Oregon Imaging Centers

Picture Good Health

When Oregon Imaging Centers hired us, we were new to the field of radiology. We’d experienced broken bones and mammograms, but only from a patient's perspective. And that’s one reason the group selected the Verb team after an exhaustive search. OIC wanted fresh creative and smart consumer strategy.

As a patient, you often don't see a radiologist or even know he or she exists beyond the name that shows up on a bill, CT or mammogram. Yet behind all diagnoses, there’s a radiologist. They are the unsung, invisible heroes of the medical world. Radiologists are MDs; they’ve been to medical school and layered another level of specialization on top of that. A few select doctors keep going and specialize in a specific category, like nuclear imaging or women’s imaging or musculoskeletal study.

The majority of patients are referred to a radiologist by their primary care physician or another specialist. The exception is for mammography, which does not require a referral, and that’s one reason imaging centers do so much outreach about mammography. It’s a very small piece of what they do, but it’s the most common procedure for the general public and it helps build broader name ID.

But let’s face it. No one wants a mammogram. Add ever-changing recommendations about age and frequency, and it’s a complicated landscape in which to make an introduction.

And that’s one reason we loved this work: It’s strategically challenging but entirely rewarding. Take for instance, that we received a 72-page document detailing the latest 3D mammography equipment. We successfully reduced it to three basic concepts: 40% better at detection, 41% less stress, for all women 40 and up. And it worked. Calls and emails for mammograms spiked and Oregon Imaging Centers took another step to establishing itself as the area’s leader for medical imaging.

The work for Oregon Imaging Centers really matters, and we like that aspect too. During a media interview we arranged to introduce 3D mammography to the community, the radiologist showed the reporter a breast cancer that the new equipment and the trained eyes of the physician had recognized immediately – but that 2D had missed during a screening the previous week. It was likely that the less precise imaging equipment would not have caught the fast-growing tumor in time to save the patient’s life before her next screening mammogram.

Before we launched Oregon Imaging Centers’ 3D campaign, we had lots of foundational work to do. In fact, the first year we were on the job included a complete overhaul of all printed materials, the website, signage and an extensive event presence that included branding and specialized information pieces.

Throughout the process our reach was far greater than design or advertising; we worked on all aspects of the Oregon Imaging Centers brand. Past work had been exclusively about mammography and as important as that was, we knew that many of the group’s patients were there for everything from CT/PET scans to MRIs and X-rays. Although the connection between all the services (medical images) was obvious to everyone who knows the group, we found that the typical patient saw no connection between breast imaging and brain imaging, and as a result, the emphasis on breasts was irrelevant if not alienating. That prompted the development of a comprehensive print tool that surveyed all the study types and helped the patient prepare for their visit. We also repositioned services on the website, featuring the center’s trusted position as the provider for pediatric imaging to its early adoption of the most powerful MRI available, the 3T.

When we were done, there was no question that when it comes to medical imaging, Oregon Imaging Centers provides a full range of services, the latest equipment and the most specialized, highly trained radiologists and staff. Mission accomplished.