Campaign Results Prove CRM Return on Investment.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

EAST PEORIA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2001

Customer Potential Management (CPM) Corporation, a pioneer in the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions for healthcare, has helped one of its clients earn envious ROI results in distinct, but related CRM campaigns. The first, designed to increase awareness, posted a $26 to $1 result for dollars earned to dollars spent. The second, designed to strengthen relationships with area women, earned $783 to $1.

"The results illustrate that carefully planned and implemented CRM programs do have a significant impact on patient relationships, loyalty and profitability," explains John Hallick, CPM president and CEO. Washington-based Franciscan Health System (FHS) worked with CPM to maximize an image-building campaign for its 106-bed acute care hospital as part of a three-hospital system.

The goal was to change consumer perception that smaller hospitals lack the latest technology and to inform area residents of the importance and benefit of the hospital's membership within the larger health system. The communications were meant to influence consumers to choose the hospital for service, and to increase physician referrals.

To achieve these objectives, FHS did a staggered campaign of personalized direct mail pieces with patient testimonials. The first two pieces on general and emergency services were sent to 37,000 female heads of households ages 25 to 64, to inform community members of the hospital's expertise. The second two pieces on obstetrics and sleep disorders were targeted to women 18-40 and 24-65 respectively. Throughout the campaign, recipients were encouraged to request a personal and confidential health risk assessment (HRA) survey, and/or an OB facility tour, information on prenatal classes and a sleep disorders quiz. FHS tracked responses through an automated CRM campaign management system.

One year later, 99 percent of encounters from the campaign were new to system; the average charge per encounter was $832 and the ratio of received to spent dollars was $26 to $1.

This carefully planned and targeted approach was an efficient and valuable compliment to the system's existing community newsletter awareness strategy. This successful campaign was then followed by a system-wide "Just in Time" women's promotion based on a triggering event such as the birth of a baby, a birthday or visit for a service. This gave FHS an opportunity for further dialogue and relationship building with specific market segments. Each select group received a customized letter and coupon offer. The three groups were:

-- Women ages 20 to 38

-- Women ages 40 to 64

-- Women ages 65+.

This time, tracking for 12 months through the automated campaign manager illustrates results that exceeded expectations. Active response in the form of HRA and other offers exceeded expectations, but more importantly, the ratio of total charges to spent dollars was $783 to $1 for those individuals in the campaign. In addition, the total hospital charges for each group during the campaign rose with age as follows:

-- $725,818 for young women

-- $9,042,124 for middle aged women

-- $19,843,605 for senior women.

In addition to the increased revenue, the system's efforts resulted in more informed female patients and increased visits. The approach demonstrates the importance of communicating with individuals throughout the lifecycle about specific health needs--situational segmentation--a hallmark of CRM.

"The success FHS had with both of these CRM initiatives was not magical, mysterious or lucky," Hallick notes. "It was the result of incorporating CRM into a strategic annual plan with acceptance and support of a cross-section of key management."

About CPM

CPM, based in East Peoria, IL, is a pioneer in the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, including information warehousing technology, delivery systems, and portals. Since its inception in 1981, CPM has achieved international recognition for solving healthcare, finance, and telecommunications business problems with this technology.

CPM's CRM integrated solutions allow businesses to maximize their customer relationships through market analysis, strategic planning and targeted personal communications. The foundation is an accessible, customer-centric web warehouse that includes comprehensive individual and household data. CPM's suite of software tools provide easy and secure access to the data for individual snapshots of customers and prospects on a "segment of one" basis.

For more information, visit www.cpm.com or call 1-800-332-2631.