When promoting products and services to hospitals, reaching the right decision makers can be a challenge. Businesses such as medical equipment and supplies, medical software, CME programs, publications, design and printing services, recruitment, and office supplies often depend on a reliable list of hospitals to ensure the success of their marketing programs.

In terms of procurement, it is important to understand that hospitals have different processes compared to private medical practices. In private practices, the decision maker may be a physician or office manager. It takes a shorter time for purchasing decisions to be made and sales representatives can gain direct access to the decision maker.

Marketers often use a doctor database to reach their prospects. In hospitals, the purchasing process could be handled by a specialized procurement team or department. Procurement is often more structured and complicated compared to a private practice, and it is not uncommon for proposals to be reviewed by different relevant departments or users before a final decision is made. A comprehensive hospital database will help marketers to identify the appropriate hospital administrators who can influence or make the purchasing decisions.

What to Look for when Selecting a List

According to a report by SK&A, A Cegedim Company, a healthcare data and research solution provider, the average turnover for hospital jobs is around 18 percent a year, with the Director of Operating Room topping the annual move rate of 38.5 percent in May 2011. Other positions such as the Director of Laboratory services have increased by over 90 percent. With such changes taking place, it is critical to ensure that your hospital database is recent and accurate. A good hospital list should be updated every six months to reflect the latest personnel changes.

When selecting a vendor, consider a database provider that specializes in the healthcare industry. A database solution provider that understands the healthcare industry and the workings of a hospital will be able to provide you with relevant data and advice when you need it.

When selecting a list, you have to consider which decision makers you want to reach. A healthcare data provider that specializes in the healthcare industry may be able to provide you some insights to the right decision makers. For example, a physician recruitment agency may not find much success with the director of human resource, simply because the department does not handle physician recruitment. The director of physician recruitment would be the appropriate decision maker in this case.

A hospital list can help you in segmenting your database. When selecting a list, look for one that contains attributes such as treatment types and programs, number of beds and hospital specialty. You can use this information to target your prospects or assign accounts to the appropriate sales teams.

Ways to Reach Hospital Decision Makers

With a list of hospitals, there are several ways to communicate to your target market. Direct mailing is still a popular way of reaching hospital administrators, and mailers can be personalized with the decision maker's name and job title. If your target has left the hospital or department, the direct mailer can still reach the person replacing the decision maker.

You can also use hospital fax numbers to reach prospects. Fax is a good way to communicate limited time offers or product announcements. Fax communications can be deployed fairly quickly and cost less than direct mailing.

If your hospital list contains email addresses, you can communicate your product offering through email campaigns. Emails are not only cost effective, but reach decision makers directly and can be deployed quickly. Messages and offers can be customized and personalized, and it is relatively easy to track the performance of marketing campaigns. Using the list of hospital administrator phone numbers, your sales team can make sales calls or actively follow up on direct mail or email campaigns.