Neil H. Baum, MD, is a urologist in private practice in New Orleans. He is the author of "Marketing Your Clinical Practice-Ethically, Effectively, and Economically."

Neil H. Baum, MD

The evaluation process provides checks and balances to the marketing initiative and helps to ensure that deadlines are met, budgets are kept, and that the project stays on track. The process also provides feedback and allows you to fine-tune future marketing initiatives and decide what marketing efforts work best for you. 

The evaluation plan should do the following: lay out the process for evaluation, determine what is being evaluated, identify the appropriate methods for evaluation, specify the types of data that will be required and how they will be obtained, and set the timelines for the completion of the various types of evaluation. 

Evaluation techniques focus on two types of analyses: process analysis and outcome analysis. Process evaluation assesses systems, procedures, communication processes, and other factors that contribute to the efficient operation of a program. This analysis is more often used by large organizations and hospitals. 

Outcome evaluation measures, among other factors, changes in knowledge, attitudes, preferences, and behaviors. Knowledge may be measured in terms of top-of-mind awareness of the practice. For example, if you have an interest in infertility and a couple needs an evaluation of the male partner, does your name and the name of your practice come to the mind of the patient, the wife, or the referring doctor? 

Outcome analysis is particularly applicable to medical practices that want to assess the effectiveness of a marketing campaign in meeting its stated goals. The outcome evaluation plan is developed during the planning phase as a basis for identifying changes that did or did not occur as a result of the program. 

Although the standard criteria for success, such as the number of widgets sold, number of additional passengers, or number of new installations of a product might not apply to health care marketing, the evaluation of a health care marketing campaign may have indirect benefits, such as revealing the number of prostate cancer cases detected by a PSA screening program or how many testis cancers were detected through an educational program on testicle self-examination aimed at high school or college students.  

 Outcome analyses are probably the easiest to conduct and yield the best information with which physicians can determine the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. One easy way to determine an outcome involves subtracting the cost of the marketing effort from the income achieved. For example, one of us (Dr. Baum) conducted a successful "March Madness" marketing campaign to attract vasectomy patients on the two weekends before the NCAA basketball championships. (The campaign encourages men to time their vasectomy so that they can recuperate while watching the college tournament on TV.) I subtracted the cost of the marketing campaign from the income received from the vasectomies I performed, and I was able to calculate the return on the investment. 

A marketing evaluation seldom requires a paid consultant, according to Dr. Thomas. Most measurement techniques can be easily learned and can be conducted in-house. However, evaluation is not something that should be done as an afterthought and, if you cannot dedicate the necessary time and effort, consider hiring a consultant. 

Articles

However you decide to market and promote your practice, you will want to measure the impact and results of your efforts.

Do you know how effective your urology practice marketing is?

The latest generation of these hand-held devices relegates the "talking" function to the background and offers users a wide array of activities once available only on desktop computers. Smartphones use an identifiable operating system, often with the ability to add applications (eg, enhanced data processing, connectivity, or entertainment). 

The smartphone has replaced the pager. Physicians who still carry a phone and a pager (and/or a personal digital assistant) can easily consolidate all the functions of both into a single device. 

Text messaging is a staple of most phones and data plans, and answering services can easily exploit text messaging to send not just a phone number but also a comprehensive message. Most carriers have interfaces to allow sending an e-mail to the phone and have it display as a text message. 

Some devices can automatically render a string of digits as a clickable "link." This allows a physician, for example, to receive a text message, hit the link, and automatically dial the patient. Finally, the text messages are easily stored, forwarded, and retrieved for later review. 

Physicians of all generations regard access to the Internet as a right, a privilege, and a basic requirement for conducting daily business. Internet access from a smartphone is fast, affordable, and a functional reality. Checking e-mail, accessing airline web sites for schedule information, logging on to a hospital web site, downloading a clinical nomogram, and researching an unfamiliar drug are but a few examples of useful smartphone Internet capabilities for physicians. Almost all web sites can be accessed from a phone and viewed on the small screen. 

 Applications are stand-alone programs that come with or can be downloaded onto a smartphone and perform useful clinical functions. Most applications can be accessed and purchased via your phone or the Internet. Many are free. 

), includes basic drug information and much more: formulary information, retail costs, drug interactions, updates, and many useful tables and nomograms that can be used every day in patient care. Infectious disease treatment, lab specimens by type and panel, and many other clinical decision support tools are also available by subscription. Also included is a tool to identify a pill by shape, color, and markings. Skyscape (

) is a useful tool when you are looking for that obscure ICD9 code and don't have the latest manual available. A similar application, MedCodes-09 (

									http://www.zipchart.com/medcodes/index09.htm

The latest generation of mobile phones relagates the "talking" function to the background and offers users a wide array of activities once available only on desktop computers.

The smartphone: Here's how it enhances patient care for urologists

In part one of this series, Drs. Neil H. Baum and Robert A. Dowling discuss the basics of shooting a patient education video.

How to give your Web video a professional look

The most useful aspect of computer video editing is that you can delete all the mistakes that result in the viewer navigating away from your Web site. With video editing, clips can be arranged on a time line, music may be added, and effects can be created. The finished product may then be distributed in a variety of ways, including DVD, Web streaming, Quicktime Movies, iTunes, CD-ROM, videotape, and video-sharing sites such as YouTube and VideoMD. 

Most video editing programs come with a number of easy-to-apply video effects that you can add to your movie clips. An example of a video effect is the ability to increase and decrease brightness. This effect is very useful for fixing your video's exposure levels. If you filmed an indoor scene that looks too dark, use the brightness effect. 

Most programs have a wide selection of transitions that you can place in your video, ranging from simple fades to complex geometric shapes. 

When first presented with so many transition options, you may be tempted to use them injudiciously. We suggest going easy on them, as we all know how irritating transitions are if overused in a PowerPoint presentation. The audience should be focused and engrossed with your movie, not with your transition effects.

The fade is the most useful (and most used) transition. The wipe is used less often than the fade and denotes a major change in time or location, such as from the doctor's office to the operating room. 

Even simple background music can turn a dull, monotonous video into something that's fun and snappy. Music is easy to apply on your computer with a video-editing program; all you have to do is import a song and drop it onto the music track. After your song is in place, you can trim the end of the song so that it is the same length as the video and adjust the volume so it doesn't drown out your presentation. 

Where can you find these songs? Most programs can import most sound formats, including MP3 files. If you already own a CD with a song you like, you can always import that song onto your computer using Windows Media Player. If you need royalty-free songs, you'll need to find a royalty-free CD collection. (Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is probably not affordable for most first-time videographers!) 

Most do-it-yourself videos require a minimum of tweaking and editing before they're ready to be uploaded to the Internet.

Neil H. Baum, MD

Articles

Do you know how effective your urology practice marketing is?

The smartphone: Here's how it enhances patient care for urologists

How to give your Web video a professional look

How to give your patient education Web video a professional look