DMD Intelligence

Serge Loncar started CareSpeak in 2011, guided by the belief that the mobile phone, as the most personal accessory, will play an increasingly important role in managing one's health. Prior to starting CareSpeak, Serge was the President of Songbird Hearing, the manufacturer and marketer of the first disposable over-the-counter hearing aid. Prior to that, he headed up strategic business development at cdnow.com, which was acquired by Bertelsmann AG. Serge also held numerous domestic and international brand marketing and sales positions at Johnson & Johnson health care and medical device divisions, and Pepsi Cola International in the USA and Europe. Serge received his MBA from New York University's Stern Business School after immigrating from Croatia.

For DMD’s Pharma Innovators Series, David Reim spoke with Serge Loncar, Founder and CEO of CareSpeak Communications, about the value in today’s marketplace of providing patients with an effortless way to manage their health using an advanced SMS platform like CareSpeak. This approach helps to achieve better outcomes by engaging patients and caregivers, improving medication compliance, and assisting with care coordination.

Patients and their family members associate hospitals and health systems with health care and advancing wellness. So, when an unexpected regression in that care occurs, it’s a disconcerting experience. No one wants to leave the hospital in poorer health than when they arrived—or worse, not leave at all.

Unfortunately, errors, accidents, injuries, and infections are all internal complications health systems must consider. The good news is health systems have an effective tool with which to immediately address internal issues before they turn into a runaway train. That tool is email.

Suppose you’re responsible for email marketing for an established pharma brand with a breast cancer indication. Which of the following metrics would you rather see? Click-throughs from:

• 1,000 physicians across all specialties
• 500 pediatric oncologists
• 100 medical oncologists

In the first installment of our “Customer Experience” (CX) series, we discussed the importance of creating a seamless CX for HCPs visiting your website. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can use email to supplement details gleaned from their online behavior.

Retail has done a fair job of observing customer browsing patterns online and following up on interest. If you’ve added something to your virtual cart but not completed the checkout process, chances are you’ll get an email sometime within the next 24 hours reminding you of that very fact. Retailers also trigger emails suggesting other products you might like based on previous purchases.

“If you build it, he will come.”

This iconic quote from the movie Field of Dreams can be interpreted in many ways, which is likely why it’s so memorable.

The premise is simple: provide a desirable opportunity, and you’ll be rewarded. In terms of email marketing, studies prove this depiction: “If they read it, they will click.”

Healthcare recruiters are driven by a few basic imperatives: find the best candidates for the job, engage those doctors’ interest, and fill every open position as soon as possible. These days, if you don’t close the deal with a qualified candidate fast, someone else will.

To turn the competition for top talent in your favor, a multichannel marketing strategy is often your best bet.

When it comes to quality vs. quantity, quality wins out in almost every instance.

Which would you prefer:

• A gourmet slice of cake or 10 Twinkies®?
• A roll of plush toilet paper or 10 rolls akin to sandpaper?
• A luxury car or a fleet of potential lemons?

Deploying an email to thousands of HCPs has no merit if the message is irrelevant to half (or more) of the group.

This year I’ve had the opportunity to attend a number of healthcare conferences around the country. Every healthcare organization has its own goals and challenges. Still, some common themes have emerged from my conversations with hospital marketers, recruiters, and CME planners.

Does it ever feel like your health system lives and dies by the national hospital rankings? U.S. News & World Report and Healthgrades carry a lot of weight with patients, and often with physicians as well. This is great if your hospital or service line makes the top 10, but many excellent hospitals never earn a spot on that list.

SPAM^® as a product isn’t kosher, and neither is spam as it relates to email marketing. Engagement rates, marketing ROI, and (indirectly) referrals, all depend on physicians actually viewing your content. When your email messages get routed to spam folders, your content, however compelling, becomes invisible. If your content can’t be consumed, it’s worthless to the doctor; worse,  it can pollute your entire email campaign.