Urgent Care: Confusions Patients Have That Can Affect Your Business

Urgent Care Centers are in practically every city of every state. Yet, some people go their whole lives without ever stepping inside one when it might have saved them time, money, and would have been more convenient than visiting their primary care physician. So what’s the reason so many people avoid Urgent Cares? We’ve found that it’s because they don’t know what’s inside!

This article helps clear up some of the more common misconceptions surrounding these handy healthcare facilities.

What “Is” Urgent Care?

If you’re in the industry you know the answer, but most people that haven’t set foot in a UC don’t! Urgent Care Clinics are medical offices that offer examinations and treatments for colds, ailments, and minor injuries that need urgent attention. These walk-in facilities offer a long list of services that a lot of people think are only available from family doctors or primary care physicians. Urgent Cares often have night and weekend hours for patients to take advantage of when their usual doctors are either unavailable, or when they need immediate care and can’t wait for an appointment. Appointments aren’t necessary for urgent clinics. Nor do people have to be existing patients in order to be qualified for treatment.

People Don’t Know what Urgent Care Centers Provide

Urgent cares offer a list of services including, but not limited to, physicals, check-ups, flu shots, bug bites, drug testing, x-ray services, seasonal care, and family care. Without the need to schedule an appointment, people find it far more convenient to visit urgent cares instead.

People Think Urgent Cares Have Shoddy Doctors

Perhaps one of the more important points to address first, is that the physicians employed at urgent care facilities are board-certified doctors who know what they’re doing. They aren’t doctors who wandered in off the streets or med students who settled for an urgent care because he or she couldn’t make it at a hospital – they’re experts who provide communities with quick and affordable healthcare.

People Think Urgent Care = Emergency Room

The walk-in convenience of urgent cares doesn’t mean these clinics are emergency rooms. They’re not. In the event of a dire emergency there are worse places to be than an urgent care surrounded by medical staff. But this isn’t, and shouldn’t, be the go to place for emergency medical treatment. Instances where that level of serious treatment is called for falls under 911 territory, and not something you go to an urgent care for.

People Think Urgent Cares Are “Expensive”

First time patients can think it’s expensive, when it’s not. Urgent care clinics provide affordable healthcare to patients, no appointment necessary, without any kind of “short notice” fee. The business model for these clinics cater to people who want quick and effective treatment without paying the arm and leg they went in there to fix. People who can’t afford a primary health physician, or who don’t visit a doctor very often, find urgent cares to be a better fit for them.

Getting Patients to Come Back

First-time patients usually visit urgent cares with one thing in mind, and that’s whatever brought them there in the first place. People who are unfamiliar with urgent care clinics tend to be out of the loop when it comes to services they can take advantage of while there – so how do you inform them?

That’s where Urgent Care TV comes into focus. Urgent Care TV from It’s Relevant TV is a marketing tool that, rather than focusing on patient acquisition, focuses more on patient retention. It gets people to come back more. It educates them on all the reasons to come back.

It’s Relevant is a living, breathing TV network with a library of over half a million videos. The interesting, and family friendly content improves patient experience and exposes them to the things you want them to see. It’s Relevant TV is more than an advertising platform, it’s a tool to help connect with visitors in ways that can’t be done with cable or a looping video display.

In the end, you can expect 5 important things from UCTV from It’s Relevant:

1. Improved patient experience
They should have a better time while they are there.

2. Patient retention
If they have a better experience they will be more willing to come back again.

3. A better medical marketing strategy
Utilizing in-clinic marketing will provide your business with a more well-rounded marketing approach.

4. Improved social media effectiveness
Patients will gain an added desire to follow you by seeing the great posts you make. You are also able to target actual patients who are more likely to act upon your messaging.

5. Positive reviews
A good experience leads to a good review. Prospective patients will look at the opinions of others before visiting your center.

Business Owners: Get More Mileage out of Your Videos

Does Your Business Have A Video?

