As temperatures drop and more people stay indoors, cold weather infections are on the rise, putting a strain on the healthcare system. Awareness campaigns can help combat the upcoming wave of infections. Educating patients can help reduce the surge and create effective strategies to manage the pressures on staff.
Common cold weather infections like the flu, COVID-19, and bronchitis are set to surge in the colder months. According to the World Health Organization, there are around a billion cases of seasonal influenza annually, including 3-5 million cases of severe illness. To prepare for this surge, healthcare organizations can begin by using targeted campaigns to educate patients on how to navigate the season.
These campaigns provide information for individuals to take the appropriate measures to prevent the transmission or additional infection by condensing information related to the isolation, treatment, and hygiene practices that should be implemented. It also provides the necessary information to differentiate between illnesses like colds and flu to prevent the unnecessary use of antibiotics.
Clear goals are the starting point for an effective winter illness campaign. This begins by asking the question: What do you want to achieve? Goals might look like:
Segmenting audiences based on factors like demographics and health conditions allows for messages to be tailored to the needs of patients. This can easily be achieved using the segmentation features of HIPAA compliant email services like Paubox. In the long run, this avoids bombarding patients with irrelevant information. Possible segmentations include:
It is necessary to develop clear and engaging content that connects with patients instead of deters them from content related to the organization. Elements that should considered include:
Make sure to identify an email marketing platform that takes compliance into consideration. As mentioned before Paubox allows for the segmentation of email lists but its benefits continue beyond there. Compliance is ingrained into the platform, allowing providers to use convenient features without considering if every email sent is HIPAA compliant.
The success of any email campaign can be measured using specific metrics. These allow for providers to gain insight into how providers should adjust their campaign's impact on target audiences. These metrics, simply include:
Related: How to measure the success of your patient email campaigns
The process of dividing a broad target market into smaller more defined groups based on shared characteristics.
When their information is used for marketing purposes that are not related to their treatment or other general healthcare operations.
If it is done without gaining the patient's consent, yes.