The following SHSMD Podcast is a production of DoctorPodcasting.com.

Bill Klaproth (Host): On this edition of the SHSMD podcast, we talk about a DIY rural marketing meeting. Yes, I said DIY. Do it yourself. They put this rural marketing meeting together themselves. With us is Khrista Boster, Sara Meyer, and Diane Markham, who have started their own rural hospital marketing group. It's really cool what they're doing here, and a model for other people across the country, I feel.

So let's talk to them about this, right now.

 This is the SHSMD podcast, rapid insights for healthcare strategy professionals in planning, business development, marketing, communications, and public relations. I'm your host, Bill Klaproth. In this episode, we talk with Khrista Boster, Chief Marketing Officer for Woodlawn Health in Rochester, Indiana, Sara Meyer, Marketing Professional at Wood County Hospital, Bowling Green, Ohio. And Diane Markham, Marketing Director for Arbor Health in Morton, Washington. Khrista, Sara, and Diane, welcome.

Khrista Boster: Hi Bill, we're so glad to be with you today. Thank you so much.

Sara Meyer: Yeah very excited to be here.

Diane Markham: I've been looking forward to it.

Host: Well, thank you all. This is very interesting. When I heard about this, I just had to talk to the three of you about your rural marketing meetings. So Diane, let me start with you. How did these rural marketing meetings get started?

Diane Markham: Well, along with Sally Mildren from ClarityPX, I had the opportunity to be a presenter, I guess it was 2023, at SHSMD's workshop. And both Khrista and Sarah were in that workshop. So Sarah really, this is her brainchild.

Host: I love it. That's great. So Khrista, then let me ask you, I know that Diane said it was uh, Sara's brainchild. I know you were involved too. So how did you and Sara get this thing rolling?

Khrista Boster: So Sara and I actually grew up close together in rural Ohio and I now am in Indiana. And we were talking in about different health systems and different things. And we thought, well, why don't we just get a group of rural healthcare marketers together? Because it's always great to be at SHSMD, but when we go back, we go home, and then we have another year until we have conference.

What would happen if we got together, other rural healthcare marketers across the country, and we met over issues that we are facing every day? And so, thus it began. We got different business cards from different people last year and we emailed and asked, Hey, would you like to join this online marketing group once a month and see how it goes?

Host: I love it. And Sara, so when you came up with this, what were you initially thinking? How did the idea pop into your head?

Sara Meyer: Well, I think Khrista and I were talking at lunch at one of the networking events that were at. And I think we started talking about some of the challenges that we have and the fact that, we have small teams and there's not a lot of people to bounce ideas off of. And a lot of times in rural hospitals, we don't have close hospitals nearby that we can collaborate with and if they are then, we don't tend to work together So it's one of those things that we just started talking and, realized that we could gain a lot from each other. And we wanted to continue the conversation. So this was kind of a way that we could keep that conversation going and talk about issues we might be facing at different times and kind of brainstorm with each other.

Host: So Sara, let me stay with you then. I love that. So you took it upon yourself, hey, let's start this group and we can collaborate, we can have conversation about the issues that we're facing. So then, Sara, what would you say are some of the biggest issues that you face, that you share amongst yourselves, and how do you address them in your monthly meetings?

Sara Meyer: I think one of the biggest things that rural health marketers face is the fact that we have small staff. And we have smaller budgets than a lot of the bigger hospitals, so you have to get really creative when it comes to trying to accomplish the same things with less. And I think that creativity is what comes from these meetings, is we're able to share best practices, and we face this challenge like for example, how to manage our creatives.

So we don't have big creative teams. We don't have a lot of people to support us in that area. So using certain programs that are designed for nonprofits or smaller organizations, we're able to share those so everyone can benefit. One of us will come up with a policy and share it with the rest of the team and we can each then use that and adjust it for our own needs. And it really saves a lot of time. And makes everything better when you have a lot of different insights going into it.

Khrista Boster: I would add on to that, not only are our teams really small, but most of us here are wearing multiple hats, right? So I know Diane has some hats she wears, Sara has some hats, and so we're constantly not only doing marketing, but we're doing other projects as well. So having a team to kind of bounce ideas off of, recently I needed a vendor for a project. And instead of spending all day Googling and trying to figure out who was good, I just sent out an email and said, Hey, has anybody done this project and who have they used? And I got back a few responses and I was able to go from there and vet the vendors. And it's so much easier than me having to spend hours and hours of time on that. So I think, not only are our teams small, but we're wearing multiple hats. And our budgets are, as Sara said, tiny, so we have to be super creative, and so this is just a really good resource to kind of bring all that together with people who are in the same shoes that we are in.