More and more businesses are creating videos and seeing the value. Videos are a great way to demonstrate a product, detail a service, or introduce people to your staff. Videos can be time consuming to create, and expensive to make. While we have observed a growth in the number of businesses making videos, the majority of them fail to think about the next step: How do you get customers to see it?

We see the video process as having two parts: Production & Distribution. Production is the planning, shooting and editing of the video. Distribution is taking the finished video and putting it in front of people. While there has been a great increase in attention paid to the production, distribution is something many forget to focus on.

Where Are You Putting Your Finished Videos?

So where do your videos go? How do you get them seen? How do you measure the success of a video you’ve made? These are all questions you should ask yourself.

We’ve found that many business owners take a “Field of Dreams” approach to video distribution. The famous quote from the movie, “If you build it they will come”. If you build a great video and throw it on YouTube, you will soon find that your intended audience will not find it automatically.

It’s similar to printing fliers. Just because you’ve printed 100 fliers and have them stacked in a box, doesn’t mean people will seem them. You have to do the work to get those 100 fliers into 100 prime locations to reach your desired audience. Video works in much the same way. Even though you aren’t passing out physical videos, you do have to think about how to place them in front of people you want to see them. Youtube, your website, community pages etc. are all places you can start. We have found a primary space for these videos should be on TV in your business location(s).

Putting Your Videos on TV

download — This doesn’t have to be your TV solution.

Having your videos on TV will draw more attention to them. It will get them seen by customers that are more likely to act upon your messaging.

There are many ways you can get your videos onto TVs in your locations. We have details the top methods in this article: 3 Ways to put your videos on TV.

The problem with most display solutions is that they loop. Unless you have a large library of content at the ready, people are going to watch the same thing again and again with no break and nothing new. Maintenance and upkeep are also issues – often needing to brave a utility closet full of wires, re-load physical drives or USB sticks, or having to hire a specialist in order to update or fix what’s on the TV.

Making the Most out of Your Videos

Putting an easy-to-use system in place that will play your videos and mix them with other TV programming is key. It’s Relevant TV takes the majority of the work away- providing your business with relevant TV programming, and a way to make the most out of your media.

It’s Relevant is a cable alternative that provides businesses a TV solution in the form of a living network of short-form content. IRTV’s library of videos is broken up into categories for you to choose from based on your customer’s interests, and gives you full control over what’s on your TV. The service provides compliments to your own videos as well as complete management of one or multiple TVs. IRTV tracks everything so you can know how many times each of your videos were displayed, along with specific timing and location.

The big difference between It’s Relevant TV and other solutions is in the content. IRTV provides interesting and entertaining content while inserting your own messages and real-time social media for people to see while engaged.

Visit itsrelevant.com to learn more about the easy-to-use and cost effective TV solution.

Turning Off Politics: A New TV Trend in Gyms & Fitness Centers

Gyms and fitness centers across the country are reconsidering what’s on their TVs. In the midst of a hostile and tense political climate TV channels are being scrutinized. Gym-goers are there to get fit, work through stress, and feel good about themselves. The TV programs get in the way.

The Effect of News and Politics in Gyms

It’s not hard to see why managers are banning news and politics in gyms across the country. Tensions are at an all-time high on both sides to the point where some gyms have hung signs asking visitors to check politics at the door. Networks like CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and CNBC broadcast political news, controversial stories, and coverage that creates a negative workout environment.

Gyms and fitness centers strive to provide visitors with a comfortable enviroment, while accommodating as many people as possible. This is hard to maintain when the TV content is generating fights between visitors! Business owners want to avoid fostering bad impressions, and violent situations.

Cutting Out the Negative Content

In an effort to combat the all the negative content streaming through their locations, gym and fitness center owners across the country are opting to remove cable news channels from their TVs. Life Time Fitness and the YMCA are just two examples of well known locations taking part in the crack down.

