Featured Articles

Web Takes … June 2013 Picks

Holy Family Memorial www.hfmhealth.org As the largest provider of healthcare services in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, Holy Family Memorial has a lot to offer area residents, and that is clearly reflected by its website. Areas of the site that are particularly noteworthy are: Outstanding quality section. The information offered is not as comprehensive as found on Read More

Skype Proves to Be Powerful Tool for Family Therapy

by Cheryl Haas For many people in recovery from sub­stance abuse or a mental health dis­order, their families are an integral part of their journey back to health. But often, families are unable to be present for a signifi­cant part of the healing process sim­ply because they live too far away from the residential program Read More

eNews Pulse, June 2013

WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS New Kaiser Family Foundation Site Launched at www.kff.org. Five websites and gateways have been consolidated into one site cen­tered on 10 health policy issues. All content on a topic – whether a fact sheet, poll, data table, video, or news report – is integrated for one-stop viewing. Assistance for Young People Whose Lives Read More

Should My Website and Print Publications Be Connected?

Ask The Expert with Jeremy Dietz For many years, print publications have served as one of a hospital marketer’s best communications tools. Despite the rise of digital media, that hasn’t changed. Print publications are still a highly effective way to deliver information to your entire community on your schedule. But your print efforts shouldn’t stand Read More

Isn’t It Time to Adopt Online Appointment Scheduling?

by Mark S. Gothberg “People love sched­uling things online. They are scheduling flights, hotels, and even hair appoint­ments. And it’s not just young people that like online booking, older people do as well. So why not healthcare? One day online scheduling will be mandatory in healthcare because people will de­mand it,” says Bob La Loggia, Read More

My Internet … Personal Solutions, June 2013

When You Prefer Pen and Paper If you like to take notes for future reference and prefer to write rather than type into a digital device, then get the Targus iNotebook. The Targus tool and an iPad work hand-in-hand. With an iPad close at hand, you write with a special pen on one of the Read More

Second Life Enables Engagement Across Geographic Boundaries

by Theresa Jacobellis I am standing in the deserted lobby of the Mayo Clinic, and I am dressed like a gladiator. There is nobody at the information desk, so I walk behind it and sit in the chair. Next, I walk over to a series of large posters set up on what appear to be Read More

Move Your Marketing Research Efforts into the 21st Century

by Alan Shoebridge They have been living in the online era for nearly two decades, but many healthcare organizations still rely heavily on research methods from the 1950s – printed comment cards, telephone surveys, and focus groups. If you haven’t updated your research with tactics from this century, now is the time to go digital. Read More

Hospital-Sponsored Physician Review Site a Success

by Sheryl S. Jackson Rich Snippets, Robust Information Boost SEO and Visits to Hospital Website It happens every day. Someone visits a hotel review website to determine the best place to stay for the next vacation or business trip. But what happens when patients use the Web to find reviews of physi­cians? Although sites are Read More

Web Takes … May 2013 Picks

Indiana University Health www.iuhealth.org Most hospital and health system websites cover a huge array of topics on their home page. But this site takes a laser approach, placing great focus on what the organization thinks are the major reasons for someone visiting the site and sub­jects important to the health system. The home page is Read More

Can Lifetime Value of a Patient Be Calculated? Is It Worth the Effort?

Daniel Ansel

// Ask The Expert with Daniel E. Ansel // It’s a commonly accepted maxim that it costs five times more to re­cruit a new cus­tomer than to retain a satisfied one, yet when I ask hospitals and health systems if they’re concerned or think about tracking the “lifetime value” of a patient, they usually don’t Read More

My Internet … Personal Solutions, May 2013

Smarter Shopping You love a deal, but don’t want to keep track of the sales notices and discount coupons you receive in your mailbox. When you are ready to shop, go to www.CouponSherpa.com and check out the discounts currently available at your favorite stores. Both print­able and mobile coupons are of­fered, and Coupon Sherpa can Read More

Marketers Take Note – Major Design Changes Coming to Your YouTube Channel

by Alex Fraser YouTube recently announced a re­design that will af­fect all channels across the platform. This article will introduce you to the coming changes so that you can plan accordingly and not be caught by surprise when they are rolled out in mid-June. Why the change? With this platform redesign, You­Tube is emphasizing the Read More

eNews Pulse, May 2013

WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Help in Reducing Stress is the focus of a new mobile app available at www.t2health.org/apps/provider-resilience. Although developed for military healthcare providers to cope with burnout and compassion fatigue, the app is relevant for any medical provider working in a high-stress environment. The app seeks to help professionals reduce stress through restful breaks, educational Read More

eNews Pulse, April 2013

WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Public Input on Health IT Strategic Planning is purpose of new site at www.PlanningRoom.org. The new platform is a collaboration between Cornell University’s eRulemaking Initiative and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The initial focus, through May 9, will be on consumer e-health strategy. Helping Evaluate a Sports Concussion Read More

Web Takes … April 2013 Picks

Methodist Healthcare www.sahealth.com Serving the San Antonio, TX, mar­ket, Methodist Healthcare has a website that excels in almost every aspect. Site visitors will immediately note the strong home page focus on health and wellness information. Right below a large banner that rotates key service-line messages is another large section called San Antonio’s Health Information Resource. Read More

My Internet … Personal Solutions, April 2013

Untangling All Those Power Cords in the Car If you spend much time in your car, you probably have a “mobile office” in the front seat with all kinds of power cords connected to the power outlet. Simplify your life and space by getting the TYLT Band Car Charger. A flat, semi-rigid cord that comes Read More

How Do I Best Create Valuable Website Content?

Ask The Expert with Ben Dillon Content manage­ment is one of the most difficult – and most over­looked – pieces of Web development. The average hos­pital website comprises more than 1,500 pages of unique content. Cre­ating and maintaining all that con­tent requires more work than most administrators can easily manage, especially if they lack full-time Read More

SEO Lessons Learned by Integris Health

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

MD Anderson Cancer Center Taps Technology to Empower Patients

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

Getting the Most out of LinkedIn and Facebook for Recruitment

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

My Internet … Personal Solutions, March 2013

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

Web Takes … March 2013 Picks

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