The challenges of keeping an up-to-date healthcare database this year add to 2020’s
many other marketing obstacles. Unusually high healthcare provider turnover makes it incredibly difficult for healthcare marketers to maintain accurate contact information for physicians. How
are in-house marketing teams supposed to keep
up with this rapidly changing data?
It takes breadth, depth, and experience from a trusted partner. With nearly 20 years powering healthcare marketing for the most recognizable names in the industry, HealthLink Dimensions has the guidance to help navigate these difficult times.
Q: What changes in client email match rates has HealthLink Dimensions seen in 2020?
A: Beginning in August 2020, HealthLink Dimensions observed a faster rate of accuracy decline in both our Physician Demographic and Email Databases due to turnover in healthcare positions. As a result, some clients are seeing a decline in the number of providers available with an active email or active address. This decline does not impact the overall HealthLink Dimensions match rate on providers, but it does affect the number of providers with active email addresses.
Many of our clients make campaign and business decisions that require extraordinary provider data quality and accuracy. When it comes to a choice between offering higher match rates or higher quality and accuracy, we choose quality and accuracy every time.
Q: What is the cause of the declining match rates?
A: HealthLink Dimensions is in the process of conducting our annual BPA Worldwide audit, full email database third-party verification, and second annual full permission pass. These quality assurance steps typically lead to a 3% reduction in match rates as changes are identified.
2020 appears to be different. Our analysis and quality assurance processes continue to uncover record numbers of furloughs and layoffs among healthcare professionals due to the COVID pandemic. News outlets report 1.5 million healthcare professionals affected since mid-April 2020. Hospital-employed physicians were hit particularly hard, and a record number of group practices have either closed or furloughed many of their allied professionals, leading to a large number of abandoned email addresses.
Q: How will HealthLink Dimensions help clients engage with healthcare providers despite these challenges?
A: HealthLink Dimensions maintains more than one email address for the majority of healthcare providers in our master dataset. When a healthcare provider’s business email address is no longer the best email address on file, HealthLink Dimensions shifts to consumer-based emails as the next best contact.
Q: How is HealthLink Dimensions maintaining database accuracy despite unprecedented shifts in the healthcare industry?
A: HealthLink Dimensions has increased our third-party verification process, which allows us to remove invalid emails faster. We are also growing our own provider communication outreach, which enables us to identify expired email addresses before they reach our clients.
We’ve always followed up with providers as their employers changed and their careers evolved. These proven acquisition and validation processes will continue to identify new emails as they become available.
The unprecedented churn in the healthcare provider market, coupled with email deployment headwinds, means healthcare marketers need an experienced email data omnichannel marketing partner now more than ever. If you are struggling to generate engagement with your healthcare provider campaigns, we can help. Fill out this form for a free healthcare email marketing, programmatic, and mobile consultation, or call us today at 404.250.3900.