Improving the Online Patient Experience: Usability Tests and Task Completion

November 1, 2013

by Lannie Byrd Throughout the past decade, hospitals have put a lot of effort into improving the overall patient experience. Private rooms. Flat-screen TVs. Wireless Internet. Chef-prepared meals. High thread-count sheets. An overall emphasis on customer service. However, a healthcare institution’s digital platform touches patients throughout their healthcare experi­ence, from searching for a physician to Read More

Patient Engagement? There’s an App for That

November 1, 2013

by Theresa Jacobellis As the American healthcare sys­tem is reformed, greater emphasis is being placed on wellness and prevention. Savvy pro­viders are harnessing mobile tech­nology to empower patients to be more engaged in their own health­care, with the potential to improve treatment compliance, enhance outcomes, and even maximize re­imbursements by reducing readmis­sions. Earlier this year, Read More

Lessons Learned in Building the Brand Through Health Content and Social Media

October 1, 2013

by Mark S. Gothberg Conventional Thinking Often Wrong With its total national awareness far below that of Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cleveland Clinic decided to take a novel ap­proach to building the brand. In March 2012, Cleveland Clinic launched Health Hub, a site very different from the organi­zation’s primary website at www.clevelandclinic.org, and Read More

Hashtags on Facebook Don’t Boost Viral Impact

October 1, 2013

Facebook introduced hashtags on its news feed in June with the expecta­tion that they would increase reach. But a study by EdgeRank Checker finds that hashtags didn’t increase exposure at all. Posts with hashtags actually had less viral reach. Also, posts with hashtags had a lower level of engagement, and organic reach exhibited a slight Read More

eNews Pulse, October 2013

October 1, 2013

WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Concussion Recognition App Now Available for Free. The popular Concussion Recognition & Response app from PAR is available at the Apple App Store and at Google Play for Android devices. New Symptom Checker Identifies Conditions Caused by Drugs. The free personalized symptom checker from eHealthMe compares symptoms with more than 40 million drug Read More

My Internet … Personal Solutions, October 2013

October 1, 2013

Reference Source with a Click How often do you use Google to learn more about something in an online article, such as the location of a town, a person’s background, or the definition of a word? Rather than leave the Web page, get the browser add-on from Curiyo. Once installed on your computer, Curiyo identifies Read More

Web Takes … October 2013 Picks

October 1, 2013

In this issue we review three hospital sites: DMC Surgery Hospital Coping Club at Kosair Children’s Hospital Onlife Health DMC Surgery Hospital It’s been two years since I visited this site for a suburban Detroit fa­cility. Some changes have been made – some good and some not so good, depending on your perspec­tive. Nevertheless, the Read More

How Do You Build an Effective Dashboard for Digital Marketing?

October 1, 2013
Susan Solomon

Ask The Expert with Susan Solomon Eleven years ago, Kay Franks, marketing manager for St. Louis Children’s Hospital, got wind that budget re­ductions were on the horizon and it looked like her website budget was on the chopping block. That was all she needed to get cracking on building a compre­hensive dashboard to demonstrate the Read More

Using Google Analytics to Drive Marketing Decisions

October 1, 2013

by Mark S. Gothberg Going Beyond Website Visits and Page Views “We used to focus all our attention on how many people were visiting our website, what content they were interested in, what was the level of engagement,” says Joe Ebeling, e-business and marketing supervisor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. “Now, we look at Read More

eNews Pulse, September 2013

September 1, 2013

WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Information on New State Health Insurance Exchanges for con­sumers is the subject of a new site at www.HealthCare.gov. The site has a Spanish language version. New Healthcare Blog presented by Forbes.com and written by the chair of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices and CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, Robert Pearl, MD. Read More

My Internet … Personal Solutions, September 2013

September 1, 2013

Eyeglasses Online Afraid to buy glasses online even though you could save a ton of money? Now Glasses.com has come out with an app that uses 3Dfit technology to allow consumers to accurately see how frames look and fit without stepping into a store. Available currently only at the iTunes app store.  

Web Takes … September 2013 Picks

September 1, 2013

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC www.chp.edu This site reflects a growing trend in hospital websites – simplicity. The home page features a strong visual image in the banner area, a half-dozen global links that can be ex­panded to give access to virtually anything a site visitor might want to find, and a highly visible Read More

Salem Health Uses Video to Get Big Media to Pay Attention; Vehicle Leads New Marketing Push

September 1, 2013

by Mark S. Gothberg Here’s a dilemma that faces many organizations. The hospital is siz­able, but network television origi­nates in a city located about an hour’s drive away and outside the organization’s primary and second­ary service areas. Television stations have long-standing relationships with major healthcare organizations in their city and do not view the hospital Read More

The Digital Future of Physician Relations

August 1, 2013

// By Lyle Green and Dan Dunlop // In May 2013, a group of physician relations profes­sionals and thought leaders gathered in Houston to develop a vision for the future of physician relations. Recognizing the growing adoption of digital media by medical profes­sionals, the assembled experts sought to define the future role of the physician Read More

My Internet … Personal Solutions, August 2013

August 1, 2013

Track Your Fitness Regimen Fitbit, which tracks your steps, calo­ries burned, and other metrics, has been on the market for a number of years. This great little device is now available in different colors and de­signs and can send information to smartphones as well as computers. The latest versions, the Zip and the Flex, are Read More

eNews Pulse, August 2013

August 1, 2013

WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Capital BlueCross Challenges Students to Develop Innovative Web-Based Tools or Mobile Apps to Improve Healthcare. Available to students age 18 and older, the challenge supports innovative ideas in one of three categories: financial, telemedical, and experiential. Top prize is $15,000. Work must be original and sub­mitted by November 22. Details at www.blueinnovates.com. RESOURCES Read More

The Power of Storytelling

August 1, 2013

by Mark S. Gothberg “Humans are fundamentally emo­tional – rather than analytical – in how they process information and make decisions, and there is no bet­ter way to connect with someone’s emotions than through stories,” says Betsy Chapin Taylor, principal consultant for Third Sector Strategy, a healthcare philanthropy consulting firm. Compelling communication weaves together emotion, Read More

Web Takes … August 2013 Picks

August 1, 2013

Hartford Hospital www.harthosp.org It has been a dozen years since this site was reviewed. The site for this Connecticut institution was out­standing back then, and with changes over the years, it is out­standing today. Most hospital sites fail to identify the organization’s key service lines. Yes, many sites will highlight a few serv­ices in their Read More

A Different Approach to Patient Billing

August 1, 2013

by Mark S. Gothberg Patient billing has become an even bigger issue for healthcare providers. Patients used to be responsible for about 10 percent of hospital and physician bills. But high-deductible health plans have driven up patient responsibility, which now averages 26 percent and will soon reach 30 percent, according to John Talaga, vice president Read More

How Can Digital Technology Support Brand Building?

August 1, 2013

Ask The Expert with Mike Reinhardt Arguments are made regularly that a brand is an organization’s most valuable asset. A chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola once said that if the company lost all of its facilities and people, he could rebuild the com­pany – provided he retained the rights to the brand. He said he Read More

Embrace Blogging to Generate Real Patient Connections

August 1, 2013

by Mark S. Gothberg Healthcare organiza­tions are infatuated with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. They are the “hot” social media networks. While these vehicles can draw large audiences, they often do not provide the same “marketing pull” opportunities and the level of interaction that can take place with a strong and effective blog. “In healthcare, it’s Read More

1 … 58 59 60 61 62 63