Case Studies
Doctors Hospital of Manteca, California
Objective
Doctors Hospital of Manteca (DHM) is a 73-bed specialty hospital located in Manteca, California, that is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organization and is part of the national Tenet hospital system based in Addison, Texas. DHM was reviewing its mammogram patient data and noticed that in many cases, patients were skipping their annually scheduled mammograms and waiting two years or longer to come back for imaging. It is recommended that women over the age of 40 get a mammogram every year.
Solution
DHM then employed Encore to develop a direct mail marketing campaign that would utilize DHM’s patient database to encourage patients not to overlook their annual mammograms. The Encore graphic design team developed a simple reminder card in an elegant feminine design that reminded patients that according to DHM’s records, it was time to schedule their next mammogram appointment. The card gave patients a specially created phone number to call to schedule their appointments so the effectiveness of the direct mail effort could be tracked.
Results
The direct mail program was an overwhelming success. In some cases resulting in women coming in to have mammograms who had positive results, (indicating they had breast cancer) and providing the opportunity to beat the disease because of early detection. The “mammo reminder cards” designed by Encore continue to be used every year. In their first mailing, DHM sent out 3,648 reminder cards of which 1,634 patients who received a card called to schedule their mammograms— resulting in a 44 percent return.