User Experience (UX)

Learning to Treat Healthcare Consumers Like Customers

Kyra Hagan

// By Kyra Hagan // Outside of healthcare, customer experience drives business. Retailers and hospitality providers have realized explosive revenue growth and brand loyalty by deploying best practices in customer engagement. What are those best practices? World-class customer experience requires tightly integrating cross-channel data to bridge digital and in-person encounters. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry has Read More

Short-Term Wins, Long-Term Strategy: CRM at Boston Children’s Hospital

Boston Children

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Managing change is hard, even for innovative organizations like Boston Children’s Hospital. “That’s something I hear in all the businesses I’ve worked with, from GE to Cigna to here,” says William Gagnon, senior director of global digital strategy and customer engagement at Boston Children’s. Change is risky, and healthcare Read More

Healthcare Price Transparency: A Work in Progress

Baptist Health Expense Navigator

A growing percentage of consumers with employer-sponsored health insurance are choosing high-deductible health plans that have lower premiums. Citing data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, Becker’s reported that 24 percent of employees enrolled in high-deductible health plans in 2015, up from just 4 percent in 2006. The downside of HDHPs is that out-of-pocket costs are Read More

Delivering a Consumer-Centric Quality and Safety Experience

Amber Welch, director of digital content for Ochsner Health System

// By Amber Welch // Need to book a hotel? Customer ratings and reviews are just a click away. Shopping for a car? You can easily compare features and overall quality on Consumer Reports. Looking for a new yoga class?  Read the reviews. But what about choosing a hospital, perhaps the most important purchase in Read More

How 5 Health Systems Are Tackling Price Transparency

Average Price of Vaginal Delivery, by Facility. Source: HCI3 Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws—July 2016

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // The nature of our health system in the U.S. is that it is massively complicated, with many variables that impact price. It’s extremely challenging for health systems to give an answer to a patient who asks a seemingly simple question: How much will this cost me? First a provider Read More

Where Do You Rank on the Hospital Digital Experience Index?

In most cases, a badly designed website isn’t life-threatening, but in healthcare, being able to find the right information at the right time could actually make a difference. Are health system websites equal to the task? How easy do they make it for consumers to quickly find what they’re looking for? HDX-15, the Hospital Digital Read More

How To Give Patients the Portal They Want

MD Anderson Cancer Center Logo

In 2002, years before patient portals were a checkbox to qualify for meaningful use incentives under healthcare reform, MD Anderson Cancer Center created its own patient portal. myMDAnderson was launched in 2002. It gave patients a personalized electronic hub to organize all their information, and 24/7 online access. The tool has stood the test of time, Read More

A Disney Strategy That Can Transform Your Website

Andy Gradel, System Director of Digital Marketing, Main Line Health

“Imagineering is a concept created by Walt Disney in 1952 as ‘the blending of creative imagination with technical know-how,’” says Andy Gradel, system director of digital marketing for Main Line Health in Philadelphia. “At its core, imagineering is rooted in storytelling, with projects using extensive theming, atmosphere, and attention to detail in an attempt to create attractions Read More

Top Healthcare Digital Marketing Trends To Watch in 2017

Kathy Divis, President, Greystone.Net

Digital marketing in healthcare continues to evolve and grow in sophistication, according to Kathy Divis, president and co-founder of Greystone.Net (and member of the eHealthcare Strategy & Trends Editorial Advisory Board), and she has the data to prove it. “In our digital survey [The State of Digital Marketing in Healthcare Moving Toward 2017] we asked our Read More

Gearing Up for 2017: Interview with Kathy Divis

Kathy Divis, President, Greystone.Net

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Digital marketing in healthcare continues to evolve and grow in sophistication, according to Kathy Divis, President and Co-Founder of Greystone.Net, and she has the data to prove it. “In our digital survey [The State of Digital Marketing in Healthcare Moving Toward 2017] we asked our respondents to compare their activities Read More

Have You “Imagineered” Your Site Lately?

