Another Reason to Tout Expertise with Women in Cardiovascular Marketing

New research confirms it’s critical to talk about differences in treating men’s hearts vs. women’s hearts

Regular readers of this blog know I believe that promoting women’s-heart-care expertise can be a strong competitive advantage.

Here’s more evidence.

According to a new study:

• More women with aortic valve (AV) stenosis tended to exhibit left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy than men;
• But women also reversed the hypertrophy faster immediately following valve replacement surgery;
• And genetic differences affecting fibrosis may be responsible for this phenomenon.

Investigators at University of Berlin assessed 92 patients — 53 women with an average age of 72, and 39 men with an average age of 67 — undergoing AV replacement LV hypertrophy and its post-op regression.

After AV replacement, the prevalence of LV hypertrophy decreased in women at a greater rate than in men: 86 to 45 percent versus 56 to 36 percent.

• Men exhibited a greater makeup of collagen and metalloproteinase (MMP), which were “well in agreement with higher levels of fibrous tissues in the hearts of men compared to women,” and only men showed an increase in fibrous tissue gene expression.
• The researchers noted that while other studies reported sex differences in collagen architecture, little research has been performed regarding molecular analysis like those done in this study.

Study co-author Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, MD, concluded: “It is important to study gender differences in elderly patients. Many think that when people don’t have sex hormones or have low levels, women and men are the same. This is untrue. To develop optimal treatment for both, we need studies that pre-specify gender differences as an endpoint and that have enough statistical power to look at the differences between women and men.”

I would venture to say that few patients would have a full understanding of this study’s details.  However, I’m equally sure that knowing their physicians do understand these details could be a significant factor in patient acquisition and satisfaction.

Adding A Women’s Heart Facebook Page To Your Cardiovascular Marketing Program

Most healthcare marketers are participating in Facebook by now.  One of the questions we’re getting from our clients is how to use Facebook to effectively engage specific patient  segments.

In our view, women are prime candidates for targeted heart and vascular Facebook efforts. More than many, this population’s diagnosis involves long-term, evolving lifestyle questions and changes.

And, according to istrategylabs, they’re on Facebook more and more:

• Women make up 54.3% of the current Facebook audience, a 145% increase over last year.
• Specific age segments are growing even more.
• Usage by 35-54-year-olds  grew 328% last year to make up nearly 30% of the total audience.
• The 55+ segment grew a whopping 922% to make up almost 10% of the total audience.

Carla Bryant, Vice President of Navvis and Company, recently did a webinar about the advantages of a Women’s Heart Facebook page.  She talked about achieving multiple goals, including:

• Attracting women who have an interest in heart health
• Creating a connection among women with your brand
• Engaging women in taking ownership of their heart health
• Raising awareness of heart risks and symptoms among women and tying in your program’s expertise and capabilities
• Promoting events – screenings and educational seminars
• Connecting women to relevant content that expands their knowledge of heart health
• Positioning your experts as leaders in the diagnosis, management and treatment of women with heart disease

A discussion of when to use a Facebook Fan Page and when to use a group ensued as well:

A Facebook fan page is a good approach if you want to:

• Increase awareness of your brand and your women’s heart program.
• Attract “all comers” with an interest in women and heart disease to engage in conversation.
• Use applications to increase relevance and engagement.

A Facebook group might be more relevant if you:

• Have a women’s heart membership program and want to keep exclusivity in your content.
• Want to limit your exposure (e.g., not show up in Google searches).
• Don’t want to use Facebook as a platform to increase awareness of your brand or women’s heart program.

Keep in mind that Facebook efforts should be just one part of an integrated marketing mix, but with the right messaging, your patient engagement can grow exponentially.