The eHealthcare Leadership Awards honor the very best websites and digital communications from a broad spectrum of healthcare organizations. Winners of the 20th Annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards were recently announced at a special presentation in Orlando, Florida during the Healthcare Internet Conference sponsored by Greystone.Net. More than 200 organizations received recognition for their outstanding work. Read More
“Toward the beginning of a new year, everyone gets excited about trends,” says Ben Dillon of Geonetric. “But trends don’t start or end in a single year. Sometimes they are more of a movement, something that has been building momentum over the past several years.” In our new article, Dillon takes a look back on Read More
Data available to marketers today is key to creating brand experiences that last, but only when used at patients’ decision points. Drew Diskin, director of marketing technology for Virtua Health, recently shared how the healthcare system underwent a departmental transformation that resulted in a unique approach to being agile with data. eHST: In general, where Read More
In early 2018, the team at Hardtner Medical Center was searching for an innovative way to engage patients and increase usage of its patient portal. It had tried emails, advertisements, flyers — even billboards. But one tactic it hadn’t tried yet was a mobile app. “We needed to figure out a better way to promote Read More
“[W]e must acknowledge the unmatched role of hospitals and health systems as caretakers of our communities,” says Keir Bradshaw, executive vice president of MERGE. “Digital accessibility goes beyond mere compliance measures. It’s a way to extend care to the community just as compassionately online as we do on-site.” Read on for an excerpt of Bradshaw’s Read More
“Healthcare organizations are finding out that winning in today’s highly competitive and increasingly digital market requires a new approach — one that aligns marketing and brand management with patient experience (PX),” says Patric Wiesmann of Reputation.com. “And that alignment is happening more often on Google and not your healthcare organization’s website.” Here’s an excerpt from Read More
Over the past 25 years, healthcare marketers have experienced several waves of digital disruption, from the adoption of the web to SEO, social media, and mobile devices. The latest wave? Voice. But voice assistants are not just a trendy marketing tool — they can provide many benefits for patients, health systems, and clinicians: Patients are Read More
Electronic health records (EHR) have changed the way the healthcare industry works. In the 10 years since then-president Barack Obama signed a law to accelerate digitization of health records, hospital EHR adoption has increased from 9 percent to 96 percent, according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Despite high Read More
“Technology is ubiquitous. And it seems to me that in many cases, personal interactions have suffered with its growth. As I ponder the effects of a digitized world, I wonder about its consequences for healthcare consumers,” says Christy Pretzinger of WriterGirl, a nationally recognized healthcare content consultancy. Here’s an excerpt from Pretzinger’s new article: When we Read More
If you think it’s expensive and time-consuming to protect your healthcare organization’s data, you’re right. But just look at the cost of not having a solid security program and experiencing a healthcare breach. You needn’t look far. A breach can be financially devastating. It will ruin your reputation. It will call into question your organization’s Read More
Consumers want faster access to healthcare, providers want to improve the patient relationship, and reimbursement rates for telemedicine are getting better. Combine these factors and it becomes clear — telemedicine is going mainstream. Telemedicine claims have increased 624 percent from 2014 to 2018, according to FAIR Health, a nonprofit healthcare data collection company. Most of Read More
In a TED Talk earlier this year, Jeanne Pinder, founder and CEO of ClearHealthCosts.com, describes a situation that is all too familiar. Three members of her family had minor surgery, comparable in scope, each requiring about half an hour. The bills, just looking at anesthesia, ranged from $2,000 to $6,000. “It got me thinking,” she Read More
“Soon, if your household doesn’t have a voice assistant, you’ll be in the minority,” says Ahava Leibtag, president and owner of Aha Media Group. “NPR reports that 14 million people in the U.S. got their first smart speaker device in 2018.” Leibtag says healthcare websites need voice-optimized health content now more than ever. Here’s an Read More
Anyone who has worked in healthcare communications and digital marketing understands that a website relaunch project can be a daunting task. But one that involves merging 24 existing websites across two separate health systems sounds downright intimidating. In early 2017, that’s exactly what the RWJBarnabas Health web team was facing. They were on the hook Read More
On any given week across the state of Connecticut, there are broadcast segments on four local news networks, radio stations, and social media. What makes these segments different? They are all produced by an in-house strategic content and production team at Hartford HealthCare. The team of four people responsible for developing content for Hartford HealthCare Read More
“Personalization has been creeping into our lives over the past 5 to 10 years. It’s gotten even more intense with the release of the iPhone,” says Carrie Liken, head of industry for healthcare at Yext. “No two smartphone home screens are the same.” Here’s an excerpt from Liken’s new eHST article: Starbucks has personalized our Read More
If you wear glasses, you probably remember putting them on for the first time. Everything was in focus! The difference was probably startling – all those details you couldn’t see before became crystal clear. The right technology tool can empower you in a similar way. You can see things more clearly, and the before-and-after makes Read More
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law 29 years ago, covers much more than ramps and rails. Today, accessibility includes the internet and the digital accommodations required for people with vision, hearing, speech, cognitive, or mobility impairments. More than 56 million Americans live with a disability. Ensuring that your website is easily navigated Read More
Each month, NRC Health surveys American consumers about their healthcare experiences and preferences. And every month, the data seems to point to the same conclusion: Consumers want healthcare organizations to stop acting like healthcare organizations. The NRC survey polls more than 500,000 Americans and 100-plus healthcare CEOs. It also includes more than 300 face-to-face interviews Read More
Marketing teams frequently ask how to structure teams, develop leaders, and address consumers. In our new article by Jared Johnson, Chris Pace, senior director of digital marketing at Banner Health, shares his perspective on how to overcome these common challenges and win as a team. Here’s an excerpt: eHST: In general, where should healthcare marketers Read More
“As the journey toward 5G networks continues, smart healthcare applications empowered by it have the potential to revolutionize the way patients, healthcare providers, hospitals, insurance companies, and others in the healthcare ecosystem engage,” says Sachin Kalra, vice president, client partner – Mobile & IoT at Infostretch Corporation, a digital-first professional services firm based in Santa Read More
A 2011 survey conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found that 85 percent of physicians believe unmet social needs lead to worse health for all Americans. Yet only 20 percent of physicians feel confident or very confident in their ability to address social determinants of health that impact their patients’ health and well-being. Read More
Regular readers of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends are likely familiar with the exciting advances in digital patient care and communications. Whether it’s improved chatbot experiences, personalized websites, or new uses for smart technology, healthcare is making some notable progress in how it delivers the patient experience. But when comparing this industry to others, healthcare can Read More
You see them everywhere — on TV, social media, billboards, and even your doctor’s waiting room. Videos. It’s no surprise that many organizations are turning to videos to connect to consumers. Insivia, an Ohio-based marketing agency, reports that viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10 Read More
When you consider accessibility at a hospital or clinic, the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network in Boston, Massachusetts, is an excellent example. The buildings where patients receive treatment are easily accessed by people of all abilities, and the staff works hard to accommodate everyone who steps through Spaulding’s doors. But accessibility is about more than just the Read More