imagination.

HFMA - What Makes a Successful Ancillary Publication?

There is no shortage of ideas about how to fix the U.S. healthcare system, but there is little collaboration among the people who know the most about it: healthcare professionals.

With this idea in mind, the Healthcare Financial Management Association decided to publish an ancillary publication to complement hfm (its successful monthly magazine). There were several considerations:

• The publication could not further tap the hfm staff or cannibalize its advertisers.
• The publication should grow the HFMA membership by attracting new readers and new advertisers.
• It should present a subject on which HFMA could speak with authority.

Collaboration Enables Leadership

Imagination worked with HFMA to address the issues above; together, we decided upon the themes of “leadership,” and “collaboration.” Healthcare reform will be most effective if it comes from within the industry.

Although doctors and nurses do not think of themselves as making financial decisions and are seldom trained in finance, their inclusion in fiscally sound solutions are key to necessary reforms.

“The challenges facing the healthcare industry require solutions that transcend the boundaries between stakeholder groups such as providers, payers, employers, government and consumers,” says Rob Fromberg of HFMA. “Solutions should link groups such as physicians, nurses, administration, finance and information technology.”

“Leadership” from HFMA, is a successful ancillary publication.

HFMA worked with Imagination to publish Leadership and its companion website, in 2008. The 64-page annual special report carries the tagline “Innovation, Collaboration & Excellence in Healthcare.” The website provides an additional opportunity for advertisers.

Leadership offers analyses, case studies and practical strategies that unite healthcare leaders, and includes interviews with: former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill, a physician, a hospital president, a CEO, a CIO and a researcher. A one-page department, “Patient Voice,” showcases a hospital patient who was interviewed about his experience.

A companion website provides additional opportunities for advertising revenue.

Leadership demonstrates that plenty of leadership exists within the healthcare industry; it needs to be corralled in order to move forward.

Timely, Topical, Targeted

At HFMA’S Annual National Institute, keynote speaker Tom Peters gave the publication a ringing endorsement, naming it “a wake-up call” that shows that great ideas for healthcare reform need not cost trillions of dollars. Peters thought so much of the publication he blogged about it on his own site. High-profile endorsements, however, are not enough to sustain an association publication.

But the following results are clear:

• Ad sales for the 2008 issue were so successful that the potential for growth became apparent.
• The online version of the publication allowed for further advertising and sponsorship opportunities.
• Reader responses in a follow-up survey were resoundingly positive.

As a result, HFMA plans to produce two issues in 2009 with an e-newsletter program and unique online content.

“Part of our association’s mission is to bridge whatever divides exist inside and outside healthcare organizations so that all the stakeholders can be part of meaningful change,” Fromberg says. “Our readers have told us that the magazine Leadership is an important step in fulfilling that goal.”

The bottom line is that in the search for ancillary publications associations must be timely, topical and targeted. Plans for an ancillary publication must include clear, measurable goals that will determine if a “one-off” can evolve into a sustainable revenue stream.

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