Associations: Grow Membership with Leadership
When the Healthcare Financial Management Association decided to publish an ancillary association magazine to complement hfm (its existing monthly magazine), there were several considerations:
- The new association magazine could not further tap the hfm staff or cannibalize its advertisers.
- The magazine 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
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.”
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.
Leadership demonstrates that plenty of leadership exists within the healthcare industry; it needs to be corralled in order to move forward.
ROI
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.
- 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.”
