Patients are consumers. They want convenience—especially online. They expect it, and when they don’t get it, they don’t like it. When they don’t like it, they may tell other people. If they’re really upset, they may use the large megaphone known as the Internet to tell the world. Wouldn’t it be great if they told Read More
“If talk of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) brings to mind comically unfashionable goggles, a dearth of useful applications, and headache-inducing graphics, we’d understand. Until two or three years ago, we thought the same—they were technologies of the future and always would be. But we’ve come full circle in our thinking and so Read More
If you could get a physician to refer 100 percent of his or her patients to your hospital or health system, what would that be worth? If the physician refers to specialists, such as neurosurgeons or orthopedic surgeons, it could be worth $2.5 million to $3 million in annual revenue, according to Bryce Bartel, CEO Read More
Could your health system launch a brand-new digital marketing campaign on four weeks’ notice? When funding for a marketing campaign materialized in the fall of 2015, Lahey Health’s Specializing in You campaign was fast-tracked, with a mandate to be in market by October 1. “The first email I got from our [marketing and communications] team Read More
Is retail strategy relevant to your work as a healthcare marketer? The answer is a resounding yes, according to Ken Robbins, Founder and President of award-winning digital agency Response Mine Interactive (RMI). “Techniques used to increase conversions for larger retail organizations can be very successfully applied to healthcare,” he says. He offers the following stats in support Read More
In early April, the Economist Intelligence Unit released results of its latest survey of top marketing executives, The Path to 2020: Marketers Seize the Customer Experience, commissioned by marketing automation company Marketo. The report captures the insights and opinions of global marketing leaders spanning multiple industries. We followed up with Marketo’s Chief Marketing Officer Sanjay Read More
“Massive amounts of private health information (PHI) are stored in Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) ready for analysis by those in the healthcare industry for the benefit of all,” notes Suni Munshani. “[But] the healthcare industry must find new ways to defend itself and its sensitive data from bad actors also keen to leverage the wealth Read More
When it comes to selecting software, implementation, or design vendors for major technology upgrades such as a content management system (CMS) or customer relationship management system (CRM), there’s a lot on the line. Even small healthcare organizations may have to pony up hundreds of thousands of dollars; for larger organizations, it could be in the Read More
Online billing: From the patient perspective, it seems like the best you can achieve is a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud. But Memorial Hermann health system in Texas has implemented an online payment solution from Simplee that is garnering rave reviews. “We understand that paying a healthcare bill isn’t always pleasant, that healthcare is Read More
Recently, eHST Editor Jane Weber Brubaker spoke with Patrick de la Roza, CEO of EASE Applications, to learn more about an application credited with raising patient satisfaction scores from 80 percent to 97.5 percent at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio. “EASE” is an acronym for Electronic Access to Surgical Events. The EASE app is essentially a secure Read More
St. Louis Children’s Hospital was an early adopter of mobile apps. Kid Care, its first app, launched more than six years ago as a symptom checker for parents. “Back in January 2010 it was just cool to have an app,” says John Odom, Webmaster at St. Louis Children’s. “But as we thought about it over Read More
“An ever-increasing number of consumers search the Internet for medical and health information, and within healthcare, as in many industries, there is fierce competition for search traffic,” observes Marlene Kurban, a business development consultant and freelance writer with more than 20 years of experience in the behavioral healthcare field. “A targeted SEO strategy, combined with relevant, Read More
You’ve been working on your website redesign for many months. At key points along the way you solicited feedback from your physician committee and other stakeholders in your organization. Now you’re finally ready to let internal users test the site before the public launch. What are the right tools to use to get user feedback? Read More
Patients have high expectations for their online health care experiences these days. They expect to have the same seamless, integrated digital interaction they enjoy with Amazon Prime or Uber when they interact with their health system or provider. “Ease of mobility is what’s important to them,” says Pamela Landis, Vice President of Information Services at Read More
Adam Dorfman is Senior Vice President of Product and Technology at SIM Partners, a technology provider that optimizes location-specific content and business information to enhance local, mobile, and social search results. “Healthcare systems sometimes have thousands of physicians and hundreds of clinics and hospitals. They are very complicated systems,” says Dorfman. As healthcare organizations acquire Read More
Joel Philippsen, Digital Marketing Coordinator at Columbus Regional Health, believes in learning from his mistakes. “Video storytelling skills are developed over time. There are a lot of variables, and regardless of how much you prepare, don’t expect to get it completely right your first time. Over the years I’ve found techniques and situations that work well Read More
The website redesign that has utterly consumed you and your team for the past year (or more) is finally completed. What now? While you should take some time to step back and bask in your success, says Dagmara Scalise of full-service digital agency Primacy, there’s still a lot to do. “Your website is the foundation of your Read More
Ever dream of driving a Ferrari? If you’re a health system, the equivalent is a completely tricked-out, customized, integrated technology platform that gives you all the information you need to tackle your market holistically. No more siloed B-to-B vs. B-to-C strategies. Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) is living this dream as it prepares to roll Read More
“One of the most important things marketers and digital strategists can do is align their digital activities with marketing and organizational business goals,” says Daniel Fell. “But often, in the urgency to adopt these new technologies and move projects forward, good strategic thinking can take a back seat to just getting things done. That’s unfortunate Read More
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more is video worth?” asks Allen Gottfried, Manager of Internet and Online Strategies at Saint Peter’s Healthcare System in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “Last year, while attending HCIC in Orlando, I had the opportunity to speak about video marketing with digital marketers from healthcare systems Read More
Two years ago, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare launched its new website, mywheaton.org, built on Geonetric’s VitalSite CMS (content management system). One of the top priorities of the redesign was to make it easier for visitors to find physicians, choose physicians, and request appointments. “Before we redesigned our site I would say we were averaging about 50 Read More
“Medicine, like science, depends on the free exchange of information to produce the best outcomes for patients,” says Ken Rickard. “Software should be designed with the same goal in mind.” Rickard is the Director of Professional Services at Chicago-based consulting and development firm Palantir.net. He believes software decisions are a crucial element of healthcare strategy. “Software Read More
Are you using Pinterest as part of your healthcare marketing efforts? If not, is it because the ROI seems questionable? Jen Jenkins, a Content Manager at University of Utah Health Care, and Kelley Whalen, a Senior Marketing Manager of Marketing Development for University of Kentucky Health Care, think the return is well worth it—and they Read More
“The best way to change a culture is to be transparent,” says Emily Kagan Trenchard, Associate Vice President of Digital Strategy at Northwell Health (formerly North Shore-LIJ). “When you pull back the curtain, everyone wants to tidy up the room.” Kagan Trenchard and co-presenter Chris Boyer, Senior Vice President of ReviveHealth, shared their perspectives on Read More
“When you think of using social media to conduct groundbreaking customer research, a hospital probably isn’t the first place you’d look,” says James A. Gardner of Connective DX. But, he points out, “Your patients are talking about you and their experience with your hospital! If you’re ready to listen to these conversations and learn from Read More