Earlier this week we had the pleasure of experiencing something we hope all of you have participated in at some point in your careers: a forced trip to Vegas full of networking, happy hours, and enlightening sessions with some of the best brightest individuals in Radiology marketing. Sounds absolutely torturous, right? We really took one for the team on this one.
RBMA is the Radiology Business Management Association, a professional organization for radiology business management professionals all across the country. Every year they hold dozens of educational classes, meetings, and conferences in a number of locations around the country, but our favorite one to go to is the one we attended this week: “Building Better Radiology Marketing Programs”. It’s one of the only conferences specific to radiology marketing, and we always come away from it feeling excited about new changes in the industry and motivated to take our marketing to the next level.
As with any conference, there were a ton of takeaways from BBRMP. Here were a few that really resonated with us:
We’re not dreaming about price transparency in our industry anymore…it’s finally here.
For years many of us in the healthcare industry have been pushing for price transparency, and it’s finally starting to look like the war is being won. In the last year alone we’ve seen a huge surge in the number of patients and providers who are demanding transparency, and it’s finally becoming a reality for patients. At BBRMP we talked a lot of transparency, and about how companies like Save On Medical are giving patients a way to compare prices and quality of care for their procedures. It’s a huge step in transitioning the industry into a more transparent one, and we hope other companies are inspired by sites like this and we start to see these changes across the board.
Radiology marketing is growing and evolving faster than ever, and it’s awesome.
Every year at the BBRMP conference they hold the Quest Awards, a voting based competition that selects winners in five radiology marketing categories including Physician Marketing, Patient Marketing, Cause Related Marketing, etc. Companies are encouraged to submit their best campaigns into the competition, and let me tell you, the stuff we saw was incredible. From breast self-exams explained by the Chippendales to in depth ICD-10 guides, the number of quirky, creative, compelling, and fun content was simply mind-blowing. We’re loving the creativity that’s come into the radiology marketing industry, and we want to give a huge pat on the back to all the people out there who are working tirelessly to turn an industry that has been stereotypically clinical and boring in the past into one that patients and providers can be excited and delighted by.
3D mammo is taking over, and the biggest challenge is finding a way to creatively market it.
This year’s conference centered a lot around women’s imaging, specifically the importance of early screening and 3D mammography. In light of the controversy surrounding American Cancer Society’s new recommendations for breast cancer screening, much of what we talked about was how marketing teams could work to properly educate referring physicians and patients about the importance of early detection. We saw some incredibly powerful examples of mammography marketing that were not only creative, but also compelling and impactful, including this campaign from Charlotte Radiology.
It’s clear that mammography isn’t going away, and it’s our job as radiology marketers to provide patients and physicians with the information necessary to help them make educated decisions about their care.
If at any point you’ve managed to double the money you put down for Craps, just walk away.
We learned a lot of things in Vegas, but this might be one of the most important ones! We don’t care what those free cocktails are telling you. If you’re up when you’re gambling, then get out. You’ll regret your rash overenthusiasm to keep playing when you wake up in the morning to a sad, empty wallet.
Radiology marketing isn’t easy, and it’s made even more difficult by the challenges that radiology marketers face working in an industry that up till just recently has been viewed as boring and clinical, but the campaigns that we saw this week and the ideas that were shared and the overwhelming passion we felt for the industry from everyone at BBRMP made us so incredibly proud and excited to be in the field that we’re in. To all the radiology marketers out there: rock on!