Membership Needs Assessment 2007
by Ann Jankiewicz, ICHP President
May 1, 2008
The
Marketing Affairs Division of ICHP conducted a Membership Needs
Assessment survey using the Survey Monkey tool last November through
December. The needs assessment survey is being done annually so the
ICHP staff and leadership can gain insight into how members value their
membership. In January 2008, we had 1487 members in total. We had 280
members respond to the survey (response rate=19%). Of these, 192 were
pharmacists, 38 were students and 40 were technicians. We want you to
know that we do look at the data from surveys and have begun to use
this information to add more value to your membership.
When
asked what keeps members involved in ICHP, top responses included:
local continuing education, KeePosted and networking with colleagues.
Having the opportunity to give back to the profession, advocacy
(representation in Springfield and Washington) and statewide CE
programs were not far behind. As expected in this technology age, 60%
of members preferred email for receiving ICHP information. Others
preferred both a mailer and email announcement.
The most
interesting and timely information from the survey was about our
website. I say timely because we have recently formed a website
committee that has the charge of redesigning our website. We found that
56% of our members accessed our website only once or twice per month.
The comments on what would make one add the ICHP website to one’s
favorite bookmarks will be very helpful to the website committee as
they plan the redesign. Many responded that the ICHP website is already
bookmarked though they do not access often.
Overall, members
wanted a user-friendly website that is updated often. Some other
thoughts were that the homepage needs to capture one’s attention and
needs more information for students, more local issues, more hot
topics, and more links. Although we have links under the “Resources”
tab, we may need to make them easier to find. We also found that many
members did not know their login and would have liked to have an easier
process. We will keep this in mind when redesigning the website. In the
meantime, if you have not chosen your username and password, the
default is your member ID number for both username and password. You
can always change your username and password by going to the “Your
Info” section listed on the left hand side of the first page.
Some members asked for CE links or free CE. If you go to the website, the first page contains a link to
HealthSystemCE.org.
This is an e-Learning center for pharmacists and technicians and is
available free of charge to ICHP members. Other information to consider
adding to the ICHP website included updated pictures, timely topics
from the media (e.g. community-acquired MRSA), drug recall information,
residency information and a listserv. Members also wanted to know what
ICHP is working on by being privy to minutes or updates from Divisions
and the Board of Directors on the website.
I am thrilled to see
that 97% of members received good value from their ICHP membership
dues. First, we will continue to send out our email blasts with alerts
and updates since the survey indicated that 94% of members feel this is
a valuable membership service. A valuable service that appears to have
been underutilized is the discount ICHP members receive on ASHP
membership and publications. In fact, only 30% of members knew that
ICHP in collaboration with ASHP offers ASHP/ICHP members a 10% savings
off the ASHP member price and ICHP-only members a 10% savings off the
non-ASHP member price on all ASHP publications. To obtain this discount
simply type ICHPSAVE10 in the discount code field when ordering
electronically through the ASHP website (
www.ashp.org).
ICHP cannot exist without its volunteers.
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