Healthcare Marketing Resources

Health care marketing is a different beast than traditional marketing. In fact, in recent years, leading recognition programs, like the CLIO Awards, have created entirely new categories for health care marketing to honor its unique requirements. Health care promotions demand knowledge of timely legislation, like the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) governing patient data privacy. It requires special finesse to promote public health and welfare simultaneously with your services or products.

Institute for Health Care Marketing

• If you are seeking research-driven data from a university setting, the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business offers informative links, reports and tips online through its Institute for Health Care Marketing. This group tracks current news regarding U.S. health care spending, insurance processes and costs, health care delivery, cultural implications and more. Its publications provide in-depth explorations on everything from promoting physician referral services to the consequences of bad publicity.

Modern Healthcare Magazine

• Modern Healthcare magazine and its online resource site provide health care professionals with critical information on everything from planning to marketing to legislation. A trusted industry resource, visit this site and perform a quick search on "marketing" to bring up the latest information that the publication has to offer. Videos, podcasts and webinars are also available.

State Societies and Associations

• Every state in the United States has a hospital association, which typically provides leading-edge, free marketing advice. Some states also have a public relations and marketing society dedicated to health care marketing. All are excellent resources for top-level information and ideas. The Wisconsin Public Relations & Marketing Society is a comprehensive resource. In addition to news, webinars, online trade shows and more, this group is ahead of the curve when it comes to applying social media effectively to health care marketing. Subscribe to their Twitter and Facebook feeds to get the latest information delivered directly to you. Also, check out the webinars on the Legal Implications of Social Media, Marketing Your Physician and Community Outreach in the Digital Age.