by Mark S. Gothberg Based in Oklahoma City, Integris Health is the state’s largest health system. The market is extremely competitive, with four health systems aggressively promoting their services through television and other traditional media, thus making strong website traffic critical to Integris Health’s business success. As with most provider websites, search engines are a Read More
by Megan Chavez MD Anderson Cancer Center is ranked as one of the world’s most respected institutions focused on cancer patient care, research, education, and prevention. It invests more than $647 million a year in research and ranks first both in the number of grants and total grant dollars from the National Cancer Institute. Since Read More
by Carolyn Carter Within the year, the Affordable Care Act will add an estimated 32 million individuals to health insurance rolls – creating new demand for healthcare services and, many experts believe, a critical shortage of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers. In this new healthcare landscape, hiring (and retaining) the right people will be Read More
Great Smartphone Deal How would you like to spend just $19 a month for unlimited calls, texting, and data – and no contract? That is the great deal offered by Republic Wireless, a division of Bandwidth.com. The catch is that the system uses Wi-Fi when customers are in a Wi-Fi area and Sprint Nextel’s 3G Read More
Lakeland HealthCare www.lakelandhealth.org Most consumers think of hospitals as being “institutional,” and unfortunately, hospital websites tend to support that impression. Of course, children’s hospitals often break that mold, rightfully believing they can be a bit playful. But this website for a health system serving southwestern Michigan projects anything but an institutional image, while still looking Read More
by Naomi Braun and Amy Schalk There has been a significant paradigm shift in understanding population health management. No longer is physical illness considered an inevitable consequence of aging or genetics. There is now a greater appreciation for the role health behavior plays in the development and exacerbation of the most common and costly illnesses. Read More
by Heather Schwartz It seems rather elementary. A marketing campaign seeks to get consumers to respond to a special offer. While the promotion may tell consumers to directly contact a call center to participate in the offer, in most cases, consumers will look for a link to a website to learn more. In that situation, Read More
WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS New Features Added to T2 Mood Tracker App. The app was developed for the U.S. Department of Defense, and one notable new feature is the ability of users to send information to their home computers for long-term tracking. More than 100,000 people have downloaded the app, which tracks how changes in home, work, Read More
Ask The Expert with Daniel Fell On balance, most hospital system websites are consumer-oriented, meaning the content and its presentation are organized to appeal to patients and potential patients. Although some sites have links to unique content for other user audiences such as employees and healthcare professionals – and a few even utilize prominent tabs Read More
by Keir Bradshaw Microsoft SharePoint has become one of the most popular Microsoft Office products on the market. Coming from humble beginnings as a mere document repository for collaboration purposes, SharePoint has turned into a content management system powerhouse as an essential tool for businesses across every industry, including healthcare. After four generations and an Read More
Ask the Expert with Kyra Hagan The healthcare market is changing profoundly. With masses of baby boomers entering retirement, the United States faces one of the most dramatic demographic shifts in its history. The burdens associated with caring for a large and aging population are increasing both the complexity and cost of care delivery. In Read More
The Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame announced its class of 2012 inductees at a special luncheon on November 13 at the 16th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference in Las Vegas. The Hall of Fame was established in 2011 to preserve history and honor innovation. A 13-member board of judges reviewed candidates. The inductees in the four Read More
by Susan Solomon Facebook has had better years than last year. There was the rocky IPO. And before that, General Motors announced it would pull the plug on $10 million in Facebook advertising. The reason GM gave was the inability to effectively track an ROI for Facebook advertising and the general belief that the medium Read More
by Mark S. Gothberg Health and Wellness Content in Special Hub and Across Multiple Digital Channels Everyone in the country knows the Cleveland Clinic, right? Well, not everyone – in fact, most people do not. Among the “big three” national healthcare organizations, the Mayo Clinic is tops with just under 30 percent unaided national awareness, Read More
One Password for Everything How many passwords do you have for the dozens of websites for which you are registered? And how much time do you spend each month looking up passwords before logging onto sites? Save yourself time and aggravation by using the www.LastPass.com password manager. With this browser add-on, you store all your Read More
The Corner Health Center www.cornerhealth.org This relatively new website for a Michigan primary care provider supplies healthcare services to young people, ages 12 to 21. A number of things make the site worth checking out. Without going overboard, the site has a look and feel that will make its target audience comfortable. The banner on Read More
WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Initiative to Help Eliminate Needle Phobia launched by Healthline Networks at www.BigShotsGetShots.com. It’s estimated that 50 million Americans are afraid of shots, a fear that usually starts at age 4 or 5 with a traumatic immunization experience. Since distraction appears to help ease a shot’s pain, the campaign to end needle phobia includes Read More
by Dan Dunlop In 2010 several hospitals and health systems made news by pioneering “speed-dating” events, where prospective patients could meet physicians in five-minute intervals in the hope that this brief introduction might spark a future relationship. This development created a furor among some healthcare professionals who felt that these speed-dating events were beneath the Read More
by Ben Dillon The greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area is one of the country’s most competitive healthcare markets. There are dozens of acute care hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory and practice sites. Mercy Health System, the largest Catholic healthcare system in the area, competes with half a dozen community hospitals and is in the Read More
Improve Your Podcast Searches If you like to listen to podcasts on your smartphone but have trouble finding content of interest, then a new feature called Smart Station within the free Stitcher app is worth trying. You hit a thumbs-up button to indicate you like a podcast selection, which improves the algorithm to offer up Read More
UnitedHealthcare: Health Care Lane – Community Center www.healthcarelane.com Health Care Lane was originally launched nearly three years ago and was reviewed in this column in November 2010. Visitors entering the main area are greeted with an aerial view of an idyllic town surrounded by rolling hills, blue sky, and a big city in the distance. Read More
by Barbara S. Long, APR When faced with a website design or redesign project, most Web teams start thinking about all the required components, such as architecture, design, photos, graphics, videos, back-end programming – and, oh yes, content. How often is old con- tent dumped into a new website without any additional thought? How often Read More
WEBSITES New Tool to Track Patient Assistance Programs for Pharmaceuticals introduced at www.NeedyMeds.com. The Patient Assistance Program Update Service provides consumers and their advocates with daily and weekly emails updates of all pharmaceutical assistance programs.
Ask the Expert with Mark S. Gothberg Winners of the 2012 eHealthcare Leadership Awards, the competition’s 13th year, were recognized in mid-November in Las Vegas during a presentation at a healthcare Internet conference sponsored by Atlanta-based Greystone.Net. The December issue of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends listed the winners. Key provisions of the Affordable Care Act Read More