Improving hospital-based programs II.

Effective external marketing strategies not only attract viable candidates for admission, but also promote the sponsoring and affiliate organizations to the public. Effective external marketing of the program can be accomplished through a variety of means, including a Web site and printed brochures. The author strongly advocates that hospital-based programs develop a comprehensive Web site to reduce the costs associated with printing and mailing brochures.

Hospital-based program faculty also should consider submitting articles to professional publications. Sadly, hospital-based radiography faculty are not well-represented in professional publications. A cursory review of 10 issues of Radiologic Technology published in 2005 and 2006 revealed that hospital-based program faculty authored or coauthored only 2 of 41 peer-reviewed articles and only 5 of 43 other articles. In addition to advancing the profession and contributing to the body of professional knowledge, hospital-based program faculty should consider professional publishing to elevate the value of their programs in the eyes of executive leaders within their respective organizations.

Internal Marketing

Equally important as marketing the program externally is marketing the program internally to key stakeholders. First, programs need to determine what to market, to what extent and with whom this information should be shared. At the least, the program should market information regarding program quality and justification. To market program quality, the author recommends publishing an annual quality report. Ideally this report will communicate how the program fared in meeting its annual goals and what corrective actions, if any, are required. This report should be shared with advisory board members and other key stakeholders as deemed necessary.

To market program justification, program directors should consider publishing an annual executive report. Not only does the report contain financial ROI benefits of the program, but it is also another opportunity for program officials to communicate the program's mission, vision and strategies. This report should be shared with executive sponsors and other key stakeholders, as deemed necessary.

Program directors also should meet regularly with executive leaders and medical imaging management to discuss program feedback, successes, challenges and ways the program can support the sponsoring and affiliate organizations outside the program's core purpose. Program faculty also should consider engaging nursing and other clinical leaders to offer educational services related to medical imaging and radiation safety. Program directors should update governing and executive councils briefly but regularly regarding the program.

Changing History

The dangers of ambivalence and inertia despite emerging data to reflect the seriousness of an issue are illustrated by the following scenario: Place a frog in boiling water and it will jump out immediately, yet drop it in lukewarm water and bring the water to a boil slowly and the frog will stay in the water until rescued. (35)

This analogy could aptly describe the relative lack of action from the hospital-based medical imaging community given the precipitous decline in hospital-based radiography programs. Certificate programs have been on the decline since at least 1970. Some would like to see the demise of hospital-based education programs. Through program attrition, they may very well get their wish.

It is time that hospital-based radiography program directors understand these dynamics, not as an academic exercise, but at a visceral level, and take action to stave off this decline. Several articles have been published that discuss perceptions regarding hospital-based program viability, yet few have offered prescriptive strategies. By carefully examining their own leadership abilities and implementing the strategies discussed in this article, program directors could stop or even reverse the decline in hospital-based programs as other organizations realize the benefits of sponsoring their own programs or affiliating with existing hospital-based programs. Program directors cannot afford to be indifferent on these issues, lest their own programs suffer the same fate as the too many programs that already have closed.

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