“This past year was a year of transformation for UCHealth,” says Bill Altorfer of Cured. “Although such transformation during the COVID pandemic was challenging, it also gave rise to opportunities to improve patient experience in ways that weren’t initially on UCHealth’s strategic roadmap.” Here’s an excerpt from Altorfer’s new article: What began in the fall Read More
Going to the doctor can often be stressful for patients and their loved ones. That’s why having an attentive and caring provider is so important. In training, medical professionals learn that bedside manner — how doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff approach patients and their families — can directly affect the overall experience for patients. Read More
Nebraska Medicine is a global leader in infectious diseases, and its experts have been in demand since the earliest days of the pandemic — locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Nebraska Medicine held the first U.S. COVID-19 press conference in January 2020, well before a global pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization. The following Read More
If you’ve done a Google search over the past year, you’ve probably noticed something different at the top of some search engine results pages (SERP). It’s a featured snippet, also known as Position Zero, and it’s Google’s way of showing users what it thinks is the best answer to their search question. Position Zero provides Read More
A group of industry innovators recently took part in a panel discussion hosted by Reuters Events™, “Taking Action to Eliminate Disparities and Advance Health Equity.” Technology was one of several topics these leaders covered during their wide-ranging conversation, moderated by patient engagement consultant Stacy Hurt. Hurt asked the panel, “How can we prevent technology from Read More
Health tech is booming. With digital technology, healthcare providers can offer patients effective interventions, in-person and remotely. This has become increasingly important throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic, as the use of telehealth and remote monitoring has accelerated. According to the latest Healthcare Investment and Exits report from the Silicon Valley Bank, investors are pouring billions Read More
Connecticut is a small state with a large number of healthcare facilities to choose from — and now even drug stores turned health hubs are competing for the same patients. “There’s a lot of noise out there,” says Cathie Cannon, assistant vice president of health communications at UConn Health. “Consumers have a lot of options Read More
Hackensack Meridian Health needed a better way to communicate with its physicians. The Edison, New Jersey-based organization was like many health systems across the country, and relied on a combination of email, newsletters, electronic health records (EHR), and other methods to reach and engage its medical staff. “We had multiple ways to communicate with our Read More
Digital technologies are transforming how healthcare is delivered and ushering in new competitors to the market from nontraditional spaces like retail and payers. Large insurance companies are acquiring or developing physician practices in markets across the country. For example, OptumCare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, employs or is affiliated with 50,000 doctors — the largest provider Read More
In recent years, the healthcare industry has been moving away from its traditional focus on episodic care toward wellness, prevention, and population health. The recent acquisition of Welltok by Virgin Pulse in October 2021 underscores that this movement is coming from multiple directions. Welltok and Virgin Pulse have primarily focused on the employer and payer Read More
One way health systems can highlight their digital leadership, share successes, and demonstrate the ways technology helped their organizations achieve strategic business objectives is to enter — and win — the Mark Gothberg eHealthcare Organizational Commitment Award, the highest honor conferred by the eHealthcare Leadership Awards. Three health systems received recognition for winning this prestigious Read More
Versatile podcasts can stand on their own as a popular source of content, but they are also a great way to stoke the content-generation engine, especially for healthcare communications and marketing programs. “It all starts with a podcast,” says Bill Klaproth, director of marketing and production for DoctorPodcasting by RadioMD. Klaproth, who provides podcast services Read More
It wasn’t just any Friday the 13th. It was March 13, 2020 — the day the federal government declared a national emergency due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19. Across the country, businesses started to shut down; people started working remotely, and hospitals, including Nemours Children’s Health, had to figure out how to quickly optimize Read More
When South Carolina’s Greenville Health System merged with Palmetto Health in 2017 to create Prisma Health, the two systems did not know each other very well. They had different billing systems and different electronic health records (EHR). They even had different physician referral systems. “We didn’t know each other, and providers didn’t know what services Read More
“Hospital and health system marketers and digital teams can stand tall at the end of 2021 and look back at a year in which they triumphed over some of their greatest challenges yet,” writes Jared Johnson of the Healthcare Rap podcast; he is also a member of the eHST Editorial Advisory Board. Here’s an excerpt Read More
“As we put the finishing touches on our annual Healthcare Digital Marketing Trends Survey, I always look for themes that will define the industry in the coming year,” says Ben Dillon of Geonetric. “This year, one theme is surfacing again and again: digital strategy and the level of investment and focus placed on it by Read More
If you use third-party data for your marketing, it’s time for you to start getting ready to do something different. That’s because new privacy laws around the world, as well as new measures from Apple and Google, will soon make using third-party data a thing of the past. Coming changes will give consumers more control Read More
“From digital data streams to artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, the prevalence and use of marketing data is growing exponentially,” says Daniel Fell of Optum. “According to a recent State of Marketing report from Salesforce, the median number of data sources used by marketers grew 50 percent from 2019 to 2021. And the report showed Read More
If your health system participates in value-based contracting, you have a vested interest in making sure you’re optimizing the three R’s: right care, right time, right setting. Easier said than done. So what is the secret to orchestrating all the variables that go into a patient’s decision to get care, choose a provider, and make Read More
“Patient churn is an expected part of any provider’s practice,” notes Shawn McKee of WebPT. “In fact, only 30 percent of physical therapy patients make it to the end of their treatment program before dropping out. As a result, practices may lose an average of $150,000 a year from patient dropout alone. “While the numbers Read More
When you still remember what someone said in a webinar a year ago, you know it’s someone you’d like to hear more from. Sarah Sommer, vice president of digital engagement at Geisinger, was a panelist in our October 2020 webinar, “How to Build the Case for Increasing Your Digital Marketing Budget in 2021.” It was Read More
Healthcare marketers ask a common and essential question when launching campaigns or important projects: “What does success look like?” Marketing success is typically measured in converted leads and improved loyalty. But nurturing potential customers in hopes that they will become consumers can be challenging. One marketing leader decided to study the process of lead conversion. Read More
A few hospitals and health systems have been using chatbots for several years, but they came into more widespread use last year to help deal with the high volume of phone calls and emails they received about COVID-19. One such system was Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, Utah. According to a news release from Read More
“Healthcare organizations are increasingly under enormous pressure to offer the best digital tools to their patients,” says Jared Mauskopf, CEO of Medical Web Experts. “But before you set out to develop a healthcare application, you’ll need to make a number of key decisions — not least whether you should opt for a mobile app or Read More
There’s a lot of fear around technology investments. They can be expensive, complicated, and hard to implement. You send out an RFP, get multiple proposals, and narrow the list down to a few finalists. You speak with references, get a proof of concept. You’re finally ready to pick the winner. Even with all the due Read More