If you ask most people, I’m sure that they would tell you that the health care field can greatly benefit from the rapidly growing tech sector. Whether it is better machinery, more organized record keeping or doctors having accessibility to things like iPads, new tech can change both medical research as well as medical practice.

The Athens Regional Medical Center in Georgia is using a different technology to improve patient care in one small way.

The hospital is using QR codes to help women schedule mammograms. The hospital has been inserting the little black-and-white boxes into their various forms of advertising, such as newspapers and magazines.

When a woman uses her smartphone to capture the code, she is taken to the Athens Regional website where she can book her mammogram.

Marketing manager Courtney Alford-Pomeroy has this to say about the campaign (as quoted at Athens Banner-Herald –

We felt that women in our community were looking for more convenience in accessing their health care…the QR code was a test to see how popular this is going to be in our market.

The multiple-source approach to the QR code placement allows Pomeroy to see where their marketing is the most effective, whether that be magazines, newspaper ads or postcards.

It came down to wanting to be able to track where people were reading about our services and pulling up our services on the website. I want to make sure that we’re targeting people in the places that are most convenient for them.”

And just how successful have the QR codes in the ads been? Apparently the hospital has seen a 15% increase in the visits to the online mammograms form. Also, those who use the QR code to visit the online mammogram request site are more likely to actually schedule an appointment.

Pomeroy said that she plans on using QR codes in their next “health and marketing campaign.”

Do you think QR codes would increase the chance that you would schedule a procedure? Mammograms? Prostate exams? Even basic physicals? Let us know in the comments.