The
Patient Services Directory is an essential aid to patients,
visitors and staff of your Hospital. It contains information
about hospital services and policies as well as a community
supporter section providing the reader with a valuable resource
base after discharge. Willow Publishing Co. provides this enhanced
professional Directory to your facility free of charge.
General
Information:
•
High
quality directories
• Distribution model customized to your facility.
Examples:
•
include Directory with your Pre-admission package
• Housekeeping or Volunteers place Directory on bedside
tables
• make Directory available at all Nursing Desks, Clinics,
Waiting Rooms and Emergency Departments
• place Directory in provided display racks throughout
your Facility
• use Directory for appointment planner
Public
Image:
A professional Directory of your Hospital projects a very
positive image to Patients, Visitors, and the Community. It
can include photos of your facility and staff members, maps,
and enhancing graphics.
Savings:
By outsourcing the design, printing, and production of the
Directory, you can realize both direct cost savings (printing,
designing, etc.), and indirect cost savings (staff time).
Communicate Information:
Hospital:
The Directory includes information on Visiting Hours, Parking,
Telephone, Television, Types of Rooms, Smoking Policy, Food
Services, etc. It also includes a Welcome Message from the
President/CEO or Hospital Board, the Vision/Mission Statement
and information about services that your Hospital offers.
Hospital Foundation:
The Foundation section includes information on the Foundation
itself such as history and current fundraising goals, contact
details and how to make a donation. We have different options
available on how to include a donation form and envelope.
What
do I need to do for sales?
At the onset of the project, we will ask you for basic information
such as numbers of beds, numbers of admissions, and catchment
area to help us position your Directory.
We need a letter from the Hospital, on Hospital letterhead
and signed by an authorized individual, for our sales professionals
to use when soliciting advertising for your Directory. Essentially
it is a letter that endorses our activity and helps introduce
the new Directory to the community. It will target businesses
and professionals, and should include the following: that
this is a new initiative, that it will benefit patients and
their families, and that the Hospital values the Directory
and the community advertising. The letter is most effective
when you outline for the advertiser to whom and how the directory
will be circulated, ie. give information on numbers of patients
and on method of distribution.
What is my hospital content?
Your hospital content is simply the information about your
hospital that you would like your patients to know; it forms
the content of the Directory. It is yours to write and organize.
Typically you will have seen samples of our work and we encourage
you to use those sample Directories as a departure point in
creating your own. Each hospital/healthcare organization has
its own identity and your directory should and will reflect
that.
What are my deadlines?
We need to receive your content at least 8 - 12 weeks prior
to the targeted publication date. Advance time depends on
your publication circulation numbers, ie. higher numbers of
copies require more time in production.
We will send you a proposed timeframes schedule, or otherwise
agree to a deadline for receipt of your content, and we will
contact you in advance of your deadline to remind you that
it is coming due.
Give yourself enough time. Your information should be nearly
print-ready when we receive it. We want to avoid a scenario
where the layout proof, once designed, continues through many
revisions due to text editing which would have been better
handled at the word processing level. It is important, therefore,
that any hospital decision-makers, who may want or need to
wordsmith, review the original content and approve it BEFORE
you send it to us. Ideally, your content will then be signed
off after 1 - 2 reviews.
How many pages of text do I provide?
Standard hospital agreements are for a maximum of 20 pages,
single-sided and double-spaced. Generally speaking this will
translate to the same number of pages laid out. This is influenced
by use of icons and photos as well as number of headings,
and of course, by font type and size. Although it is not an
exact science, we do ask that you try to stick to that maximum
number of pages.
How should I organize my material?
That decision is yours to make. If you need some guidance,
use the sample directories or ask us to mail you more. Most
hospitals group the information into sections, and list the
subsections alphabetically. You will include a Table of Contents
to help users find the information they need; we finalize
that Table of Contents with you once the final layout is approved.
Some helpful hints:
- most hospitals start with a Welcome Message from the CEO
or the Board
- some general sections include: About Us; Your Care Team;
Hospital Services; For Your Visitors; How to Help (the Hospital)
- don't forget to talk about your Foundation…
- this is a great opportunity to message anything new about
the hospital, ie. new programs, equipment, construction etc
- work for consistency in naming and style; edit the document
accordingly (eg. if your hospital uses "health care",
then use that spelling throughout).
How do I get my content to you?
We require that you email us your content. We can accept any
number of Word processing formats, MS Word is most common.
A few notes:
- organize the material in the Word document in the order
you want it laid out.
- show us your main headings and subheadings by consistent
use of bold, underline, all capitals, etc.
How about my logo?
Your logo will be on the front cover and the inside pages,
so it is important that you send it to us in a press quality
(minimum 300 dpi) jpeg or tif file, preferably even an eps
file. We would also ask you to provide us with the pantone
#s for the logo. The main pantone will serve as the directory
colour to be used throughout the book.
What about photos?
All publications look better with colour photos. There is
no set rule as to number of pictures for the inside, but we
do ask that your total number of pages not exceed 25, so you
will need to factor in any photos.
In what format should I send my photos?
Photos must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, and should
be in JPEG or TIFF file formats. You can either email us the
files, or if they are particularly large, upload them to our
ftp site. If you prefer, you may also burn to CD and mail
them to us.
Will I get to see my proof before it goes to print?
Yes. You will need to see and sign off on your proof before
we go to print.
Will I get to see the ad section before it goes to print?
Yes. You will need to see and sign off on the ad section.
Typically this happens after you have signed off on your content,
when that layout is set.
When will I receive my directories?
Once everything is signed-off, it takes 3 to 4 weeks in production
before you will get your shipment. Sometimes we have a longer
production queue; we will do our best to keep you informed
of any delays.
How about shipping?
We will ask you to confirm shipping information as we approach
delivery time, including any specifics on receiving location
and contact names. Some hospitals require that we have a purchase
order number in order to receive the shipment, even though
shipping of your directories is free.