This news story from Fox 5 DC details their recent efforts:

“We made the decision to remove cable news channels from the large TV screens in the cardio and fitness floor areas at the start of 2018. This was based on many member requests received over time across the country, and in keeping with our overall healthy way of life philosophy and commitment to provide family oriented environments free of consistently negative or politically charged content.”

-Life Time Fitness

The decision to cut out these networks has often been in response to actual members speaking up. Requesting about removing news and political commentaries are becoming more common.

Life Time Fitness isn’t alone in this trend – for similar reasons, the YMCA pulled their 24-hour cable news programs off their TVs after visitors got into fights over politics that disrupted an otherwise peaceful community. But as tensions in politics remain what they are, and news coverage consists of negative stories, more and more gyms and fitness centers are breaking away from cable news channels and exploring new TV solutions.

It’s Relevant TV Removes the Bad, While Keeping the Good

It’s Relevant TV is a living network that features content from a vast library of over half a million videos. With 40+ categories of content, the TV is easily catered to who’s watching. All programs are screened, and certified as family-friendly. This ensures that the content is safe for all audiences. Beyond the active reviewing, IRTV allows each business to place further filters on the TV shows they show. This allows each location to block out content types and even keywords.

It’s Relevant is fully customizable. Clients have the ability to upload their own videos, pictures, and messages. Easy to use – the service also allows you to connect to your social media accounts. This lets you showcase recent Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts for visitors and members to see. In the end, It’s Relevant is a platform that gives you control over what’s on your TV, and gets people exited about your brand.

For more information on IRTV please visit: www.itsrelevant.com.

Beat the Snow: Manage Your Messaging on the Go

Trying to manage a business is hard enough without weather getting in the way. If snow is in the forecast, and you take your first look outside to find the world looks like the picture above, chances are the last thing you want to do, or even should do, is go out driving in that winter wonderland.

But you’re a business owner. Or a manager who is responsible for your location, or locations. In the event of poor weather, conditions may prompt your business to change strategy, close, or reduce hours. Given the severity of the forecast, it’s entirely possible that loyal customers will nevertheless visit your business – unaware of the irregular hours. In lieu, and in anticipation of bad weather, business owners need to inform visitors of any changes. If driving is a bad idea, how does one manage?

A Tool to Manage Your Business

It’s Relevant TV features the ability to control the TVs in your business from your phone – from anywhere. There’s no need to dig out your car or brave icy roads when you’re able to send out messages from your phone for people to see on the TVs at your locations. Inform visitors of possible closings, irregular hours, or even reminders to travel safely on the roads.

Take a look at a message from our CEO below, demonstrating the system:

It’s Relevant TV works for any business setting with a TV. It is a tool that is less expensive than most cable subscriptions, improves visitor experience, generates more business, and allows you to get people engaged with your social media and excited about your brand. When it comes to what goes on the TV, It’s Relevant is the best option for businesses. Feel free to visit us on the web at itsrelevant.com to learn more about It’s Relevant.

DIY TV – Customize The TV In Your Business

As technology grows and becomes more innovative, more and more business owners are turning to DIY solutions and beginning to explore new ways of doing things. We live in an age where reaching out and connecting with people is as easy as pressing a button – though just as easily, someone is capable of finding you and following you online or on social media – which when it comes to businesses, can be a potential client or customer’s first impression of your brand.

It’s Never Been More Important to Reach Your Visitors

A business wouldn’t be a business without people coming in and giving you their time and money. That’s why any respectable business will always invest in the comfort and consideration of the people who come to frequent their establishment. The most common means of catering to the comfort of visitors is the Television. TVs hang in the lobbies of medical offices, hospitals have TVs in their waiting areas, and bars and restaurants have them so people can watch as they eat.

Medical Waiting Room TV - Doctors Express Television — Medical Waiting Room TV

With customer comfort being the priority it is, it only makes sense for business owners to invest in ways to make waiting areas more inviting. Those who run something other than basic cable tend to settle on one of a few do-it-yourself alternatives. People try things ranging from stiff looping slideshows, digital signs, and streaming sticks, to playing DVDs. While these options have no regular monetary cost, they provide no real value to your business. Certain solutions may be illegal depending upon what you are showing. (See the article: Using Netflix & DVDs in Your Business).

