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
How Effective is it to Text for Local ER Wait Times?
The buzz on using SMS text messages to receive local ER wait times has hit many states around the US. Billboards all over south Florida show just how big the market has grown for hospitals in advertising their ER wait times. Hospital ER wait times are being displayed on billboard adds all over US-1. The billboards are being updated every 30 seconds to show an accurate prediction of how long someone will have to wait when they pay a visit to their hospital ER rooms.
Cell-Emergency-Service-Text-ER-Wait-Times
One hospital reportedly saw a 25% increase in hospital visits after putting up the billboard. Hospitals are competing with each other for more ER visitors. People have more options in today’s growing market than ever before. The reasons why patients choose which hospitals to visit in an emergency varies – depending on physicians, distance, or wait times. By advertising your wait time on a billboard, hospitals are putting themselves in the forefront of patient options. This new texting platform for hospitals definitely shows the times are changing due to the rapid growth of technology. Hospitals all over the US are already feeling the benefits of adapting to this new change.
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RSS Feed- 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
- Press Ganey Associates Reports the Top 10 Metro Areas for Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction
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