Outsource Marketing Solutions blog

Pitch This and Get a Publicity Home Run

I monitor the world wide web for articles, blog postings and press releases on anything to do with prosthetics and orthotics.  Over the last few weeks, there have been literally hundreds of articles on Jason Giambi's foot orthoses.  There have been more articles on his foot orthoses than any other P&O story - even more than Kellie Lim (triple amputee who just graduated from med school whose story is plastered all over the internet.)

If you haven't pitched a story to your local editor on foot orthoses, you should. 

Bring in a reporter and show them the difference in foot orthoses.  Of course you would have an example of what you would fit Giambi with but then you'd also have examples of what Tiger might wear or Tony Parker might wear or whomever your local sports hero might wear.

You can even show them the difference between foot orthoses for sports and foot orthoses for diabetic patients.

From the Hartford Courant: Cortisone Shot For Giambi

"...Jason Giambi, the DH Tuesday night, will get a cortisone shot in his sore left foot today, with hope that the off day will allow him to recover and be the DH in Boston. Doctors told Giambi cortisone shots in the foot are very painful and advised he wait to see how the new orthotics worked.

The orthotics have improved the condition, Giambi said, but the combination of the strained arch and bone spur keeps the foot sore, so he asked for the shot. Giambi got several cortisone shots last year in his injured wrist and shoulder. Giambi got a stolen base on a botched hit-and-run in the second inning, his first steal since July 14 of last year, the 16th in 26 tries in his career..."

New ACA Publication - Free for a Limited Time!

Free Copy of New ACA Publication SideStep: A Guide to Preventing and  Managing Diabetes and Its Complications

To request your free copy, call 888/267-5669 or e-mail your name and shipping address to members@amputee-coalition.org  by June 1.  After June 1, SideStep will be available through ACA for a shipping and handling charge of $10 per copy, $50 for 10 copies or $75 for 50 copies.

Hanger Ortho Hires Lobbyist on Insurance

WASHINGTON — Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc., which owns and operates orthotic and prosthetic patient care centers, hired Foley & Lardner LLP to lobby the federal government on parity for insurance reimbursements for prosthetics, according to a federal lobbying disclosure form filed Tuesday.   

Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches. They must register with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying.   

Why I LOVE My Google Analytics

Stats. That's why.

These are just some of the 922 search engine searches that people have done since January 2007 that resulted in them clicking through to AskElizabeth.net. 
(I left out the ones that refer to me or the blog - they are the bulk of  the searches, as they should be.)

college park true step prosthesis cost
aetna ppo spinecor brace
examples of orthotic and prosthetic patient lawsuits
dmepos marketing strategies
pictures, cancer camp, amputee, prosthetic leg
do east indians wear orthotics
aetrex women's athletic walking shoes for bad feet
iaapoc meeting 2007
prosthetic & orthotic jobs in uae
liability insurance prosthetics orthotics dogs (Were they looking for Russ Hornfisher????)
"microprocessor knees" how do they work
o&p acquisitions
build kafo
cost of truper prosthetic foot
"afo" build a bear

The ones that specifically relate to O&P marketing, of course, are the ones that help me figure out what the O&P market wants to know.
Specifically:

orthotist marketing letter
marketing orthotics prosthetics
dmepos marketing strategies
sample letter to promote prosthetic business
marketing material for prosthetic and orthotic companies
download ebook prosthetic limbs
marketing prosthetic equipment

I use the Overall Keyword Conversion report on my Google Analytics.

What are your searchers looking for when they click through to your site?

Have You Been Affected by ODE?

Are you suffering from ODE?
Have you been the victim of someone who is suffering from ODE?

ODE is short for Online Disinhibition Effect as defined by Jonathan Suler in his "Psychology of Cyberspace."

Simply put.  People feel free to say things via email that they would probably never say to that same  person's face.

Dr. Shuler says, "...They loosen up, feel more uninhibited, express themselves more openly....It's a double-edged sword.  Sometimes people share very personal things about themselves.   They reveal secret emotions, fears, wishes.  Or they show unusual acts of kindness or generosity.  On the other hand, the disinhibition effect may not be so benign.  Out spills rude language, harsh critiscism, anger, hatred and even threats...."

According to Suler, it's the absence of social cues - furrowed brows, crossed arms, clenched fists, shocked expressions (a quick punch in the nose...) - that you receive in face-to-face communication.

Just remember, if you put it in an email or text message, it has the potential to reach 2 billion people around the world within a matter of days.
 
(NOTE: ODE is highly contagious and often erupts into a nasty flame war.  And if you think you were perfectly justified in sending the initial flaming email, imagine how your recipient will feel when they forward your email to everyone they know!)

If you experience ODE while you are leaving a voice mail, the ramifications are equally, if not more, powerful.  (Just ask Alec Baldwin about his "rude, thoughtless, little pig" voice mail he left on his 11 year old daughter's cell phone.  If you haven't heard it or heard of it by now, I'd be very surprised.)

