ONCE A MONTH, delivery technicians from Medical Arts Home Care make a special delivery that has just as much to do with the nutritional benefits of watermelon or ways to avoid heat stroke as it does with home medical equipment. They drop off bundles of the HME company's two-page newsletter, Home Health Update, to senior residences throughout the Syracuse, N.Y., area.

"And if we miss a delivery, we get a call from one of the homes to the effect that 'Mrs. Jones wants to know where her Medical Arts newsletter is,'" says Mark Williams, company president. "Our newsletter gets our name out there."

Williams has another reason for continuing to publish his newsletter: It's easy. From start to finish, the newsletter costs Medical Arts relatively little time and money-resources Williams says he would rather spend working directly with referral sources or patients. Why so easy? Medical Arts pays just $150 per year to belong to the Home Health Update, the newsletter service of Homecare Providers Co-op, a Melbourne, Fla.-based coalition of independent providers.

"One of the biggest problems independents have is the ability to communicate inexpensively with their customers. It's easy to end up spending a lot of money on expensive print ads or television spots," says Sheldon Prial, Co-op president. "But communication is one key to success, and with this newsletter, our members can accomplish that. They have found it both creates goodwill and builds sales."

According to Linda Hanko, publisher, the Co-op's monthly newsletters focus on health topics pertinent to different seasons and holidays. "The information is very timely," confirms Williams, "but the nicest thing about the newsletters is that they're personalized."

The front page features a column for which providers can submit copy specific to their businesses, such as a sale, a remodel or a new product. Williams says he opens up the call for topic suggestions to all 14 of his employees. "If people have an idea they think the community should know about, we discuss it and pick someone to put it together for the newsletter," he says.

Hanko inserts the customized copy, along with the Medical Arts' masthead, into each month's newsletter template and forwards the master to Medical Arts. The company is responsible for the local printing costs, occasionally paying extra for color so that the newsletter stands out. For example, the February issue is on red paper to tie in with Valentines Day.

In addition to distributing the newsletter at senior residences, Williams also prints enough copies of the newsletter to include with bills mailed to customers. "I tell my employees to never send out a bill without some literature in it," he says. "It's such an easy and effective way to let people know about our new products or promotions." HC

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