U.S. hospitals are seeing a dramatic rise in workplace violence. While some organizations are taking active steps to address the issue — including developing internal and external campaigns — more is needed: Only 43 percent of workers believe their organization’s policies against workplace violence are effective. In most hospitals today, electronic medical records and patient Read More
// By Ross K. Goldberg // One of the oldest and truest axioms in consumer advertising is that the most successful and persuasive messaging finds a way to turn a feature into a benefit. Nowhere is this on greater display than in health care, and smart public relations professionals have known this for years. The fact that your hospital operates a 24-hour emergency department is a feature. The fact that “we’re here to take care of your child at 3 a.m. when you don’t know where to turn” is a benefit.
Today’s health care media landscape is drastically different from the era of print magazine ads and TV spots. It is now characterized by a fragmented array of channels and diverse media formats, which has made media planning more complex than ever. Do you recall what media buys looked like five, 10, or even 20 years Read More
// By John Marzano // U.S. hospitals are seeing a dramatic rise in workplace violence. While some organizations are taking active steps to address the issue — including developing internal and external campaigns — more is needed: Only 43 percent of workers believe their organization’s policies against workplace violence are effective.
As hospital systems have merged and grown over the years, so have the number of executives occupying their C-suites. The chief information officer (CIO) was a creation of the 1990s, as hospitals began relying on electronic medical records. A more recent admittee to the C-suite is the CXO, or chief experience officer. So, what is Read More
// By Melanie Graham // Today’s media landscape is a far cry from the days of print magazine ads and TV spots. It’s fragmented across countless channels and media formats, making media planning more complex than ever. We sat down with Kara Rozek, VP, media at SPM Marketing & Communications, to learn how health care marketers can adapt to today’s media environment.
Getting access to care has been difficult in many parts of the country for years. Even in densely populated urban areas, a shortage of physicians and clinicians often made setting appointments for primary and specialty care a frustrating experience. And then 2020 hit. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the staffing shortage and further restricted access. Today, Read More
// By Ron Shinkman // As hospital systems have merged and grown over the years, so have the number of executives occupying their C-suites. The chief information officer (CIO) was a creation of the 1990s, as hospitals began relying on electronic medical records. A more recent admittee to the C-suite is the CXO, or chief experience officer. Like the rise of the CIO, the CXO is a response to changing times in the health care sector.
Continuous improvement of patient access is an enterprise-wide initiative, deeply embedded in and supported by the culture, and now reflected in every patient touchpoint, beginning with how patients start looking for care. Providing start-to-finish patient care — whether it’s scheduling a patient’s appointment with the right provider, providing directions to the care facility, or determining Read More
// By Cheryl L. Serra // Providing start-to-finish patient care — whether it’s scheduling a patient’s appointment with the right provider, providing directions to the care facility, or determining if a health care provider is covered by the patient’s insurance — is now shepherded through a main point of contact at some Cleveland Clinic pilot sites. The process transformation is aimed at letting patients know they’re not alone in navigating the complex provider organization, and giving them easier, more personalized access to care.
Hospital billing practices have a direct and significant impact on a health care system’s brand reputation. Take this first-hand account shared by Suzanne Spruce and Vince Galloro in a new article: “In August 2022, the Portland Press Herald — the paper with the highest circulation in the state of Maine — published a long article Read More
// By Suzanne R. Spruce and Vince Galloro // In August 2022, the Portland Press Herald — the paper with the highest circulation in the state of Maine — published a long article on unexpected medical bills. The article, “In their own words: Nine Mainers talk about their medical billing nightmares,” covered policies and practices of health systems and insurers. A companion article offered advice to patients as consumers on “how to protect yourself” against hospitals and insurers.
The Healthcare Equality Index defines industry best practices for LGBTQ inclusion and recognizes progress achieved by health care organizations to reach their health equity goals. How does your health system measure up? Health care is a necessity. But not everyone has equal access to medical services, which can negatively impact a person’s long-term health outcomes. Read More
// By Alan Shoebridge // Getting access to care has been difficult in many parts of the country for years. Even in densely populated urban areas, a shortage of physicians and clinicians often made setting appointments for primary and specialty care a frustrating experience. And then 2020 hit. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the staffing shortage and further restricted access. Today, access to care remains constrained by that staffing shortage. Yet this is just one barrier to getting care. Systemic societal issues pose additional barriers for many communities.
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There are many ways to expand health care access through virtual care. When CHRISTUS Health launched its “On Demand Care” urgent care service in May 2022, some clinicians were concerned about visit erosion from the primary care provider patient base. That didn’t happen. “Our primary care physicians who were initially skeptical, as you can imagine, Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // When CHRISTUS Health launched its “On Demand Care” urgent care service in May 2022, some clinicians were concerned about visit erosion from the primary care provider patient base. That didn’t happen. “Our primary care physicians who were initially skeptical, as you can imagine, have come around to be champions of this because it’s allowed us to keep and grow that volume off hours,” says Jeff Stewart, vice president of strategic marketing for CHRISTUS Health.
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Today’s healthcare organizations are not only challenged with staffing shortages and budget cuts, but also rising consumer demands that make it more important than ever to implement new solutions that both increase organizational efficiencies as well as digital innovation. Online scheduling is no longer a “nice to have,” but instead an essential investment for organizations to meet the needs of patients, providers, and staff alike.
To launch a successful online scheduling program, organizations can follow these 5 steps:
For more in-depth detail on best practices for launching online scheduling — plus a vendor evaluation checklist — download the full guide.
Acute care telehealth expands access to care by connecting community hospitals with specialized experts, which helps to close gaps in knowledge and keep care local. When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have Read More
// By Cheryl L. Serra // Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada is a 650-bed facility and the region’s only Level II Trauma Center. Renown serves over a million people across 100,000 square miles, much of it in remote, rural communities. Like most health systems, Renown is facing greater demand for health care services while being squeezed by provider shortages.
When working with a creative agency, how do you ensure the end product meets your marketing team’s expectations? John Ferin, in a new article, describes the scenario like this: “The meeting is about to begin. Your creative agency has spent days, weeks, maybe even months massaging their concepts, tactics, and messaging into the perfect presentation. Read More
// By Althea Fung // Health care is a necessity. But not everyone has equal access to medical services, which can negatively impact a person’s long-term health outcomes. In the U.S., racial and ethnic minorities, people of lower socioeconomic status, people who live in rural communities, and sexual and gender minorities often experience disparities in the health care they receive, according to the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
// By John Ferin // The meeting is about to begin. Your creative agency has spent days, weeks, maybe even months massaging their concepts, tactics, and messaging into the perfect presentation. You can see the beads of sweat forming on the presenters’ foreheads, signaling something big is at stake. The speakers speak, the slides begin to roll, and the ideas … miss the mark. There’s no way around it: The presentation fell short of expectations.
Assuring timely access to care — an individual’s ability to obtain health care services — has always challenged payers, providers, and without doubt, consumers. The industry’s constant back-and-forth blame game over cost and access must end. Customers are listening, and so are competitors. Recent market moves are making care more widely available than ever before. Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have experts on-site to manage their care needs — and transferring them to a large tertiary care center may not be an option if no beds are available. In these instances, acute care telehealth is helping patients receive the right care without having to leave their local community, a benefit to the patient, their family, the local hospital, and the tertiary care center.