Media Relations Strategy Positions Revenue Cycle Company as Market Leader

Challenge

AccuReg, a cloud-based health care software company that helps hospital clients improve revenue capture, engaged our firm to position the company as a leader in revenue cycle management and an innovative solution to front-end revenue cycle problems encountered by hospitals and health systems.

Our initial competitive media analysis revealed AccuReg to be last in share of voice compared to four larger companies AccuReg identified as its top competitors. At the beginning of our engagement, AccuReg held only 3% share of voice among the five companies we analyzed.

Strategy and Tactics

The hospital revenue cycle is notorious for its complexity. Even sophisticated providers have difficulty getting paid in a timely manner. A first step in our comprehensive intake with AccuReg was to identify subject matter experts, both company leaders and customers, who were willing to share results from their partnership. We engaged customers to identify common but seemingly intractable problems hospitals encounter when navigating the revenue cycle process and learned about the documented improvements they attributed to AccuReg. We then organized those stories and shared them selectively with influential health care media editors and writers.

Execution and Results

Drawing on customer stories as well as subject matter expertise from AccuReg executives, Lovell placed both bylined articles and earned media stories in a variety of trade publications to dramatically improve the AccuReg share of voice in just one year.

In 2019, Lovell helped AccuReg earn 23 media placements, 15 of which appeared in top tier health care trade publications. The AccuReg share of voice, measured against its top competitors, rose from 3% to 51%. As AccuReg achieved its 48% increase in share of voice (year over year), two top competitors experienced drops of 14 and 21 percentage points.

Our media strategy helped position AccuReg as an innovator and market leader. Modern Healthcare interviewed the CEO of AccuReg about how its solutions improved price transparency for patients, resulting in better revenue recognition. RevCycle Intelligence focused on a hospital that empowered frontline revenue cycle employees using AccuReg, while Healthcare Innovation focused on AccuReg’s role in helping a hospital improve its ability to incorporate value-based purchasing into the revenue cycle. HealthLeaders
featured an AccuReg client that found hidden dollars in the revenue cycle without reducing employee headcount.

In addition to the branding awareness and reputational value of the media exposure, Lovell leveraged the earned media exposure through posts for AccuReg’s social media accounts, secured reprints for use on their website and at industry trade shows, and helped develop corresponding case studies for use in the company’s business development efforts.

Ultimately, our efforts with Karmanos brought their brand to an audience of more than 112 million in our first year.
112M