Maintaining patient volumes amid a health care crisis
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we know it, causing unforeseen obstacles in many facets of life. As protecting oneself from COVID-19 became the key message stressed by public health organizations, health care leaders observed a worrisome trend: many patients were choosing to delay necessary health care, from emergency care and chronic condition management through important screenings and vaccinations.
The importance of returning to care
To help people feel safe and comfortable enough to come in to get the important care they needed, even amidst “safer at home” messaging that led to many delaying care, ThedaCare turned to Core Health to develop a campaign that helped maintain patient volumes, underscoring the importance of getting care, no matter when it’s needed.
Understanding the audience and their needs
Empathizing with the needs of our audience helped us engage with them in a direct and candid way. We needed to offer authentic reassurance that ThedaCare was here to address all of its communities’ concerns — whether it related to their health needs or the safety of accessing health care. We also wanted to help them understand the range of care options ThedaCare offers, so they could always take comfort in knowing they could get the care they need, no matter when or where they needed it, and feel confident in their safety.
An upward trend in appointments
We secured 32.6 million total impressions for the 13-week campaign and exceeded our goal of visits to the campaign landing page — the main driver of appointment scheduling — by more than 5%, driving an upward trend in appointments that brought patients back in for the care they needed across the system.
The brief
Our challenge was to develop creative that was empathetic, authentic and helped guide individuals to the care resources they may be seeking—whether that was information about virtual care services or more details on what steps ThedaCare was taking to make in-person care safe and easily accessible. As important as it was to encourage individuals to get care, it was equally important to enable their ability to easily get care, by simplifying and streamlining their journey to make an appointment at ThedaCare.
Creative and activation
Our campaign optimized creative across media, including TV, radio, print and digital ads, social media, email and a dedicated landing page to underscore a variety of key messages. We also wrote and published native branded content articles through local news affiliates to provide more context about the potential impact that delaying care could have on one’s life — and the lives of their loved ones, long-term.
Maintaining patient volumes
We alleviated consumer uncertainty around accessing health care during COVID-19, helping maintain patient volumes at a critical time.