Mobile Mothers – Key Targets for Hospital Marketers
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
Recent survey results validate just how engaged mothers are in terms of their cell phone use and accordingly their responsiveness to information and services delivered via this medium.
The data shows that mothers are ahead of the curve in terms of cell phone adoption in many respects:
- 9% more mobile than general population
- Over 50% have smart phones
- 53% purchased smart phones as a result of becoming a mother.
Their usage and the various features they utilize are also of interest. Mothers spend 6.1 hours a day looking at their cell phone and are 284% more likely to text rather than call friends. Their favorite uses of their cell phones are for taking photos and / or videos, applications, calendar, internet access, email and texting.
Specific to healthcare and mothers:
- 90% research health conditions via their phone
- 60% research health and wellness information, using their phones
- 50% more likely to be using smart phones for health and wellness than the average adult
Accordingly, many mothers admit that they are addicted to their phones and recognize that their mobile “environment” is of critical importance.
In line with this trend, many hospitals are starting to post their emergency room (ER) wait times online and also accessible via text. The convenience of accessing a hospital’s current ER wait time is not just what mothers need but it’s now what most demand.
About ER Texting
ER Texting provides texting services to hospitals and urgent care facilities that want to post their emergency room wait time and allow consumers to access those times via text message. By virtue of its dedicated and highly recognizable SMS short code 4ER411, ER Texting offers a complete, secure and integrated texting and marketing platform. For more information on ER Texting and our capabilities, please visit www.ERtexting.com.
Hospital offers texting for information
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
In a recent article we discussed how the hospital of Central Connecticut has acquired a texting service by ERtexting. Using this service, they are able to make ER wait times available to a greater number of patients.
My Record Journal interviewed Dr. Jeff Finkelstein, the hospital’s chief of emergency medicine, he stated “I have yet to see a person who doesn’t have a cell phone.” The number of Americans who are now using a texting service is on the rise. Patients can text their zip codes to 4ER411 (or 437411) and will be provided with a list of wait times for the hospitals at New Britain General and Bradley Memorial, in Southington.
This service helps increase patient satisfaction since it is widely accessible and very easy to use. Dr. David Buono, medical director of the New Britain General emergency department affirmed, “I think it’s a fairly simple system.”
If you would like to find out more about this texting service, contact ERtexting.
Increasing Patient Satisfaction By Providing ER Wait Times
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
When emergencies strike, many patients visit the nearest hospital, seeking the treatment they urgently need. One of the many things that aid in increasing patient satisfaction is being transparent about the ED wait times available. Many hospitals know this and have resorted to using a variety of methods to provide patients with Emergency room wait times.
Posting ER wait times can be done by either posting them on a website, on billboards, using phone applications or a texting service. Hospitals understand this will allow patients to know just how long they will have to wait when seeking health care and result in higher patient satisfaction.
Transparency results in many benefits. Patients are demanding more and more information in making healthcare decisions and posting ER wait times falls into line with these demands. Increased communication equates to a better overall experience.
Why use a texting service such as ERtexting? According to the GSM Association currently an amazing 6.25 billion text messages are sent in the United States per day. Using a texting service will allow you to make your wait times accessible to a great number of individuals in a convenient, economical and instantaneous manner, thus increasing patient satisfaction.
Mistakes to Avoid When Using A Texting Service to Post Wait Times
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
Many hospitals are slowly incorporating an SMS service, such as ERtexting, to deliver Emergency room wait times to patients, thus increasing patient satisfaction. There are mistakes that should be avoided when using a texting service. Chief Marketing Officer of Hipcricket, Kirkland, Jeff Hasen states “Education and making smart decisions are key to prevent mistakes from happening”.
Firstly, hospitals should avoid not making their call of action prevalent. According to Mr. Hasen, hospitals should try “engaging consumers and turning passive activities into interactive ones, making traditional and non-traditional dollars work harder, and being able to measure effectiveness in real time.”
Shawn Schwegman, chief marketing officer at ChaCha, Indianapolis, IN, explains how “often, when marketers think about mobile ad dollars, SMS marketing is overlooked.” He went on to say “With SMS mobile marketing, brands gain extensive reach. It is key for brands to reach the right audience and maximize their reach,” he suggests how” by leveraging SMS marketing, marketers can achieve their goals.”
Finally to keep patient satisfaction at its highest, you should avoid bombarding them with messages once they have acquired the service. It is also important to be original. Cat Enagonio, vice president of marketing at ChaCha, Indianapolis, IN explains “Brands will do best when they view it within the context of the medium. A key best practice is for brand marketers and agencies to understand the different mobile products and map their advertising into that which will yield the highest conversion rates.”
Using a Texting or Short Message Service
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
We have previously discussed the importance of making emergency room wait-times available to patients, maintaining transparency, which results in patient satisfaction. The question is, why use a texting or Short message service (SMS) to do so?
In a recent session by the CTIA Wireless Organization: “Mobile Limbo – Brand Perspective: What Does the Brand Need to Make the Leap into Mobile?” the importance of a texting service was discussed. One of the benefits includes the ability to further the engagement of Hospitals with the patients.
Patients are able to know when the hospital’s emergency room will be available. This in turn results in patient satisfaction, since these patients are attended to in a more timely manner.
Josh Weinrobe, director of Turner Networks, Atlanta states “SMS is where all the action is today.” He goes on to explain how “there’s just a whole lot of opportunity still in the SMS component of mobile marketing.” It is important that hospitals become aware of the benefits this service provides in reaching out to the millions of patients who use a texting service.
RSS Feed- Emergency Physicians Monthly Recognizes ER Texting as a “Top 10″ Mobile App for Emergency Room Patients
- Emergency Room Challenges: Options to Ease Overcrowding
- Baptist Health System, Birmingham Ala., Selects ERTexting for Communication of Emergency Room Wait Times
- Epic Snowstorm in Northeast Demonstrates Growing Role of Text Capability for Patients and Hospitals
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