Host: Diane, can you share some of the things that maybe you've learned or ideas that have come out of your meeting? I know that Khrista and Sara said that you have to accomplish the same with less and that you share how to handle creative and policies. Anything else that maybe have come out of these meetings?

Diane Markham: Oh, a whole lot. Just this last one after the meeting, Sara sent out her checklist that she uses when she has a new provider or a new clinic open. And it was great. And I, wrote back and I said, Oh, it puts my checklist to shame. So, I've already adopted hers, or adapted it, and the next time I have a new provider start, I'll be using that checklist.

There's also things that are just the brainstorming. I'm a department of one. So, if we were brainstorming together in the same room, one person would have an idea, another person would add to it, yeah, we could do this, and we could do that. But if you're just that one person, it doesn't build. So that's, what I really get out of this that brainstorming.

Host: So, Sara and Khrista, when you kind of thought of this idea, when the idea popped into your head, this is kind of what you were thinking, is that right, Sara? This is, this type of idea sharing?

Sara Meyer: Yeah, I think I was sharing a lot about, you know, the issues and what we could due to maybe improve and I think Khrista then took it and she did the work and got us all together. So, it was an amazing teamwork approach from the beginning.

Host: Yeah, Khrista, so what made you want to take the reins and go, OK, I'll make the calls. I'll try to put this together.

Khrista Boster: I think because at the time I was a team of one and I really needed that support that somebody sitting in my seat somewhere else would understand and know. And so, if I needed that support, maybe others did as well. And we decided that to try it, and I want to quote Sara. She often says it's the best hour out of her month for all the resources we get.

Host: I love it, that's cool. The best hour out of your month. That's cool, Sara. So, Sara, let me ask you this, and you, all three of you can chime in on this, you know, rural hospitals play a very important role in the fabric of health care in our country. So what should we know about rural health care marketing that we may not know or understand? Sara, let me start with you.

Sara Meyer: I think one of the biggest things is that we still have the same expectations and the same commitment to our community and we still need to accomplish all of the things that the larger hospitals are accomplishing, but we just do it, like we said earlier, in a more creative way. We have to utilize our resources in different ways. And, you know, I think one benefit we have is such a strong connection with our communities and being in the communities every day. I think from a marketing standpoint, it makes us better, but it also poses its own challenges because of all of the things that we want to educate our community on and make sure that they're caring for themselves and they have all of the health information they need. And that's, a big deal. So we, feel very strongly that, that is our commitment to our community. And we just have to find ways to accomplish all the things that bigger locations with more resources have.

Host: Yeah, very well said. Khrista, how about you?

Khrista Boster: I think like Sara said, being in the fabric of our community it's a blessing but also it's a challenge, right? We get to go to church and PTA meetings with the people that we make the decisions for, so being an intricate part of our community is huge. I also think another thing is rural hospitals are always fighting for resources, right?

So proving that educating our community is of value is always a challenge that we have to always show the worth of marketing and why it's important. At least that's my challenge some days, is showing why we're important and what we do makes an impact. Overall though, I think rural hospitals have a huge role to play in their communities and once they're in the communities, it's important that they stay active and right in step with how their communities are operating.

Sara Meyer: Yeah, I completely agree with Khrista on that.

Diane Markham: And I would add that for Arbor Health, part of our mission is to nurture a healthy community. And while our programs and providers, those things are obviously key in doing that, so is the messaging. Without that messaging you lose a lot of the personalization and when you're in a rural community, you're not just a number, you truly are a name and, someone we've known forever, or we know their grandpa, something like that.

Host: Yeah, it sounds like the sense of community is more important or more relevant in rural health care marketing than in big city marketing, if you will. If that makes sense.

Sara Meyer: I was gonna say, it's our job to educate the people we know and care about and that's a heavy thing. So it's an opportunity and something that I think we all take really seriously.

Khrista Boster: I was going to say, people are counting on us. Our communities are counting on us, and that in itself is a huge weight. I wish every day was sunny, but there's some hard days, and I have to remind myself on those hard days that the community is counting for us, and I have to show up and work just as hard as everyone else, because if I don't, I let the community down.

Host: I think that's a good point because in a bigger market, there's hospitals all over the place. So I live in the Chicago area and probably within a five mile radius, there's three hospitals. Where in a rural healthcare market, you're it, otherwise you've got to drive 45 minutes, right? So I think those are really important points.