So what’s the solution?

When homegrown DIY alternatives fall short of providing an ideal the answer is a custom TV network for your business. A network that brings the TV programs in legally and lets you message to your customers at the same time.

With It’s Relevant TV, it’s just easy. It’s Relevant gives you access to a living network, which features short-form family-friendly content designed with business settings in mind. The service allows you to customize your TV, giving you control over which categories play and what visitors see. It’s Relevant can also be used to display posts from social media accounts in real-time. This helps you to further positively promote your brand and get people to follow you online.

“Cut the S**T ” – Don’t Expose Your Visitors to Profanity & Inappropriate Content

Profanity, graphic imagery, and other questionable content is present just about everywhere you look. It’s in the news, your favorite TV shows and movies, and &#@% it if it isn’t in this sentence.

But not in your Family-Friendly Business, Right?

Profanity and other such explicit materials are, for the most part, censored on network TV. This is thanks to FCC regulations. But all networks, especially the cable ones, are starting to push the boundaries a bit. And as they do, you run a greater risk of showing things that may turn off your customers.

IRTV Vlog – Friday January 12, 2018:

When you’re eating out at a family restaurant, or waiting to see a doctor, or even getting your car serviced. In all of those instances, there’s almost always a TV hanging in sight. And rightly so, because what’s more comforting and familiar than television? Turn it on, tune to the news, and your visitors see this…

Profanity on CNN — CNN – July 10, 2017 – 4:52 PM ET (Captions were NOT turned on. The displayed text is part of the broadcast)

Now after a warranted spit-take you might ask yourself, “how did this happen?” – It’s the afternoon and not only are bad words being spoken, but they are also being written on the screen.

Jake Tapper, the CNN anchor and host of this segment did warn viewers saying “We have to warn you some of the language you are about to hear is explicit and might be disturbing…” But what can your customers do? Tell the kids to “look away” or just leave the room entirely? It’s 4:52PM in the afternoon and they are stuck, watching something you never intended for them to see.

Then, more recently on the morning of August 4th, we caught this one live on the air at 8:52AM. A guest known for using the F word, uses the F word and the network admits that it could have been avoided:

A Realization for Business Owners

The important realization: you don’t have control over what appears on your TV. As business owners you can only have so much power over what’s shown on your screen. Sure enough, you can choose which channel is playing, but have no control over the programming within. Without control or the assurance that what’s going to come on is family friendly, you run the risk of exposing your customers, clients, and anyone else who visits your business to things you might not want them to see or associate your brand with. Like…

Profanity on Business TV — CNN – July 10, 2017 – 4:52 PM ET

It’s unlikely that any respectable business owner would willingly show a story with such strong expletives, or profane content to his or her visitors – but that’s the risk of running cable television in your business. You don’t know what’s going to come on.

Cable TV Alternative for Businesses

It’s Relevant TV is the cable alternative for businesses. It gives you control over what plays on your TV. It’s a service designed for your business televisions. Our vast living-library of television content is risk-free, filtered, and family friendly – you don’t have to worry about people being exposed to anything you don’t want them to see. Even the daily news that’s delivered is done so without the blood/guts/gore that we see more and more on network TV. You control what content your visitors see based on which categories you choose – all while educating them on services you offer and getting them engaged with your social media.

YouTube Advertisements Result in Bad Brand Exposure

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

Why are name brands like AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Starbucks, Verizon, and Walmart running away from YouTube? This isn’t a joke with a rhetorical answer like “to get to the other side,” it’s a serious question. These brands, and more, have recently pulled their advertising dollars from the world’s largest online video platform.

YouTube. That endless sea of news, music videos, TV clips, and shameless original content you’ve come to know and love. If you’ve watched anything on YouTube in the last 10 years, then chances are you’ve been slapped with that scrolling yellow bar signifying how long you have until you can actually watch your video. You can thank advertisers for the wait.

