Healthcare establishments as owner-operators of digital billboards: making the most of excellent roadside visibility and high traffic counts to better connect with patients- Best Practices

Digital billboards offer significant advancements over their static counterparts and, when paired with excellent sites located on the premises of healthcare institutions, myriad communications possibilities result. By installing and operating digital billboards onsite, health and medical establishments gain extraordinary communications power and utility, permitting the active engagement of passersby in immediate proximity to their given facilities. Courtesy of their robust size and vibrant displays, these modern outdoor advertising platforms garner significant attention, something enhanced further by the ease of modifying their advertising messages, permitting new content to be delivered instantaneously. Location and resource requirements certainly will prohibit some facilities from pursuing such, but for those healthcare institutions which have suitable sites and the associated means, digital billboards offer an avenue of extreme communications opportunity.

Long-time user and proponent of billboard advertising, Willis-Knighton Health System, in seeking to amplify its promotional efforts, arrived at the notion of taking advantage of the excellent roadside visibility and high traffic counts characterizing its campuses by installing this relatively new outdoor advertising technology at several locations, effectively becoming an outdoor advertising company of sorts. The institution’s experience as an owner-operator of digital billboards has been highly fulfilling, prompting executives to plan additional installations in the near future which will further bolster the institution’s ability to engage audiences. Through the guidance supplied in this article, healthcare entities desirous of following a similar course have at their disposal a detailed roadmap for doing so, along with information regarding associated opportunities and potential obstacles. Given the importance of communicating with current and prospective patients, especially in light of the competitive nature of the healthcare industry, health and medical establishments would do well to incorporate, when and where possible, innovative communications options. Digital billboards represent one such option worthy of consideration.

Best Practices

• Exploration - This process involves creating a committee, outlining and analyzing goals, assessing institutional readiness, and evaluating potential sites.  
• Formalization - This process involves contacting a sign company, conducting an initial planning session, conducting a tour, requesting formal site assessments, and coming to an agreement.  
• Authorization - This process involves investigating the prospects for a permit and finalizing information for an application.
• Operationalization - This process involves authorizing installation, preparing for activation, and beginning routine matters of operating and maintaining the billboard.  

The full article with detailed protocol can be downloaded below.