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Visiting Physicians


Visiting Physicians Association (VPA) is the nation’s leader in house call medicine with 32 locations across nine states. VPA physicians provide comprehensive medical care in the home and specialize in the care of geriatric and homebound patients. Their services include, but are not limited to, physical examinations, ongoing treatment plans, medication management, coordination of home care services and reviews for authorizations.

This Michigan-based company sought assistance from Marx Layne & Company to help rebuild its reputation following a 2009 civil settlement involving an audit of claims filed between 1999 and 2006. In addition to spreading awareness that VPA had resolved the administrative problems that led to the investigation, it wanted to emphasize the quality of care it continues to provide its patients.

Campaign
Initially, Marx Layne worked with VPA executives to draft and release a statement to the media detailing how the company was working to make sure that the problems incurred with its billing processes were going to be rectified to meet regulations. Marx Layne also launched a media and online campaigns to highlight the continued high-quality, cost effective care VPA provides to the chronically ill and homebound. These initiatives included reaching out to local and national print and broadcast media outlets to provide an “inside look” with the focus ranging from physician visits to the technology used. It also included drafting and distributing news releases announcing physician and staff hires and new office openings.
Results
Feature stories focusing on the work of VPA physicians and nurses appeared in 14 markets, including such major metropolitan areas as Detroit, Cincinnati, Columbus (Ohio), Lansing (Mich.), Milwaukee and South Bend, Ind. Of those stories, six came from broadcast media, including five television news segments: WCPO-TV (Cincinnati), WBNS-TV (Columbus), WJRT-TV (Flint, Mich.), WLNS-TV (Lansing, Mich.) and WNEM-TV (Saginaw, Mich.). In print, Marx Layne secured nine stories with local newspapers, two of which were picked up by the Associated Press and ran across the country in such publications as USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. Stories with national trade publications Caregiving in America and American Medical News also were coordinated. News releases detailing physician and staff hires and the opening of new offices were equally successful, helping the client gain successful exposure in several additional markets, including Cleveland (Ohio), Fort Worth, St. Louis and Williamsburg, Va.