Andy Gradel, system director, digital marketing at Main Line Health

// By Andy Gradel // Imagineering is a concept created by Walt Disney in 1952 as “the blending of creative imagination with technical know-how.” At its core, imagineering is rooted in storytelling, with projects using extensive theming, atmosphere, and attention to detail in an attempt to create attractions and themed layouts that will successfully lead Read More

How To Create Engaging Physician Profiles That Get Results

Shawn Gross, White Rhino

“Patients turn to online doctor profiles to learn something meaningful about the person who’s going to be managing their health,” says Shawn Gross, Chief Digital Strategist, Healthcare Practice Lead for White Rhino in Lexington, Massachusetts. “But often these profiles are little more than an abbreviated resume: an academic history, professional credentials, and a headshot. They rarely convey Read More

Reimagining the Online Doctor Profile

Shawn Gross, White Rhino

3 Strategies to Build Patient Trust and Drive More Online Appointments // By Shawn Gross // Patients turn to online doctor profiles to learn something meaningful about the person who’s going to be managing their health. But often these profiles are little more than an abbreviated resume: an academic history, professional credentials, and a headshot. Read More

Mobile Strategy: Challenges and Successes at Johns Hopkins Medicine

Aaron Watkins, Senior Director of Internet Strategy at Johns Hopkins Medicine

After reading marketing automation software company Marketo’s Definitive Guide to Mobile Marketing, we asked Marketo how healthcare organizations compare to other types of organizations when it comes to mobile. Kristen Kaighn, Senior Product Marketing Manager, weighed in: “While 90 percent of healthcare providers claim to use mobile devices to engage with patients, only 48 percent Read More

Breaking Developments in Digital Healthcare Marketing

World Congress

On September 29-30, the World Congress convened its third annual Hospital Marketing and Communications Summit in Boston, with presenters from Cleveland Clinic, Novant Health, Main Line Health, Presence Health, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Trinity Health, RWJBarnabas Health, and others. Several presentations discussed the evolution of hospital brands in an environment of consolidation. Presenters also explored the Read More

Real-World Mobile Strategy at Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins Medicine Logo

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // After reading marketing automation software company Marketo’s Definitive Guide to Mobile Marketing, we asked Marketo how healthcare organizations compare to other types of organizations when it comes to mobile. Kristen Kaighn, Senior Product Marketing Manager, weighed in. Then we spoke to a digital marketing executive at a major health Read More

Digital Marketing Highlights from the World Congress Hospital Marketing and Communications Summit

World Congress

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // On September 29-30, the World Congress convened its third annual Hospital Marketing and Communications Summit in Boston, with presenters from Cleveland Clinic, Novant Health, Main Line Health, Presence Health, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Trinity Health, RWJBarnabas Health, and others. Several presentations discussed the evolution of hospital brands in an environment Read More

Technology as Engagement Tool at Intermountain Healthcare

Craig Kartchner, AVP of growth and performance, HonorHealth

At Intermountain Healthcare, patient engagement is a top priority, and the organization is tackling the issue from all sides. We spoke with Craig Kartchner, Senior Director of Marketing, to get an update on Intermountain’s digital strategies, successes, and challenges. “We want it to be convenient and easy for people to access tools and resources that Read More

Patient Engagement Through Digital at Intermountain Healthcare

Craig Kartchner, AVP of growth and performance, HonorHealth

An Interview with Craig Kartchner, Senior Director of Marketing // By Jane Weber Brubaker // At Intermountain Healthcare, patient engagement is a top priority, and the organization is tackling the issue from all sides. We spoke with Craig Kartchner, Senior Director of Marketing, to get an update on Intermountain’s digital strategies, successes, and challenges. “We Read More

What to Do AFTER Your Brand-New Website Has Launched — Part Two

Dagmara Scalise, AVP strategic services and healthcare practice lead, Primacy

// By Dagmara Scalise // In Part One of my overview of post-website redesign launch priorities, I focused on four important strategies to demonstrate the effectiveness of your website investment, and keep momentum going: Measurement Optimization Local search Content strategy Here we will get to the next set of priorities after your website redesign.

What Do Customers Hate About Your Hospital’s Website?

Are your website visitors captive customers? When an organization fails to meet customer expectations—and the bar has been set high by industries outside of healthcare—the impact on brand can be great. More than a third of visitors to health system websites surveyed by Greystone.Net and Klein & Partners, creators of gSight™, a healthcare and hospital Read More