MADISON, Wis.--In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of hospitals interested in measuring their marketing programs’ ROI. Although ROI, the instantaneous measurement of a marketing program, is one important measurement—it is not the only method to calculate success. Examining a communication program’s effect on customer loyalty can provide another important perspective.

The typical offers for hospital marketing programs educate or encourage specific health screenings and immunizations. Hospitals are now inquiring whether the communication impacts long-term retention, loyalty and branding. Increased loyalty equates to a hospital’s likelihood of retaining existing or prospective patients. The long-term viability of any business lies in the retention of its customers. If you retain patients for life, you gain greater lifetime value of each customer. The obvious question—can patient loyalty be accurately quantified and measured?

CPM Marketing Group, in association with leading experts in market research, devised a questionnaire, measurement algorithm and reporting component to answer this question. CPM, working with four major health systems, designed and conducted a loyalty study to create an indicator, or index, for measuring factors that effect consumer healthcare loyalty. The questionnaire content focused on overall likelihood to recommend an organization; self-perceptions regarding health and knowledge of health-related issues; perceived usefulness and educational value of healthcare information through direct mail vehicle; and preferred channels to both receive and respond to hospital information.

The loyalty questionnaire is administered to individuals who have been contacted as part of a hospital’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program and its associated control group, who have never received CRM communications. The results for both groups are computed and then cross referenced to determine the program’s effect on loyalty. These loyalty measurements are applied to various dimensions including service lines, brand awareness and preference, willingness to recommend and ultimately, hospital choice. To find out more about CPM’s loyalty study or how to purchase the Patient Loyalty Index, visit www.cpm.com, call (800) 332-2631 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

About CPM Marketing Group Inc.

CPM Marketing Group Inc., headquartered in Madison, Wis., is a pioneer in the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, including database development, intelligent healthcare marketing systems and predictive market segmentation. CPM’s integrated solutions allow healthcare organizations to maximize their customer relationships through market analysis, strategic planning and targeted personal communications. The foundation is an accessible, customer-centric database that includes comprehensive individual and household data. CPM’s suite of software tools provides easy and secure access to the data for individual snapshots of patients and health consumers on a segment-of-one basis. For more information, visit www.cpm.com, call (800) 332-2631 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .