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Posts Tagged ‘AMA Mailing List’

Licensed Professionals Mailing Lists

February 5th, 2009

Considering mailing to licensed professionals in the medical field?  Before you do, there are couple things you should know.

Where do the names and addresses come from?
Many mailing list providers draw their licensed professionals mailing list data from one or more sources.  But there’s truly only a few places this type of data can be drawn from.  Since many professionals must renew their license with the state in which they practice, the state is a obvious first place to look.  Each state releases information about who is licensed in a particular field.  Data of this type can also be drawn from organizations that capture memberships in a particular field such as the AMA (American Medical Association).  The AMA does directly sell their list of members (and non-members) to direct mail marketers.  There are only a few licensed agents of the AMA file and the cost for such a file is considerably more expensive than state licensed data.  It should be also noted that the AMA will not release a mailing list of ONLY AMA members.  They instead, blend their members with non-members.

There are many other “managed” mailing list properties, i.e., magazine subscribers, smaller industry specific organizations, etc.  But most of these other “managed” sources are considerable smaller in size and therefore not ideal for small geo markets.

What exactly does updating mean?
Updating is a term used loosely in the mailing list industry.  Since the mailing list brokers themselves are not required to hold a license, there’s little regulation or standard for how to define “updating”.  When you are told the list is updated monthly or quarterly, one might assume that the list has been completely recreated.  This may be true for many kinds of data but highly unlikely with the Licensed Professional File.  More often than not, the Licensed Professionals Database is “updated” monthly meaning that the names and addresses have been processed through the NCOA (National Change Of Address).  This process only corrects the location of an individual or business if they’ve submitted a change of address with the USPS (United States Post Office).  More often than not, professionals are added to or removed from the database only once a year.  Some “providers” make claim that the database they compile is newer than it really is.  In fact, some files may not be “re-built” for several years.

Once a licensed professional always a licensed professional
The main reason “providers” will go so long is because, over time, very few changes actually take place on this type of database.  The cost of re-building a database such as this exceeds the benefit, thus, a little data hygiene is all that is applied.

If you’re in the market for a mailing list and aren’t sure when it makes sense to pay extra for a better list, give BB Direct a call at (866) 501-6273, or visit us on the web.  We’ll be happy to help you with your direct mail data strategy.

For one, not all licensed mailing lists are the same.  When shopping for a licensed professionals mailing list, ask about how often the list is updated.  And not just, when, but how do they define updating.

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Posted in Medical / Health, Uncategorized | No Comments »

AMA Database vs. State Registration information

January 15th, 2009

The AMA Database contains names and addresses of licensed health professionals.  This is a great database for recruitment by hospitals seeking new employee’s.  However, there are some misconceptions on who’s on this file, what it contains, and how it differs from state registration data.

For starters, many assume that the AMA Database is a mailing list of the American Medical Association members.  The truth is that in contains both members and non-members.  Further, the AMA who owns this information refuse to provide a way to select just those who are members from those who are not.  To assume that the records on this file are only members is a falsehood.  There is currently no source that offers AMA members only.

Secondly, some believe that the addresses contained on the AMA Database are all home addresses.  The fact is that the address contained on the AMA database are the preferred mailing address of the physician or health professional.  This address could be either the home address or the work address.  There is no distinguishing feature between home address and work address.

Here are a few other unique characteristics with the AMA file:

  • The file is updated weekly and boasts a 97% to 98% deliverability rate.
  • Selectable by both primary and/or secondary specialties.
  • Types of Practice (office based, hospital based staff, resident, administration, research, teaching, etc).
  • Board Certifications
  • Medical School attended

So how do we justify spending the royalty fee for this mailing list?  The biggest reason for considering this type of database it’s selectability.  The American Medical Association mailing list allows for a far great granulation selectability than your typical state registration database.  The key here is, who are you targeting?  When doing a mailing, who do you want to target and what do you want to offer them?  If you are mailing to a simple category of physicians, then it will likely not matter whether you are pulling data from the state or the AMA Database.  And if it is doesn’t matter, why pay the premium.

Providing you with this type of valuable information is what makes BB Direct who we are.  We strive to continue to ask these hard questions, find the answers, and stay on top of changes within the industry so that our clients get the best information every time.  I’m sure I’ll get a response, and when I do get one, I’ll be sure to report my findings.  Until then, I’ll assume the state registered database is a logical choice to mailing to a licensed health professional for most mailing list campaigns since it targets the likely audience at a lower price.

For more information on licensed health professionals and other direct mail data subjects, please visit BB Direct or call us BB Direct directly at 866-501-6273.

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Posted in Opinion - Misc. | No Comments »