Postcards used to remind employers, patients
May 1, 1999 2 minutes read
Postcards used to remind employers, patients
Simple postcard reminders can be an effective way to remind clients about occupational health needs and to keep your name in front of them, according to a program that uses a dozen different reminders to stay in touch with local employers.
MGRyan & Co., an occupational health program in Oxnard, CA, has used 12 different postcards or other types of mailings to remind clients of upcoming deadlines or to alert them to changes in regulations that may affect them. Executive director Mary Gene Ryan, MPH, RN, COHN-S, says the mailings serve two purposes. They not only alert employers to concerns that might be overlooked, but they also serve as subtle marketing for the program.
"They’re informational, but they also remind the clients that they can use our services if they need to," Ryan says.
"We might send an alert that there’s been a change in a federal regulation, or we might remind them that it’s time to prepare their OSHA 200 report, for instance," she explains. (For a sample of the postcard sent to clients reminding them about the OSHA 200 deadline, see box, below.)
Computer narrows mailings
In February, the OSHA 200 reminder was mailed to all 500 clients of the program because it pertained to all of them. Other types of alerts are sent only to those clients affected, such as when the respirator standard was recently changed.
Using the program’s database in which clients’ specific concerns are flagged, only those clients using respirators received that mailing.
More alerts are added as the need arises. Ryan says the program has received follow-up calls from clients who received mailings, but she has not studied how much business the effort may have generated.
"We think it’s important just to keep our name out there and gently prompt them to call if they need anything," she says. "This is a good way to do that without any pressure."
[For more information, contact: Mary Gene Ryan, MGRyan and Co., P.O. Box 5145, Oxnard, CA 93031. Telephone: (805) 384-1169. E-mail: [email protected].]
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