Rudy Gomez, administrator at the Eye Care and Surgery Center in Baton Rouge, La., purchased market research before embarking on a $100,000 plus ad campaign only to "appease" the center's marketing consultant.


It was a smart move, reflects Gomez. Had it not, the center might have gone ahead with its own advertising ideas which would have been "just as good as setting that $100,000 on fire.

"We would have built an ad campaign around speed and pain," explains Gomez, who admits, "we thought we knew exactly what to do. We thought pain was a big fear with people because we're an outpatient center. But we found that the public had already accepted the ability to control pain in outpatient settings. It wasn't a factor at all."

What the center did learn was not all new to it but there were several surprises, says Gomez. Fortunately, the combination of what it already knew and what it found out were important ingredients in developing effective advertising specifically targeted to its patients, primarily older adults. The center took on the market research and advertising project after a series of events compelled them into the advertising arena.

Reimbursement program

That series of events began in 1984 when ophthalmologist William Williamson and his associates in group practice, his brother, Dr. Charles Williamson, and Dr. Louis Perez opened the center, the first such center in Baton Rouge.

The feasibility to build the center presented itself when the government funded Medicare program changed its method of reimbursement to allow for coverage of cataract surgery in ambulatory surgery centers (as opposed to hospitals, where eye surgeries are typically performed). The move encouraged physicians to build these centers because they generated considerable savings and convenience for patients.

Cataract surgery at ECSC, for example, costs about $1,000-1,500 less than it would in a hospital. The lower cost was also benefiting the government which saved money by keeping patients out of the hospital.

The move, however, alarmed area hospitals which, two weeks after the center opened and in the face of losing business, began running ads in the local newspapers offering "free eye surgery," says Gomez.

Although business at the center was increasing, Gomez says "we felt we had to jump in and advertise too." The impulse drew a quick "no" from the marketing consultant who convinced the center that the hospitals' ads lacked adequate research and therefore the advertising messages wouldn't last. The consultant's advice was simple: If you're going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on an ad campaign, make sure you invest a few thousand on research to find out what's important to your patients, what would attract them to the center and what fears or misunderstandings they have about the center that would keep them away. It's that information, advised the consultant, which should then be pointed out in the advertising.

Research objectives

In December, 1984, the center decided to spend the $7,000 on research to "learn" about itself and potential patients. The objective was to learn primarily three things:

1. Did the public understand what the center was and what services it was capable of providing?

2. What were the attributes of this center that would appeal to patients requiring eye surgery?

3. What were some of the perceived fears people had about receiving eye surgery at the center?

Information was gathered through a telephone survey using a random sample of area residents. These respondents were from Baton Rouge and Gonzales, a town approximately 35 miles southeast of Baton Rouge where a smaller satellite facility has since been built.

There were two groups involved in the study. The first was comprised primarily of the center's patient base, males and females over 55 years of age. The second group was only women aged 18-54, the primary decision-makers for their families in regard to health care.

Research findings

Eight weeks later, in February, 1985, the results from the study had been collected, tabulated and analyzed. There were four main findings, one negative and three positive, says Gomez.

The negative finding was that people wanted to have reassurance that office-based care was as good as hospital-based where they felt the process was slower and more thorough.

"Prior to the research, we thought out-patient care would be perceived as good because it was convenient and fast," says Gomez. "We found that the respondents think this but they were also concerned about the quality of care. They had the impression that since we were an out-patient center, there was a waiting line, treatment was fast and therefore, perhaps depersonalized."

The positive findings, which were all confirmed by the center prior to the research, found that the respondents thought:

1. Out-patient care was less expensive.

2. Out-patient technology was state-of-the-art.

3. Out-patient service was convenient.

One other finding which ranked high with the respondents (which the center had never thought about but pleased it) was that they perceived out-patient clinics as being newer and cleaner than hospitals. Yet another favorable finding was that ECSC had the highest name recognition for all eye care facilities in the city.

Probably the most important finding was that almost all of the respondents were not knowledgeable about what or who was available for eye surgery treatment and they did not have a strong commitment to any one physician or group of physicians.

"This finding gave us an opportunity to start attracting these people. We were starting ahead of the pack because our center had the highest name recognition among local eye care providers," Gomez points out.

Commercials

Research results helped develop the center's television commercials. The script for the commercials was written by the marketing consultant with Gomez assisting in the "grammar" or more technical terminology. The commercials, which aired for a year beginning in the spring of 1985, were shot in the center to showcase the facility.

According to Gomez, "We wanted to emphasize two points in the commercials. One was that a patient would get convenience and a lot of personal care so we showed a lot of touching and hand shaking between the patients and physicians. The second point we wanted to present was the new, sophisticated technology of eye surgery at our facility. Shots of our center showed viewers a high-tech facility in an atmosphere that provided personal attention. The cost factor was also mentioned."

After the commercials started running, some billboard ads were also developed.

Gomez feels the ad campaign was a tremendous success in terms of the steady numbers coming in although the center didn't conduct a scientific identification of new patients.

Project No. 2

A second market research project was implemented in May, 1986, to find out how effective the ad campaign was working.

"We wanted to know how much our name recognition improved relative to our competition, had we projected the right message and had we communicated to the right people at the right time," says Gomez.

Another telephone survey involving a random sample of respondents was used. This survey showed that the advertising was effective; the name recognition was very high and broke away from everyone else, says Gomez, and the message was perceived properly which generated a very high acceptance of the facility.

From the research, two more TV commercials were developed. The emphasis for these TV commercials was point-of-sale.

"We had accomplished the name recognition and people were accepting of our staff and facility. Our next step was point-of-sale type ads which were very straightforward: 'We can take care of you, call us now.’

"We used the prison-motif," continues Gomez. "We gave viewers the impression that those with cataracts were imprisoned by them, that they were held back by something that could be treated simply and easily and that there was no need for what they were going through. We encouraged them to do something about their condition."

These commercials began running in the fall of 1986 and since then the center has been supporting the ads with radio spots and newspaper and billboard ads.

"We've also been doing some 'soft marketing,'" says Gomez, "to help maintain our existing patient base and keep the center in the public eye." That includes a quarterly newsletter called "Insight" which goes to the center's patients. The first issue utilized a patient survey asking them what they'd like to read about in future issues of the publication.

Free vision screenings in cooperation with local malls and civic activities such as public speeches are other ways ECSC markets itself and its services.

Facility growth

Since the practice opened in 1978, its physical plant has grown from a 3,800 sq. ft. clinic to a 20,000 sq. ft. multi-service eye care center (of which 3,500 is an ambulatory surgery center). The practice also operates three 1,500 sq. ft. satellite offices in Gonzales, Hammond & Plaquemine, La.

The current staff includes five ophthalmologists, one anesthesiologist, four optometrists, one certified physician's assistant, four registered nurses, five surgical technicians, 10 clinical technicians and an administrative staff of 14. Gomez says one or two additional satellite facilities will probably be considered in the future.

Financially, the center has grown equally well. For the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 1986, the center grossed more than $5.2 million in total revenue. That represents an increase of more than $1.4 million from the previous year's revenue of $3.8 million.

No doubt it's a performance Gomez and the ECSC staff are proud of. And no doubt they would venture to say that market research and well-targeted advertising were a helping hand in that performance.

"Market research helped prevent us from focusing on issues like pain that are understood by our patients," says Gomez. The whole experience was a lesson to us that you do not know what your patients are thinking until you ask them. It's something that needs to be done on a regular basis, too, to find out how you're doing, what's effective and what you should do next."

Editor's note: The field and tabulation work for this study was conducted through Healthcare Images, Baton Rouge, La.