Ever wished you could get a bird’s eye view of what your competition is doing so you could use the information to sharpen your own efforts and make them more effective? Some health systems are turning to secret shoppers to gather key information about what’s happening in their target area, tracking details like whether physicians Read More
Does your hospital or health system really live up to the brand portrayed in the messages you send to your audience? Honestly, does it really? If you’re like many health care groups around the nation, you may have a serious disconnect between how your internal culture operates and the image you try to convey to Read More
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 // “Say it. Live it.” This concept sounds simple, right? But do you and your employees really live up to the messages you regularly send to your audience? If you’re like many health care groups around the nation, you may have a serious disconnect between how your internal culture operates and 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
By Lisa D. Ellis The leadership at Kaiser Permanente recognizes the importance of not only caring for the people their health care system serves, but also of protecting the health of the communities where its members live, work, and play. That’s why, in addition to providing health and wellness services for its members, Kaiser Permanente Read More
“The consumerization of health care means your customer is now in control,” notes Lindsay Resnick, Chief Marketing Officer of KBM Group: Health Services. “They are comparing prices, quality, convenience, and outcomes as they post reviews; and, refer friends and family—one way or the other. And a constant stream of technology innovation makes it easier and easier Read More
Back in 2008, Saginaw, Michigan-based Covenant HealthCare saw an opportunity to “own the robotic surgery market in the region,” says Larry Daly, Director of Planning and Business Development at Covenant HealthCare. The specific focus was da Vinci Surgical System robots, high-tech devices increasingly used in minimally invasive surgery. “Our strategy was to purchase the latest Read More
By Lindsay R. Resnick, MHA The consumerization of health care means your customer is now in control: budgeting health benefits, choosing providers, and navigating care delivery options. They are comparing prices, quality, convenience, and outcomes as they post reviews; and, refer friends and family—one way or the other. And a constant stream of technology innovation Read More
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has always been on the cutting edge when it comes to providing high quality care. For the past 25 years, this multi-disciplinary facility has been ranked in the top two cancer centers in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Read More
Advertising Worth Noting By Peter Hochstein This tale begins in 2008, when the people running things at Covenant HealthCare, today a 643-bed multiple facility institution with campuses in and around Saginaw, Michigan, began hearing rumors about robots. Well, not just any robots. These were da Vinci Surgical System robots, those high-tech devices increasingly used in Read More
By Lisa D. Ellis Most people know the University of Connecticut because of its success in running one of the top college basketball programs in the nation. But this small state school has also been gaining a big reputation off the court, too, through its cutting-edge health care organization, which has been accomplishing big things Read More
By Lisa D. Ellis The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has always been on the cutting edge when it comes to providing high quality care. For the past 25 years, this multi-disciplinary facility has been ranked in the top two cancer centers in the United States, according to U.S. News & Read More
by Jane Weber Brubaker A seven-minute home video titled If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care made its debut on YouTube in 2010 and subsequently went viral. The video features a hapless customer struggling to book a round-trip flight through a fictitious airline, Air Health Care, and nail down the cost. The man’s frustration level Read More
Hill Country Memorial (HCM) in Fredericksburg, TX—a nonprofit organization serving a rural area with a population of just 10,000—might seem like a long-shot for a prestigious national award. Nonetheless, HCM was one of just four organizations nationwide to receive a 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for achieving excellence in its efforts. Back in 2007, Read More
by Lisa D. Ellis Hill Country Memorial (HCM) in Fredericksburg, TX, is a small community hospital that’s accomplishing big things. It was one of four organizations nationwide to receive a 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for achieving excellence in its efforts. Now, Hill Country Memorial plans to use this national recognition as a platform Read More
by Cheryl L. Serra Satisfied patients are a powerful marketing tool for health care organizations, as one hospital learned when it overhauled the scheduling and management of its operating rooms (ORs). The efforts led to increased efficiency and patient satisfaction and helped boost profitability. Dr. Adam Blomberg, Vice Chief of Anesthesiology and Co-Medical Director of Read More
by Colleen Sweeney In 2007, I developed the Medical Apprentice Program (MAP) for high school students in my community who were interested in medical careers but wanted on-site guidance and exposure—to caregivers, to patients, and to like-minded peers—before choosing a college major. Back in my day, unless you had volunteered or worked as a paramedic, Read More
by Nancy Vessell When a Midwest supermarket chain began offering chemotherapy and other infusion services, a few heads were turned. “When I first learned about it, it did catch me by surprise. To my knowledge, I haven’t heard about other grocery chains getting into this [medical area],” says Michael Abrams, managing partner of Numerof & 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
by Kris Rusch “When it comes to health,” asserts an article in Harvard Men’s Health Watch, “males are the weaker sex throughout life.” Compared with women, men on average have more chronic illnesses, die at higher rates from diseases, and have a lower life expectancy. Men also take more risks with their health. They use Read More
by Sheryl S. Jackson The United States will be home to 27 proton therapy centers by 2017, almost double the number in operation at the end of 2013, according to U.S. Proton Therapy Outlook 2017, a report produced by RNCOS, a business research and consultancy firm. The growth of the specialized cancer treatment is attributed Read More
by Cheryl L. Serra Imagine bringing health care to patients instead of requiring patients to travel to health care. Ernie Clevenger, co-founder and president of CareHere, LLC, did just that. The result? His company has a health care clinic with a retail component, the CareHere Walk-In Clinic and Wellness Store, located in the Nashville International 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 Cheryl L. Serra Members of the Spirit of Women in Springfield, MA, recently had the opportunity to see and hear humorist and work-life balance expert Juliet Funt, daughter of Allen Funt, host of the 1970s TV show “Candid Camera.” They may also take advantage of a discount on the cost of mini-med school, an Read More