Julie Pokela, Ph.D. - Healthcare Marketing Research Speaker & Presenter

Dr. Pokela's manual on conducting marketing research, which was underwritten by The Wallace Foundation, is due to be released soon.

For more information on Dr. Pokela's background, click here .

Presentation Topics Include:

What Women Want: How to Fill Your OB Beds

Obstetrics is a key service line for many hospitals because families often form strong loyalties to hospitals as a result of positive birth experiences. In addition, because families have time to make the decision about what hospital they want to use, it is a service line that lends itself to marketing to consumers. It is critical for hospitals to understand what is important to families in selecting birth hospitals in order to effectively market this service. This workshop draws upon over 20 years of data from new mothers on how they selected the hospital they used for obstetrics.

Workshop participants will learn:

1. What role does the physician women use for routine gynecological care play in selecting the birth hospital?
   
2. Do women select an ob/gyn or hospital first for obstetric care?
3. What hospital features and services have the biggest impact on hospital selection, including the importance of the nursery?

Overcoming Barriers to Wellness Care

As healthcare costs have skyrocketed in the United States, increasing attention is being paid to preventive care. It is critical that wellness initiatives include the voices of consumers in terms of how they are designed and implemented in order to maximize their effectiveness.

This workshop includes real-life findings from research on women's use of wellcare services like pap smears and mammograms. The workshop includes a case study which was conducted as a part of a health system's wellcare marketing strategy, and which generated surprising findings about how health systems can improve wellcare services.

Workshop participants will learn:

1. That health education is only the beginning step in developing an integrated approach to wellcare marketing.
2. How health systems' and consumers' perspectives on barriers to wellcare access may vary widely.
3. A methodology for gathering in-depth information from health care consumers on barriers to preventive care.

Neglect Hospital Advertising at Your Peril: Findings From Three Case Studies

While the investment in advertising for hospitals in the United States continues to grow, many hospital administrators continue to question the value of that advertising to their organizations. This workshop presents the findings from case studies of three hospitals.

Workshop participants will learn:

1. How a hospital in the premier position in its marketplace lost that position when it stopped advertising in a time that its major competitor was investing strongly in advertising.
2. How a hospital in the number two position in its market was able to make strong inroads in the position of its major competitor by outspending it in advertising.
3. How a hospital came back from a well-publicized crisis through the effective use of advertising.

To discuss having Dr. Pokela appear as a speaker or presenter for your next conference, seminar or retreat, please contact us today.