Eiler Success Stories

Seminars lead to more physician referrals for the San Francisco Heart Institute

Client Background

The San Francisco Heart Institute (SFHI) is a premier heart treatment center servicing San Francisco and the surrounding BayArea. Its cardiologists, surgeons and heart-treatment staff are well known for developing new technologies and practices to help heart patients.
Situation

As competing medical centers developed to serve the same primary population of people with various forms of heart disease, SFHI recognized the need to differentiate itself.
Challenge

Eiler needed to help SFHI reach out to referring physicians within a 150-mile radius of San Francisco to educate them about why SFHI should be their first choice for their heart treatment patients.
Solution

Eiler worked with the director of research, administrators and physicians at SFHI to develop a seminar series aimed at referring physicians. Seminar speakers worked to inform and educate referring physicians about new technologies and capabilities developed by the SFHI cardiologists and surgeons.
Results

Eiler organized a series of professional credit seminars at various sites in the San Francisco Bay area, including the St. Francis Yacht Club and various hotels easily accessible to referring physicians. The late-afternoon programs consisted of educational speeches and forums lasting two hours followed by dinner.
The highly targeted group of physicians responded well to the various topics presented by SFHI doctors at the seminars. The events were marketed through a series of direct invitations and contacts made with a lengthy list of doctors researched through the San Francisco Medical Society and other sources.

Awareness and recognition of SFHI increased substantially during the year-long series of 10 seminars. A growing number of general practice physicians from cites around San Francisco began referring more patients who needed specialized heart care to the Institute for assessment and treatment.