere in the United States and boasts an ease of use for the patient end-user. The patient simply texts their zip code to “4ER411” on their cell phone and they instantly receive the ER wait times for participating hospitals in the area. Simple. Effective. And a lot less
expensive than advertising ER services on traditional media.
Find out more online at ERTexting.com
Hospitals Want to Compete With HCA Hospitals’ ER Texting…But How?
For many hospitals these days, it’s all too familiar scenario, you have an HCA
or several HCA hospitals in your marketplace and they have their “23000”
ER wait times patient text system in place. And it works great for their ER,
generating tons of ER traffic. How does your ER compete with that?
Well, now it’s easy. Enter “4ER411”, the latest in texting platforms,
brought to you by ERTexting Inc., the same Miami company whose
executives developed the “23000” system for HCA. Except this is
the better mousetrap. While the “23000” system works fine, it is a
shared text code, so it requires the extra step of sending “ER” to the
number first, waiting for a prompt and then entering the patient’s
zip code. “4ER411” works on a simplified platform, where the patient
simply texts their zip code to “4ER411” and they receive the live wait
times for participating hospitals in that zip code. No extra steps during
an actual emergency, so the positive patient experience begins even before
they get to your door.
So yes, now you can not only compete with the HCA hospitals in your area,
but beat them at their own ER text game, with ERTexting.
Just go to their site and find out all about it.
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