The creative team here at Consumer Health Education Programs is currently developing and editing an outreach program for consumers who may be candidates for medically-guided weight management.

Every administrator of every healthcare organization in the world is keenly aware of the fact that health and wellness screening is not only an extremely effective early detection and case-finding effort, it is the foundation upon which some of the most impressive success stories have been built. Case in point: How an also-ran became the best-selling drug of all time

Clinical laboratory testing (e.g., HbA1c, CMP, Lipid Panel and TSH) is clearly indicated for all medical weight care candidates irrespective of which weight care intervention the patient is being considered for, and we would urge all providers who do not currently require lab testing for weight management patients to adopt and implement an appropriate screening protocol to inform treatment decisions.

Since a lab testing requirement for prospective patients of medical weight management programs very often serves as yet another deductible, copayment or self-pay friction point in the prospect-to-patient conversion funnel, we would strongly urge weight management program administrators to use the lab testing requirement as a growth driver by offering the initial testing for free to all new patients as a relationship-building welcome gift and an incentive for prospective patients to join the program.

This can be accomplished very cost effectively by partnering with a reputable organization that offers deeply discounted lab testing under contract with both Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp. The cost of this incentive would not significantly increase the total patient acquisition cost and would undoubtedly increase the prospect-to-patient conversion rate.

We have been using our flagship direct response brand 1-800-GET-TESTED to refer callers to obesity medicine practitioners for medical weight management screening since 2001.

Soon after launching this service over 20 years ago, we changed our 1-800-GET-TESTED service delivery model from live referrals to a recorded greeting with an IVR locator, subsequently edited the greeting to include a referral to a web-based locator, and when the widespread utilization of interactive online services paved the way for other forms of medical weight care screening that do not require in-person office visits, we began to use a recorded educational message that refers callers to a site where consumers can order any testing that may be required for clinical weight management patients and be referred to a telehealth provider for a consultation.

We believe testing and telehealth follow-ups are important elements of empowering consumers to take charge of their own health, and we are using our ORDERaTEST.com brand as a one-click transporter to bring medical weight care candidates to a site where they can take advantage of an opportunity to order the highest quality clinical laboratory testing at the lowest possible prices, go to any one of over 4,500 laboratory patient service centers in the United States for specimen collection, and receive pre-test and post-test support at no additional charge.

When the impact message of your brand is a command (1-800-GET-TESTED and ORDERaTEST.com) or a clearly stated offer to provide a genuinely valuable free service (MyFreeLabTest.com), the call-to-action power of the brand itself is far more compelling than anything that a copywriter might come up with to raise the direct response voltage of a brand that is merely connotative or moderately suggestive.

It is also important to note that building an outreach campaign around message-bearing direct response brands significantly lowers the 'AS' component of the ROAS calculation because these brands are so compelling and easy to remember that fewer units of paid media time and space are required in order to generate calls and clicks and deliver your conversion messaging to a captive audience, i.e., engaged callers and site visitors who are listening to your downstream messages, reading and viewing your content, and in this case completing qualifying actions to progress along the conversion pathway.

Radio is a particularly challenging media channel for direct response messaging because so many of the listeners are driving. Recognizing that radio listeners are far more likely to make a quick phone call at a stopping point than they would be to access the internet and read or view digital content at the "motivated moment" of exposure to a broadcast message, we utilize our trademarked 1-800-GET-TESTED brand as a delivery vehicle for a listen-while-driving educational message that refers callers to an online resource for additional information.

1-800-GET-TESTED also serves a valuable purpose as a credibility booster in a digital ad.
Many people who might otherwise be reluctant to click will do so if 1-800-GET-TESTED appears as an optional direct response mechanism along with the link to the primary engagement point.

Using an easy-to-remember and easily accessible telecom voice streaming portal also solves the problem of forgetfulness. Any caller who can't recall a web address or any other key point of information in the voice message can simply re-call 1-800-GET-TESTED.

The recorded message that is currently uploaded to our 1-800-GET-TESTED *responder refers callers to ORDERaTEST.com for further information and access to the testing and follow-up support services referenced above. If you'd rather read the message than listen to it, click here:
1-800-GET-TESTED Voice Message Script

And if you'd like to see first-draft samples of our proposed
Radio and Print/Digital Ad Scripts, click here:
Proposed Ad Scripts

*NOTE: Our responder can and will play the complete audio file for an unlimited number of simultaneous callers.

THANK YOU for your interest in Consumer Health Education Programs.

1-800-GET-TESTED is a registered trademark of Consumer Health Education Programs.