// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Hospitals and health systems think of their websites as the digital “front door” to their organizations, but before consumers get there, search engine results could steer them away to competitors with higher star ratings and more positive reviews. Reputation is everything. The sheer number of places consumers post information Read More
Ask the Expert, with Kathy Divis // By Jane Weber Brubaker // What keeps chief marketing officers up at night? We asked Kathy Divis, president and co-founder of Greystone.Net, to weigh in on the top concerns of marketing executives in healthcare organizations. While acknowledging that there are many and diverse challenges in today’s complex environment, Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Your brand is the sum of the experiences a customer has with you, says Matt Gove, chief consumer officer at Piedmont Healthcare in Georgia. This definition goes beyond the conventional scope of patient experience, or as Gove consistently refers to it: customer experience. Patient experience historically has been a Read More
“The robotic yet charming voice of Alexa can help you find a good movie, make a payment on your credit card, get airline fares for a trip to Dublin, or see how many calories are in the banana you’re eating,” notes Shawn Gross, Chief Digital Strategist at White Rhino. “With an estimated 11 million devices Read More
// By Shawn Gross // The robotic yet charming voice of Alexa can help you find a good movie, make a payment on your credit card, get airline fares for a trip to Dublin, or see how many calories are in the banana you’re eating. With an estimated 11 million devices sold, the Amazon Echo Read More
Advances in technology in recent years have made it possible for health systems to streamline their efforts on many levels, from evaluating and monitoring patients remotely to sharing medical information among multiple sites in real time. Some medical centers are also creating audio podcasts to educate patients, the general public, and even clinical staff, according Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // Advances in technology in recent years have made it possible for health systems to streamline their efforts on many levels, from evaluating and monitoring patients remotely to sharing medical information among multiple sites in real time. Some medical centers are also creating audio podcasts to educate patients, the general Read More
Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic are ranked #1 and #2 in the country respectively by U.S. News & World Report. But that doesn’t automatically mean that their websites will live up to their stellar clinical reputations. But they did, according to the 2016 eHealthcare Leadership Awards judges. These institutions were the only two to garner Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic are ranked #1 and #2 in the country respectively by U.S. News & World Report. But that doesn’t automatically mean that their websites will live up to their stellar clinical reputations. But they did, according to the 2016 eHealthcare Leadership Awards judges. These institutions Read More
Insights from New Study of Healthcare Consumers’ Digital Experience // By Becky Barney-Villano // Retail has done it for years. Restaurants have, too. Even the banking industry is now meeting consumer expectations for on-demand services with such capabilities as mobile deposits, and complicated mortgages are being closed with a few clicks from a smartphone. Healthcare Read More
“Reputation management has never been more important for healthcare providers and organizations that are actively seeking new patients. Why? The increase in high-deductible health plans has created a new breed of healthcare shopper,” says Becky Barney-Villano, healthcare writer and marketing specialist. “The rise of insurance exchanges where consumers pick their plans has resulted in more Read More
// By Becky Barney-Villano // Reputation management has never been more important for healthcare providers and organizations that are actively seeking new patients. Why? The increase in high-deductible health plans has created a new breed of healthcare shopper. The rise of insurance exchanges where consumers pick their plans has resulted in more robust and careful Read More
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. Digital transformation at Boston Children’s is laser-focused on making the shift Read More
// 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
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
This leading awards program, which drew over 900 entries last year, recognizes the very best websites and digital communications efforts of healthcare organizations, online health companies, pharmaceutical/medical equipment firms, suppliers, and business improvement initiatives. Now in its 18th year, the awards program is presented by Plain-English Health Care, publisher of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends and Read More
// 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
Don Stanziano is corporate vice president of marketing and communications at Scripps Health, an integrated healthcare delivery network in San Diego with five acute care hospitals; 30 ambulatory clinics; 14,000 employees; 3,000 physicians; and $2.9 billion in annual revenue. Stanziano leads branding, public relations, internal communications, and call center marketing, as well as digital-first demand Read More
Veteran Judges Discuss eHealthcare Leadership Award Program Recognizing Digital Initiatives // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When it comes to awards, landing on the podium is a cause for celebration. The annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards are the “Oscars” of healthcare digital marketing. Healthcare organizations of all sizes have the opportunity to shine the spotlight on Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // 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. But the motivation was not financially driven. “Patients were walking around with huge amounts of paper. You would see people—I’m not lying—with Read More
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
Ask the Expert, with Don Stanziano // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Don Stanziano is corporate vice president of marketing and communications at Scripps Health, an integrated healthcare delivery network in San Diego with five acute care hospitals; 30 ambulatory clinics; 14,000 employees; 3,000 physicians; and $2.9 billion in annual revenue. Stanziano leads branding, public Read More
[Hint: It isn’t size and budget that make a leader a leader.] // By Ben Dillon // For the past decade, Geonetric has performed its Digital Marketing in Healthcare survey to help healthcare marketers uncover industry trends, benchmark their own efforts, and better understand how to plan for upcoming digital initiatives. As part of the Read More
“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
In a recent eHST “Ask the Expert” column with Avinash Kaushik, Digital Evangelist at Google and Co-Founder of Market Motive Inc., we briefly touched on the concept of economic value in the context of web analytics and website goals. “Without goals and goal values, you are not doing web analytics,” says Kaushik. Goals are conversions, Read More