Everyone who works in public relations or marketing knows how difficult it can be to get good media coverage for a product or event. Philips, a leading technology company that creates innovative products and solutions in health tech, decided to try to generate publicity around the idea of doctors using Google Glass during surgery to monitor Read More
// By Lisa Ellis // “I have breast cancer. I need a mastectomy. Possibly more. I found out earlier today, and my mind is still reeling …” These words are from the journal of a 38-year-old woman named Megan, who lives in Lawrence, Kansas, and recently went through a roller coaster of emotions after being diagnosed with Read More
// By Lisa Ellis // Everyone who works in public relations or marketing knows how difficult it can be to get good media coverage for a product or event. So when Philips, a leading technology company that creates innovative products and solutions in health tech, decided to try to generate publicity for a proof-of-concept solution Read More
“It’s a marriage made in heaven,” notes Melissa Fors, Executive Director of Marketing Strategy for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: “In February 2014, two of the nation’s best-known substance abuse treatment organizations—Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center—said ‘I do’ to a merger. This agreement marked the culmination of more than 30 years of connectedness between Read More
Word of mouth may help to build your brand over time—but sometimes advertising really helps get the ball rolling quickly. Such was the case in and around Phoenix, Arizona, where Arizona OBGYN Affiliates (AOA), now the largest OB/GYN practice in Arizona, consolidated from several smaller practices in 2007. AOA soon found its future growth and Read More
While health care marketers are often urged to embrace the social media revolution, “another kind of social network has an even bigger impact on health care: the referral network that connects physicians,” says Moses Hohman, CEO of Human Practice, a Chicago-based digital health startup that helps physicians and health systems meet their referral goals. “Though Read More
Does the rise of the Internet, and its attendant ever-growing roster of social media channels, signal the end of mass media as a channel for health care marketing? Not necessarily, says Ross K. Goldberg, president of Kevin/Ross Public Relations and former chairman of the board of trustees of Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Read More
Advertising Worth Noting By Peter Hochstein You could argue that there’s nothing new about doctors running ads. In New York, one maverick dermatologist has been the star of his own earthy subway car posters for decades. They are busy horizontal spaces that simultaneously display his photograph and such things as rhyming headlines, before-and-after acne treatment Read More
// By Ross K. Goldberg // It was just a blink of an eye ago when corporate America understood, some albeit begrudgingly, the need for a solid media relations program as a way to get their organization’s story told. Product advertising was fine, and promotional gimmicks were exciting; but the inherent credibility found in the Read More
By Moses Hohman Much has been made in health care marketing circles of the need to embrace the social media revolution. “Go where the patients are,” conventional wisdom tells us, and where they are is on online social networks. Just last month the Pew Research Center came out with the latest user statistics on Facebook: Read More
As more and more people turn to the Internet to get their health information, the digital world becomes an increasingly important space for hospitals to market their services and engage with their communities and consumers. We all know this. What’s critical—with so much opportunity for online promotion—is to make strategic decisions with your digital efforts Read More
By Lisa D. Ellis If an Ebola patient walked into your organization’s emergency department today, would you be ready to handle the communication needs of the situation appropriately? If not, you could be missing out on some valuable opportunities to educate the community and at the same time, to help to promote the good work Read More
By Lisa D. Ellis A frenzy of media attention has been centered on Nebraska Medicine in Omaha recently. As one of only three hospitals in the United States to run a biocontainment unit equipped to treat highly infectious diseases, it has had an almost unprecedented opportunity to play host to a few of the nation’s Read More
More people today are turning to the Internet to get their health information, making the digital world an increasingly important space for hospitals to market their services and engage with consumers. With so much opportunity for online promotion, the key to successfully navigating the array of choices is to make strategic decisions with your digital Read More
While many hospitals grapple with how best to use their social media efforts, Advocate Health Care in Illinois leads by example. This faith-based health delivery system has developed a comprehensive social media strategy that supports its broader communications goals on multiple levels. As the largest health system in Illinois, and one of the top five Read More
by Lisa D. Ellis While many hospitals are grappling with how best to use their social media efforts, Advocate Health Care in Illinois seems to be leading by example. This faith-based health delivery system has developed a comprehensive social media strategy that supports its broader communications goals on multiple levels. Better yet, it includes an Read More
by Derek Mabie The online realm is heavily integrated with everyone’s daily life. Society now relies on search engines and website functionality to add convenience, control, and precision to completing tasks – whether paying a bill or researching a brand. Today, consumers are searching online before making health-related decisions. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & Read More
Brands still struggle with Twitter as a marketing tool According to a survey conducted in March by Social Media Marketing University, 45 percent of brands report that measuring results and ascertaining an ROI is the biggest challenge when using Twitter for marketing. Other significant challenges are building an audience (42 percent), engagement (37 percent), learning Read More
Workplace programs cut chronic disease costs, but savings from lifestyle change efforts elusive According to a new Rand Corporation study, workplace wellness programs can lower costs for employees with chronic diseases, but components of the programs that encourage adoption of healthier lifestyles may not reduce health care costs or lead to lower net savings. Examining Read More
by Dan Dunlop The best marketers have always been accomplished storytellers, and that is still the case today. The stories they craft are meaningful and connect with the audience in a manner that meets some fundamental need – educational, informational, emotional, or entertaining. The most effective stories allow the audience members to become part of Read More
by Michele von Dambrowski Not only are Quick Response codes dead, they “should have never lived,” claims Dean Browell, PhD, executive vice president for the social media strategy firm Feedback in Richmond, VA. Browell likens QR codes to the ill-fated CueCat, a cat-shaped code reader that plugged into a computer like a mouse. Wired and Read More
by Michele von Dambrowski Everyone knows that mobile is hot, observes Christian Twiste, vice president of interactive services at BlueSpire Strategic Marketing. But what everyone struggles with, including large Internet companies, is how best to address the different ways that people interact with their mobile devices. “A lot of mobile users are either bored, busy, Read More
Survey: Cost transparency major factor in provider and plan choice A survey of insured health care consumers released last month by TransUnion, a credit information and information management services company, reveals that 55 percent of consumers have started paying more attention to the details of their medical bills during the past year. Two-thirds (67 percent) Read More