ODE is cathartic.
It feels good while you're doing it.
Like anything else that feels good but is ultimately bad for you - it can be addictive.

There is no cure for ODE.
But there is a solution.
You may just want to start using your SAVE AS DRAFT option before you hit send.

All the catharsis without the repercussions.

Yeah! Virgin America Gets Approval!!

This might seem like it has nothing to do with O&P (except for those of us who have to fly around the country to various O&P meetings) but, it is my blog and I've been waiting for this FOREVER and I'm inviting you to join the love fest. 

If you want to be among the first to know when Virgin America starts selling tickets - click here .

Full story, keep reading

"...Now that the company has been formally approved, the next step will be to seek a waiver to start selling tickets. The company is planning a mid-summer launch.

Virgin America’s first flights will be between its home base of San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK). The airline also plans to serve Los Angeles (LAX), Washington/Dulles, San Diego and Las Vegas within its first year of operations.

The airline expects to serve as many as 10 cities within a year of operation and up to 30 cities within five years of service. Additional cities under Virgin America’s consideration include: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Hartford (YEAH!!), Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Portland, Ore., Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Jose, Calif., Sarasota, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and West Palm Beach...."

A Mega-Insurer Settles (Another) Lawsuit for Violating Insurance Laws (Are you surprised?)

From BusinessInsurance.com

"Lincoln, NEB - UnitedHealth Group Inc. has settled allegations that several of its subsidiaries violated Nebraska’s insurance laws relating to appeals, grievances and claims payments for medical services.

The Minnetonka, Minn.-based health insurer has agreed to pay an administrative fine of $650,000 as well as the costs incurred by the Nebraska Department of Insurance related to the prosecution of the action...

The insurer also has agreed to provide oversight of its claims payment and grievance processes and fully cooperate with the department in resolving future consumer complaints, including meeting quarterly with department officials to review any consumer complaints...

The majority of the allegations stemmed from a 10-month market conduct exam conducted by the department in 2003 and 2004, as well as from certain consumer complaints previously investigated by the department...."

If you're an O&P provider in Nebraska, now is probably the time to review your United Healthcare claims that were denied!

Non-Fatal Stroke Rate Higher in the South

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Strokes are most common in Mississippi and other Southern states and least in Connecticut, according to a report providing the first U.S. state-by-state accounting of the third-leading cause of American deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, issued on Thursday, also showed that blacks are nearly twice as likely as whites to suffer a stroke, and better educated people are far less likely to have one.

The findings were based on a survey of more than 350,000 Americans to estimate the percentage of people in all 50 states over age 18 who have had a non-fatal stroke....

Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the United States, killing more than 160,000 people annually. Only heart disease and cancer kill more.

After Mississippi, the states with the highest prevalence were: Oklahoma (3.4 percent), Louisiana (3.3 percent), Alabama and Nevada (3.2 percent), Tennessee, Missouri and Kentucky (3.1 percent), Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Texas and West Virginia (3.0 percent)..."

You can read the rest of the article here.

So, if you live in one of the high stroke rate states, are you branding yourself as a "post-stroke patient care specialist"?

Picture's worth a thousand words

KAREN MANCINELLI /DAILY RECORD 
Karl Dorman, left, a retired Army staff sergeant from Maryland, does a cartwheel with his prosthetic leg.

From the Daily Record 

"...Schumann was one of three above-knee amputees who were fitted with C-Legs at the Garden State Orthopaedic Center for the first time on Thursday. The C-Legs, which are manufactured by German-based Otto Bock, differ from conventional prosthetic legs in that they contain a microprocessor in the knee and a hydraulic system that is able to adjust to walking speeds and pressures..."

With a little pre-event elbow grease you can great some great publicity.  O&P is SO visual that it makes for great photos (see above!)

Let the reporter or editor know what they are going to be able to see and they will eat it up with a big spoon!

**************** UPDATE *********************

Garden State Orthopaedics will be featured on NJN news this evening.

I received the following email from Laura at GSO's Morristown office.

"NJN news called...we're going to make it to the air!"

 

The coverage will air on channel 13 on Tuesday 5/22 at 5:30, and on NJN News on 5/22 at 6:00, 7:30, and 11 PM.

Music soothes the savage beast (and the callers you put on hold)

Quick stats on the effect of using music for calls placed on hold.

Current research proves that 90% of all callers who are asked  to endure on-hold silence will hang up within 40 seconds.  Source: enthem.com

HOWEVER, only 13 percent hang up when music is played.

(Note: You would think that more information is better but studies have also shown that people don't like to have their music interrupted by "status reports" of how much time they have left on hold.  They'd rather just listen till their call is picked up.)

I don't recommend using your local radion station as your on-hold music, though. 

Unless you're monitoring the station, you have no idea what the DJ's are saying - it could be something really offensive - and, even worse how do you know that your customers aren't listening to your competitors' radio ads while you've got them on hold?