Success Story
Executive Resources
Amerinet Members Save Up to
92 Percent on Local Advertising Costs
 Many small bills can add up to
A Short Take on
Success
The Challenge:

Costly and confusing
local directory
advertising programs
The Solution:

Directory management
and savings program
through Amerinet
supplier DAI Agency
The Outcome:

Savings of up to
92 percent for
Amerinet members
“Amerinet made the
process very easy and
saved me quite a bit of
time in addition to
money. In previous
years, some of the
listings were incorrect,
despite an abundance of
time used for design and
proofreading. It was a
smooth, organized
process to use the
Amerinet team.”
Arlene Harms
CEO
Rio Grande Hospital

Every year, healthcare facilities large and
small spend millions of dollars on
advertising expenses, from elaborate
television campaigns, to web-based
announcements, to necessary items like
listings in local and regional directories.
Although many times overlooked or
dismissed as “old school” or irrelevant,
traditional print directory advertising
remains an “under the radar,” but costly,
media channel.
Why do healthcare facilities overlook
directory advertising as a place to trim
costs? There are many reasons:
 Renewals only come up once a year

and can auto-renew without member
approval. Last minute deadlines
make it more likely for providers to
simply 'renew as-is'.
Contracts and pricing are hard to
decipher and understand.
Advertising charges are often
buried in phone bills and many
customers have no idea what the
true cost of directory ads are. For
example, an eye center in Florida
thought they were spending $350 a
year, when the real cost was closer
to $35,000.
large costs. Directory sales
representatives sometimes take a
'divide and conquer' approach by
placing many smaller ads, for
many departments, in many
different places. Each area has
multiple publishers producing
overlapping directories, making the
process time consuming.
Programs are bundled with special
plans that increase costs when
providers try to reduce expenses.
Print may be given 'for free,' but
costs are just shifted to digital
products to maintain level of
expense.
Healthcare providers still need to
connect with consumers in today’s
increasingly complex local advertising
environment. Let’s take a look at how
several were able to rein in, refine and
optimize their directory advertising and
save up to 92 percent in the process.
The Challenge
New Mexico Cancer Center (NMCC)
provides cancer care to 1 out of 3 New
Mexico residents needing treatment.
With five locations across the state,
serving both rural and urban areas,
reaching their broad and dispersed
patient population is a communication
challenge.
Their marketing team had been
tackling numerous challenges in
dealing with the local directory
publisher, including the
______________________________________________________
running of incorrect advertising for
NMCC for an entire year that had
never been approved.
Similarly, Eggleston Orthopedics in
Lake Jackson, Texas, was looking to
reassess and uncover savings for
marketing and advertising. They were
unsure of direct ROI from their directory
investment, and increasingly skeptical
about investing 60 percent of their total
marketing budget into print and internet
directory advertising. “With rising costs
of providing healthcare and decreasing
medical reimbursement, our office was in
need of a more cost efficient means of
marketing,” said Julie Eggleston,
administrator, Eggleston Orthopedics.
As a rural health provider operating in
Southern Colorado, Rio Grande
Hospital services a broad geographic
area with a large seasonal population
increase. Rio Grande’s market area has
multiple directory publishers and Rio
Grande advertised with all the local
providers. After staffing changes,
responsibility for directory advertising
ended up with the CEO, Arlene Harms.
She became frustrated by ongoing
publisher errors and the fact that
directory advertising was consuming
over 70 percent of her marketing budget.
After learning that Amerinet offered a
directory management and savings
contract, each of these providers
decided to seek assistance for a better
approach.
The Solution
These members connected with
Amerinet partner DAI Agency, who used
their proprietary database to track down
advertising expenses for each member,
provided savings case studies of how
similar facilities had integrated savings
solutions and projected savings potential
prior to contracting.
DAI built a customized program for each
provider that included a single point-ofcontact for all print and digital advertising
placement, a performance guarantee
that they would gain at least 40 percent
savings, and handling of all design and
placement of ads for free.
Since more and more prospective
patients look online, Google listings for
each customer were researched and
optimized. This includes adding
descriptions, logos, photos and proper
categorization, and securing ownership
for the Amerinet member.
Despite the fact that more searches take
place on mobile devices than desktops,
most members do not have a Mobile
Optimized website. Each member was
provided a complimentary mobile site as
part of the service.
The service also provides complimentary
results tracking for print directories as
well as digital offerings, such as mobile
websites. This allows members to
evaluate which channels of
communication their patients are using
most. They can also report and assist
with any online reviews that exist for the
member on sites like Google, Yelp,
Healthgrades, RateMD, Vitals.com and
others.
The Outcome
Each facility was able to optimize their
print and digital directory advertising.
In NMCC’s case, by evaluating new
patient acquisition channels,
directory usage, advertising
expenses and available discounts,
a new marketing plan was
developed to meet all requirements
at lower costs. They were also able
to enhance patient access and
convenience with a mobile
optimized website and an optimized
presence on Google.
Executive Resources
Full spectrum solutions
that couple decades of
healthcare experience
with industry best
practices, enabling
executives to enhance
their organization on a
quality, operational and
financial level.
www.YourAmerinet.com
About Amerinet
As a leading national
healthcare solutions
organization, Amerinet
collaborates with acute
and non-acute care
providers to create and
deliver unique solutions
through performance
improvement resources,
guidance and ongoing
support. With better
product standardization
and utilization, new
financial tools beyond
contracting and alliances
that help lower costs,
raise revenue and
champion quality,
Amerinet enriches
healthcare delivery for its
members and the
communities they serve.
To learn more about how
Amerinet can help you
successfully navigate the
future of healthcare
reform, visit
www.amerinet-gpo.com.
_____________________________________________________
By leveraging the Amerinet savings
solution, NMCC was able to decrease
directory costs by 83 percent while
enhancing their overall marketing efforts.
By taking advantage of Amerinet
discounts, untapped free advertising and
smarter media purchasing, Eggleston
Orthopedics realized an annual gross
savings of 92 percent. Directory
advertising now accounts for less than
10 percent of the overall marketing
budget while better helping patients
connect with the practice.
Rio Grande realized an annual net
savings of 47 percent, corrected
numerous errors in their directory
listings, secured and optimized their
digital advertising and Google listings,
and eliminated redundant advertising
coverage.
“Amerinet made the process very easy
and saved me quite a bit of time in
addition to money. In previous years,
some of the listings were incorrect,
despite an abundance of time used for
design and proofreading. It was a
smooth, organized process to use the
Amerinet team,” said Rio Grande CEO
Harms.
Eggleston agreed. “They assisted our
office in identifying where our referral
sources were coming from and adjusted
our marketing dollars to match. In the
end, our marketing dollars will be spent
in areas that will reach the most number
of people in our community.”
The CEO of a large orthopedic practice
in Wyoming, who realized an 81 percent
savings on advertising contracts also
spoke to similar success. "Despite
saving more than $70,000 a year we
have noticed no decline in our patient
volumes. More and more, patients are
looking to other avenues that we must
market to, such as Google, our website
and other internet sites. In our market,
word of mouth and referring doctors
have a great deal of influence on who
calls us for an appointment,” he said.
Amerinet Inc.
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Suite 400
St. Louis, MO 63141
877-711-5600
www.amerinet-gpo.com