In yesterday's Consumer Reporting session the issue of how to promote a Web report to your constituents with zero funding for marketing was raised. I thought I would share my experience promoting Web sites in general and public report cards in New York and New Jersey for next to no cost.
1. One thing that gets your report card covered by the press in a useful fashion is giving the press something to talk about. Instead of just issuing a press release to the effect of "state launches new report card", I tease out stories the press can use to create a larger story. If you look at this press release: http://www.abouthealthquality.org/index/news/id.2270/offset.0 you'll see about half way down I teased out four mini stories that highlight variation across counties. It doesn't get into specific about certain HMOs or hospitals, but it's enough to get the reporters looking for the finer details.
For example: "Research has shown that surgery patients who get antibiotics within the
hour before their operation are less likely to get wound infections. In
New York, on average, hospitals give antibiotics correctly 81% of the
time. The performance of hospitals in the Bronx ranges as low as 65%
and as high as 96%."
2. Next, there are a few places you should be making sure your report card is listed, as these sites already have an audience and attract users who are searching for comparative data.
Obviously, first get your report listed on the NAHDO report card map. Then...
Consumer Health Ratings reviews all kinds of public reports and maintains a directory.
AHRQ's Report Card Compendium is intended for us report card builders, but consumers end up there a lot when they're looking for reports.
About Health Transparency is a blog that monitors the release of public report cards as well as related legislation. It also serves as an announcement channel for new report cards, subscribers receive alerts when new reports are released. DISCLAIMER: It's my site. If you have some news or want something listed simply hit the link. While there, why not subscribe?
3. Google AdWords is a ridiculously cheap way of getting qualified traffic to your site. You bid on keywords, and pay per click. For example, I buy the phrase "compare hospitals" for about fifty cents, and I enable it only in NY and NJ. If someone situated in the region I bought types in the phrase or key word I bid on, my ad will show up. I spend maybe $200 per month and practically guarantee that anyone looking will get to the right place. It's too detailed a process to go into here, but I can help anyone who wants to learn more about this.
To see it in action search Google for "compare hospital prices" and nine times out of ten an ad for my afore-mentioned blog will show up. If you click it, I will be billed 30 to 50 cents. I can set a cap on how much I spend each month,once my money runs out the ads stop showing.
4. Finally, basic marketing 101: collect user's E-mails who want to be informed when you update your report card,then E-mail them when you do. We update our reports anywhere from weekly to annually depending on the datasets involved, but for the most part we E-mail a bunch of users every quarter with a "what's new" update on the report card they chose to be informed about.
5. Finally finally, too many times I see presentations of report cards that are at Web addresses like http://www.mystate.health.us/reports/drg/ub/heart_cardi_4509_2006.html?report=on&webpage+hardtogetto
Buy a domain name. They cost $25 dollars. Don't set up a new Web site, you can have that domain name go straight to the long name address, but you get to say mystatereport.org at presentations and press releases and committee meetings. If you have hard-to-bend rules about .gov addresses, have your state or agency Webmaster acquire mystatereport.nn.us or create reportcard.yourcurrentaddress.us for example.
If any of the above is useful or unclear and you would like more information,please feel free to E-mail or call, however it would be most useful if you reply below so everyone can see the discussion.