Not so many years ago, an advertiser wanting to reach consumers in doctors’ offices didn't have a lot of choices, beyond static posters and the magazines that found their way into waiting rooms.

These days the big trend, as in so many other venues, is digital, in some cases digital signage but more often video, which advertisers can buy through networks that can put their messages in thousands of doctors' offices at any one time.

Now there's even a network that allows folks in waiting rooms to surf the internet, with the client's ads appear on the screen of the hand-held device.

These new video networks can target by medical specialty, and content can be either health-related or general-interest programming, such as news.

To find out how to get your client’s message in medical waiting rooms, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Advertising in medical facilities reaching patients waiting to see their physicians.

Who
Numerous companies offer digital options in waiting rooms. For this article Media Life spoke with Nobel Biocare in Norba Linda, Calif., Care Media Holdings in Tampa, Fla., DSN3G in Madisonville, Ky., AVTV Networks in Hackensack, N.J., and InfoSlate in Oyster Bay, N.Y.

How it works
Perhaps the simplest way to advertise digitally in medical waiting rooms is through digital signage, which works just like digital signage in any other venue, with content and ads rotating in a loop.

The ads, which are static, are interspersed among slides that give patients information about the facility but also other medical-related content. Among those offering digital signage in waiting rooms are StrandVision and DSN3G.

But growing far faster is video. Ads, typically 15-second or 30-second TV spots, are looped with content, and most of the networks are internet based, so content and ads can be swapped out at will from one central location.

Some networks produce their own content. Others use licensed third-party content.

The range of medical specialties these networks can target runs from dental and cardiology to ob/gyn.

For example, Care Media Holdings’ KidCARE Medical Television Network is in more than 2,500 pediatrician offices. Nobel Biocare’s NobelVision Network, which launched in January, is in 560 dental offices.

AVTV Networks’ Healium Waiting Room Network targets general practice, internal medicine, rheumatology, urology, ob/gyn, dermatology, cardiology, orthopedics and allergy. And Care Media Holdings’ Women’s Health Care TV will roll out soon in ob/gyn offices.

The new emerging thing in waiting rooms is small interactive touch screens. These are wireless and offer waiting patients a mix of medical content and information about that the doctor's service, but they are also internet-capable.

InfoSlate has rolled out devices in 14 states so far and is just now accepting ads, which include banners on the screen of the device.

Markets
Ads in medical waiting rooms are widely available in markets across the country.

Numbers
The mean wait time for patients with an appointment is 20.2 minutes across most specialties, according to a study by the American Medical Association.

How it is measured
Patient counts at individual clinics can be tallied to arrive at the number of total impressions.

What product categories do well
Medical office networks mostly attract medical-related ads, typically for name-brand prescription drugs, but other categories include health foods, educational toys, local businesses and hygiene.

Demographics
Demographics vary depending on the type of medical specialty served by the ad network.

Making the buy
Nobel Biocare: Lead time is one day once creative is in hand and approved. Ads appear amid Nobel-produced dental content as well as general-interest entertainment content from a third party. Pricing varies, but CPM for a 30-second spot airing across the 560-office network is around $25 per screen.

Care Media Holdings’ KidCARE: Lead time can be as short as 48 hours and the CPM is $23. The ads rotate in a 7.5-hour loop of content the company produces for its network of more than 2,500 pediatrician offices across the country.

AVTV Networks: Lead time is four weeks, and it can take another two weeks for creative to be approved. The company says pricing is similar to cable TV on a CPM basis. The network, which is in the 54 top U.S. markets, airs entertainment content from CBS.


Who’s already in doctors' offices
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer-Ingleheim and brands Levitra, Flomax, Lyrica, Mirapex, Caduet, Detrol LA and Celebrex are heavy advertisers in doctors' offices.

What they’re saying
“We know the vast majority of patients shop shortly after their visit, and because the network is digital it brings them that much closer to point of sale.” – Yigal M. Marcus, CEO and founder of AVTV Networks

Web site info

Nobel Biocare
http://www.nobelbiocare.com

AccentHealth
http://www.accenthealth.com

Care Media Holdings
http://www.caremediaholdings.com

DSN3G
http://www.dsn3g.com

StrandVision
http://www.strandvision.com

AVTV Networks
http://www.avtvnetworks.net

InfoSlate
http://www.infoslate.info