Get the professionals to do your legwork
Get the professionals to do your legwork
Count the cost before committing
Budget crunches at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA, are causing its media services department to reconsider its commitment to marketing and distributing the patient education materials that are sold to other health care facilities. If a contract was signed with an outside distribution company, Sacred Heart would get a 15% royalty fee, but they wouldn’t have to budget for printing marketing materials or postage fees.
Sister Pam White, SP, media services coordinator, is shopping for distribution companies. It’s important to pick one that will do a sufficient number of promotions so your products will sell well, she says. Also, Sacred Heart doesn’t want its products priced too high for the average health care facility.
Presently, Sacred Heart’s media services department sells videos for $195, large pamphlets for $1 to $2, and small pamphlets for 50 cents.
A good way to find companies that market other institutions’ materials is to call the publishers of patient education materials and ask them, says White. If the publishers don’t market outside materials, ask for a lead.
"If hospitals have the materials, the best way to go might be to see if one of these other distribution companies would distribute it for them because they have the personnel. When you go that route, you don’t have all of the upfront costs. You get a lower royalty, but you don’t have the other expenses, so I think it does balance out," says White.
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