Last spring, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) announced they were joining forces to develop a marketing communications campaign specifically for neurosurgical spine surgeons. The program, “Getting SMART About Neurosurgery: Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and the Aging Patient,” was launched in late September and has quickly garnered support from members, patients, referring physicians and the media.
Member participation in this first-ever communications initiative has exceeded expectations and public awareness of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and the neurosurgeon’s role in treating it has increased. By all measures, the program is an unqualified success.
Why the Program was Created
This program was created because 50 percent of our members reported they aren’t busy enough — surgeries are down and competition is up — and they wanted help in responding to the challenge. The result was an innovative national and community-based communications and educational effort that focused on the topic of lumbar stenosis. This disorder was chosen for four basic reasons:
- It is a common neurological condition not well understood.
- It has a large enough patient base to warrant coverage.
- The aging patient base will result in an increasing number of cases.
- This is a surgical area where neurosurgeons can exert leadership.
The program objectives are to:
- Increase awareness of the scope/benefits of neurosurgery.
- Associate neurosurgeons with the treatment of backs and spinal disorders.
- Educate the public about lumbar spinal stenosis.
- Encourage patients to seek neurosurgical evaluation.
- Create opportunities for expanded referral relationships.
- Promote the timely, appropriate application of neurosurgical solutions to health needs.
- Help neurosurgery enhance and expand its role as a valued provider of health care.
What sets this communications program apart from other public information efforts is that it asks neurosurgeons, themselves, to become spokespersons, or Ambassadors, for the specialty. We want to do more about lumbar spinal stenosis because we know our services can help thousands of people who are living with unnecessary pain. This is both a public health issue and a quality of life issue for hundreds of thousands of older people. The key messages the program delivers are:
- LSS is a hidden neurological condition As many as 400,000 Americans may have symptoms, however, most have not been diagnosed with the condition.
- Neurosurgeons say Americans need to know more about LSS because it’s frequently misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed and, as a result, many people suffer needlessly and for longer than necessary.
- Treatment is available so sufferers can resume active lives.
- Patients are urged to listen to their bodies, describe the symptoms, and ask their primary physicians if a neurosurgical consult is in order.
This is an important initiative for American neurosurgery, as reflected by the leadership team that put this program together.
Activities Thus Far
The LSS communications initiative was launched at the end of September with distribution of a media kit to health writers nationwide. In addition, a video news release (VNR) was made available to network television stations throughout the country by satellite download.
In just a little more than two weeks 25 television stations aired the VNR a total of 36 times. We reached a total of 220 television markets and an estimated audience of 5,201,290 viewers.
We were gratified to note that the VNR was aired in decent time slots — 5:00 pm or 11:00 pm, which means they were most likely used during the evening news broadcasts. We also reached some top markets, including Chicago, Miami, Pittsburgh, Boston, Denver, and New Orleans.
During the same time, a neurosurgical exhibit featuring the LSS campaign materials was displayed at the1997 Annual Scientific Assembly of the American Academy of Family Physicians held in Chicago, where more than 1,000 family physicians received the referral brochure.
A few weeks later all those neurosurgeons who had enrolled as Ambassadors received their shipments of educational and professional outreach materials for distribution to patients and referring physicians in their communities. Thus far, approximately 325 neurosurgeons have enrolled as Ambassadors for the program. They are using the slides to give presentations to civic groups and medical organizations, giving interviews to local media, doing mailings of the physician referral brochures to colleagues, and providing the public education brochures to patients visiting their practices.
Lloyd Zucker, MD, of Boca Raton, who had provided input for some of the LSS material, made a presentation using the professional slides during a plenary session at the Southern American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting attended by approximately 300 family physicians. “The slides were very well received. The family physicians were very interested in the topic and asked a lot of questions,” Dr. Zucker said. “Family physicians are an audience that more neurosurgeons need to reach. The slides and syllabus made it easy.”
Overall, members have purchased more than 60,000 patient brochures and 33,000 physician referral booklets. In fact, it was necessary to print additional quantities of the physician referral brochure and produce more slide sets in order to keep up with demand.
Putting the Program to Work for You
The LSS program is an easy-to-use public education and practice-building tool that directly responds to the challenges of today’s healthcare marketplace. It allows you to use your knowledge as a specialist in spine surgery to serve as a spokesperson for neurosurgery while, at the same time, enhancing the visibility of your practice in the community.
The materials in the program are comprehensive, but also allow room for individual neurosurgeons to tailor the program to fit their practice needs. All of the program materials and key media messages are of very high quality and have maximum impact. They focus on both the specific patient benefits of the services offered and why neurosurgery is the “provider of choice.” These materials include the following:
- Ready-to-Use Slide Presentations on LSS (patient and professional): Two slide sets, with accompanying syllabi. The professional slide set is designed for presentations to family physicians, internists, physician assistants or other healthcare professionals. The patient slide set is designed for presentations to patient groups and the general public.
- Referral Source Booklet This full-color, 12-page booklet describes the disease pathophysiology and pathogenesis, recommended diagnostic tests, treatment and surgical options, and when it’s appropriate to refer a patient for neurosurgical consultation. They can be used as leave-behinds at presentations or in mailings to primary care providers and other referral sources. Also provided is a sample letter you can send to primary care physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors and other who often see lumbar spinal stenosis sufferers before you do.
- Patient Brochure: This full-color, 12-page brochure contains a simple but complete discussion of the causes and treatment options for lumbar spinal stenosis. It includes information on understanding the disease, symptoms, treatment options, surgical criteria, and explanations of various operative procedures, expected outcomes and risks.
The materials can be purchased separately but are also available as part of a special Ambassador Package which includes all of the above materials (200 patient brochures and 100 referral source booklets), along with a media kit, sample referral letters, and a video news release. As an Ambassador, you become a spokesperson for neurosurgery, educating patients and referring physicians about the problem of lumbar spinal stenosis and the neurosurgeon’s role in treating it.
The media kit is especially helpful as an aid in helping you to build a working relationship with the reporters in your community. It includes press releases, fact sheets and tips on working with the press. Aimed at reporters and editors who specialize in health care issues, the media kit encourages them to do stories on spinal stenosis and to contact you for comment. The media materials are ready to be photocopied and distributed by your office staff; you may also provide them to the Public Relations office at your medical center for follow up.
I am using this material here in Oklahoma City and can personally attest to their usefulness. We distributed the professional booklet to a number of colleagues who had previously referred patients to our practice but, for one reason or another, were no longer doing so. Within a month we could see an increase in referrals for stenosis consultations in our practice.
Success Measures
When we first developed the LSS program, we established a list of goals against which we could measure our success. I am pleased to report that we are well on our way to achieving most of them and, in fact, have already surpassed several of them. Following is a summary of our progress toward achieving program goals (please note that some goals require that the materials be in circulation for awhile before results can be known. These goals are marked N/A)
Join Now
It is vital that we speak up and remind consumers, referring physicians, third-party payers and even the media about the value and contributions of neurosurgical care to the well being of patients.
If you have not yet enrolled to participate in this unique, high-quality program, we urge you to act now. More than 300 of your colleagues have already purchased materials and are using them in their practices today.
For more program details, contact Susan Nowicki, APR, Director of Communications at the AANS National Office, (847)692-9500, ext. 45. To order program materials, contact Laura Weiss in the AANS Publications and Orders Department, ext. 39.