If you’ve got a product you’re looking to advertise, it only makes sense to put it where people are going to see it. People at home watch the TV, so you’ve got television ads. People spend a long time driving on the highway, so you see big billboards and hear ads on the radio. And then you have people spending countless hours online – so of course you can put it there. A no-brainer, right? What could possibly go wrong? A lot in fact, as we’ve seen in the news over the past week.

What happens when that ad of yours winds up in front of a video you didn’t expect? Normally, you might pick and choose which videos you want your ad to run on because you’re trying to reach out to the sorts of people who watch that content and might be interested in what you’re selling. But the marvel that technology and “interest targeting” have created just might throw you a curve ball.

YouTube Ads put your brand’s image at risk.

There’s a lot of content out there. A lot. Too much for any one person to sit down and meticulously sift through, especially when a computer can do it for you based on data that’s been collected. Youtube is a prime example of a company that relies upon technology to sort through the 400 hours of video uploaded to it every minute. But no human being is actually watching all of the videos for quality control. That’s when this happens:

“…T-Mobile ads on videos about abortion, Minecraft banners on videos about snorting cocaine and pre-roll ads for Novartis heart medication running on clips titled “Feminism is cancer…”

That was an excerpt taken from an article posted on The Guardian regarding the recent rise in advertisements being pulled off YouTube – having taken them no longer than fifteen minutes of browsing videos to find what they did. And if you’re an advertiser, you likely see the big problem here.

Who could have foreseen your ad for a new car being featured on a video too explicit for me to mention without losing my job. Or your ad for a new seasonal sandwich deal being played before a video featuring the 10 Most Disgusting Foods People Eat. You get the idea. You didn’t intend on your ad being associated with the lewd or otherwise unfavorable content it was bundled with. It doesn’t matter if your product has nothing to do with the associated content, or if you’re not endorsing the following message whatsoever – a connection is being made by the viewers that you don’t have control over.

Here is a video about the issue from CBS, ironically found on Youtube:

It’s Relevant TV gets your video ads to the right people while removing the risk.

It’s Relevant TV removes the chance of your ad being shown before a lewd or inappropriate video by having only family-friendly videos on the platform. To avoid the risks associated with machine filtering, It’s Relevant TV adds and approves videos 100% manually. A real human being sees each and every video before it goes out on the It’s Relevant TV network.

The FCC protected you from associating your brand with extremely bad content on television for years, by not allowing certain types of content to be broadcast at all. But the same can’t be said for the internet. Anyone can post anything on YouTube and before illegal/inappropriate/controversial videos have a chance to be flagged and taken down, an advertiser’s message can be seen connected to them.

Take your video advertisements to a safer place. Get in touch with It’s Relevant TV for more information. The rates are comparable to YouTube, while putting ads on screen in public places.

Dentist Offices: Playing the Waiting Game

“The waiting, is the hardest part…”

-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

You don’t need to appreciate classic rock to agree that waiting rooms take their toll on more than just time. We’ve all been there, the rows of padded chairs with wooden armrests, the piles of magazines, the TV, and the plant in the corner that may or may not be plastic. It’s these elements, and more, that make up the traditionally dull waiting room experience we know so well.

But does it have to be dull?

Sure enough, plenty of businesses and offices work hard figuring out how to make a waiting room more inviting, and put forth a lot of effort into improving their lobbies for their clients. But no matter where you go, whenever you end up having to wait for more than a few minutes you’ll likely see a TV.

And there’s a reason for that. TVs are an effective distraction. TVs draw people’s attention, and they’re a familiar element that we’re used to looking at on a daily basis – providing a quiet atmosphere with the comfort and white noise of what’s on. While televisions are great in that respect, there are many reasons that cable and satellite TV are not the best options for your office.