Khrista Boster: Well, I think for me, especially on a personal level, I grew up in rural Ohio and where I grew up in the county I grew up in, it didn't have a hospital. And when I was in elementary school, someone who was a little bit older than me was hit by a car wreck, was hit by a car out on a rural road. And it took 30 minutes to get an ambulance there.

And by the time they got to the big town, it was another 30 minutes. And that individual ended up passing away. And that's always impacted me to think what would have happened if, we would have had resources closer to him. Would he have survived? And I can't always challenge my team. We show up for those incidences that we might not know, happens, but happens every day.

Host: That's a great point to illustrate. Really important point, and that really makes it more easy to understand the importance that you all play in the community. It sounds like you're onto something here, this rural healthcare marketing meetings. Would you suggest other people start their own groups like this, Sara?

Sara Meyer: Absolutely, absolutely. Like I said, this is one of the things I look forward to most. And I think, you're multiplying the benefits that everyone brings and that synergy can really impact how successful you are as a marketer and it can also make your job easier, which is always a huge bonus when you have so much on your plate.

Host: Yeah, it certainly sounds like sharing resources and ideas and tips. And you were mentioning sharing policies. You don't have to write your, you know, you can just kind of take a template and kind of formulate it and add your own touches instead of starting from scratch and talking about how to handle creative and best practices and things like that. So I think that's really important.

Khrista Boster: I'd also add, I think this is a great plug. Make sure you go to those conferences. Even though sometimes, I know last year was my first time at SHSMD, it wasn't comfortable to be the new girl in the block, but making those connections is key. That's how the conference was super valuable, but this group has probably been more valuable to me is those connections back and forth and being able to bounce ideas off of people. Or when I get stuck, having somebody say, oh, I've been there. Let me try this. Or, Why don't you try this?

Host: Absolutely, yeah, and Diane, you were up on that panel session, and you know, good thing you were there at the conference and, Khrista and Sara kind of thought, hey, maybe we should get to get a group together.

Diane Markham: I'm so glad because doing the workshop was really fun, but this group here is a great outcome of that workshop, a side benefit.

Host: Yeah, well, this has really been informative. I think you've touched on a lot of things that people may not think about when it comes to rural marketing and I think it's exciting and really cool that you all are doing this. What a great job. And high five to you three for this. I think there are a couple other people that you talk to as well.

But this is really cool. So before we wrap up, if I could just get some final thoughts from each of you, I would really appreciate that. Sara, let me start with you. Final thoughts as we wrap up and talk about this informal group that you've put together.

Sara Meyer: Yeah, I agree in the fact that it is worth the time and effort putting the group together. Go out there. When you go to SHSMD, talk to people that you don't know, spend time with people that you've never met, and what you have to gain from that could be huge, and it could extend well beyond the conference. And so get uncomfortable and do uncomfortable things, and some great things can really come from it.

Host: Yeah, very well said. Khrista, how about you?

Khrista Boster: Yes, I'll piggyback off of Sara, you know, not only get uncomfortable, but be willing to share your challenges. The only way you overcome challenges, especially if you're a small team, is being willing to share them with others who have been in the same shoes or who are in the same shoes with you. I think that is, huge. And being open for feedback as it comes, or being willing to hear other points of view on different things.

Host: Yeah, really important. And Diane, how about you? Any final thoughts?

Diane Markham: Yeah, well I would add to that that, like Khrista said, be willing to share your weaknesses, but and that is certainly important, but the generosity of this group is what makes it amazing because they're so willing to share their own ideas or their, what they've done in the past. So the camaraderie really carries it along.

Host: Mm hmm. A lot of personal benefits as well, that networking angle. And, you know, it's great to have colleagues and you develop friendships as well, which is really a nice byproduct of all of this. Well, Sara, Khrista, and Diane, thank you so much for your time today. This has really been fascinating.

Sara Meyer: Thank you so much for having us.

Khrista Boster: Thank you, so much.

Diane Markham: Thank you, Bill.

Host: And once again, that's Khrista Boster, Sara Meyer, and Diane Markham, and make sure you get registered for our annual SHSMD conference coming up in Denver. You heard Diane and Khrista and Sara mention how they all met at a SHSMD conference. It's where it all starts, people. Get yourself registered now, shsmd.org/education/annualconference. And if you found this podcast helpful, and how could you not? Please share it on your social channels and please, I have to do something to crack myself up. And please hit the subscribe or follow button to get every episode and to access our full podcast library or other topics of interest to you, visit shsmd.org/podcasts. This has been a production of DoctorPodcasting. I'm Bill Klaproth. See ya!