The Customer Potential Management Marketing Group (CPM) was a pioneer in applying CRM to the cardiology market. This company developed a program for three hospitals that were part of a national healthcare system comprising more than 100 acute care hospitals in 17 states. The three participating hospitals (hospital A, hospital B, and hospital C) ranged in size from a small local hospital to a large regional medical center.

The overall objective of the CRM marketing campaign was to educate the hospitals’ customers about the early warning signs of a heart attack and to encourage them to take a proactive role by determining their heart health. It also was designed to build awareness of the national healthcare system’s local cardiology services and to drive early intervention and service utilization. It used the Consumer Healthcare Utilization Index (CHUI), a predictive index developed by CPM to select the individuals in each market area most likely to benefit from the campaign information. Targeted people were referred for a heart health exam, for which they paid a fee. The campaign also included a matched control group that did not receive any promotional material or services.

The area’s referring physicians and providers were briefed about the campaign and encouraged to participate in screening patients. This was in keeping with the campaign’s aim to involve physicians while promoting the hospitals’ cardiology services and extending information to more patients.

The study was designed to do the following:

• Identify people at risk for a heart attack and initiate an early intervention (i.e., low-cost heart health exam)

• Provide consumers with beneficial education (regarding heart attack signs and symptoms)

• Strengthen relationships with primary care physicians and cardiologists 

• Increase total charges attributed to cardiac-related services.

Questions 

1. What was the organization’s objective in applying the CRM approach to its customer pool?

2. In what ways did the initiative intend to change the knowledge, attitudes, or practices of the hospital’s customers?

3. What were the characteristics of the promotional package used for this initiative?

4. How receptive were the organization’s patients to this initiative?

5. What tangible benefits did the organization derive from this initiative?

6. How was ROI measured, and what did the evaluation reveal?