When you’re waiting to be seen by someone, you aren’t necessarily invested in a long program when you’re expecting to miss some, or most of it, as soon as you’re called away. And in the case of having the TV turned to any one station or giving visitors control over the remote, with a waiting room full of people it’s impossible to cater to them all and it’s likely that someone is going to get alienated.

So what’s a business owner to do about that?

It’s Relevant TV for Dentists and It’s Relevant TV for Medical Offices work to address those issues and more. Each custom TV network airs original content pulled from a vast library of categories tailored specifically for the practice it’s in. The segments run for two and a half minutes on average – meaning they’re brief enough to cater to an audience with limited focus, and the categories are varied enough that everyone is bound to see something that interests them on some level.

IRTV compliments an atmosphere in which people are looking for a distraction and aren’t there to be entertained. Going beyond aired content, the service can also be used to reach out to those people in waiting. Posts, photos, and even videos from your social media can be uploaded and played for visitors to see.

Whether you’re introducing your staff, highlighting local events, or even showcasing other services your business provides; it’s worth taking a look at: It’s Relevant TV.

Dental Education Through TV: Brushing Up on Hygiene

“Brush your teeth twice a day, for two minutes. Once in the morning, and again before bedtime. And don’t forget to floss…”

– Every Dentist & Mother

The words every kid grows up hearing a thousand times. The very same words people often seem to forget despite the constant reminders. How is it that kids, and even some adults, throw oral hygiene out the window and neglect this most basic routine?

It all comes down to delivery. Good oral hygiene starts at home, and extends to the dentist’s office. From parents passing on good habits to their kids to dentists educating them on proper dental care. But how do you do it? How do you get the message across and stress the importance of taking care of your teeth? Aside from the words we all know, dentists use a number of aids to educate patients.

Post-visit, your dentist might sit with you one-on-one and go over the proper ways to brush your teeth. They might ask what kind of toothbrush, or brand of toothpaste you’re using, if you’re flossing, etc; maybe they even pull out that big pair of plastic teeth. Some dentists even hand out brochures on dental care or have them available in the lobby for all to see. And in this age of technology, you might even find blogs written by the dentists you visit.

But how effective is that in the long run?
Are patients seeing your content?

Reaching the patients is the key

Without being able to reach patients effectively you can’t pass on whatever it is you’re trying to say. It’s Relevant TV provides a unique and alternative solution to this problem…

Offices, waiting rooms, and even operatories, are often equipped with a television. Dentists’ TVs are usually tuned into something like the news, weather, or a talk show for white noise or casual comfort. In short, a custom Dental TV can run those same kinds of programs for less than it costs to run basic cable – and do more for your practice at the same time. With It’s Relevant, you can not only air those key channels, you can run original content you yourself produced and show it to the world.

Have a video introducing your doctors, or staff? A lovely office tour of the practice featured on your website? You could have that aired on your waiting room’s television – as well as any promotions or events you want to share with your patients. Connect with them, and present a more welcoming experience through a dental television network.

So going back to oral hygiene and getting the message across, how is TV a better platform for this? The answer is pretty straightforward, people watch TV. They watch it, and they pay attention to it – sometimes moreso than face to face.

TV has a lasting impact

Speaking from my own personal experiences, I recall a time years ago when I was young and my mother was bringing me to a new dentist. And in her motherly attempt to relieve me of anxiety, she casually mentioned that the dentist I was going to see “Has a TV in his office, so you can watch it during the visit.”

The comfort and distraction that the TV provided turned an otherwise dreadful experience into something less so, which is precisely why it was there in the first place, and are often found in waiting rooms and operatories today.

As a kid, or even an adult, that period of time in which you are at the dentist, you are always looking for something to take your mind off of what’s going on. The patient is invested, and focused – and can be entertained and informed with the programs you choose to put on the TV.

If you’d like to create a better environment for your patients, and connect with them more, it can be as simple as changing the channel on your TV. Schedule a free consultation with one of our TV experts to help reach your goals. You can call 203-588-0994 or email: sales{at}itsrelevant.com to set up a conversation.