Successful Online Scheduling in 5 Steps

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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:

1. Establish a single source of truth for provider, service, and location data.
2. Engage cross-functional stakeholders across your organization.
3. Create a standardized, repeatable launch plan.
4. Broaden booking options across specialties, appointment types, and services.
5. Optimize and expand upon self-service capabilities.

For more in-depth detail on best practices for launching online scheduling — plus a vendor evaluation checklist — download the full guide.

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Listening, Learning, and Partnering: Lessons From Michigan Medicine’s Leadership Success

In the middle of the pandemic, Michigan Medicine launched a new brand campaign, Michigan Answers, spearheaded by Rose Glenn, the organization’s chief communications and marketing officer. In explaining the meaning of the campaign, the branding guidelines emphasize, “At Michigan Medicine, we believe there’s a difference between an answer and a Michigan Answer. Michigan Answers are Read More

Leadership Begins with Listening: View from the C-Suite with Rose Glenn, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, Michigan Medicine

To find the right answers, ask the right questions. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // In the middle of the pandemic, Michigan Medicine launched a new brand campaign, Michigan Answers, spearheaded by Rose Glenn, the organization’s chief communications and marketing officer. In explaining the meaning of the campaign, the branding guidelines emphasize, “At Michigan Medicine, Read More

Does Your Health System’s Referral Management Process Need an Overhaul?

For complex health systems with numerous specialties and subspecialties, referrals are their lifeblood — particularly referrals from external providers. Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), a specialty pediatric hospital, was having difficulty keeping track of referrals. There wasn’t a standard process for sending and receiving referrals or tracking them once they were received, usually by fax, and Read More

Want More Referrals? Build a Better Provider Experience

Texas Children’s Hospital overhauled its referral management process and saw a 23 percent increase in referrals from external providers within two years. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // For complex health systems with numerous specialties and subspecialties, referrals are their lifeblood — particularly referrals from external providers. Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), a specialty pediatric hospital, Read More

How to Take Control of the Health Care Cost Narrative

As health care costs in the U.S. continue to rise, hospitals haven taken a disproportionate share of the blame in the media. While they bear some responsibility, current news coverage pins most of the blame on them. So how can your health system take control of the health care cost narrative? The cost of health Read More

Changing the Conversation: North Carolina Healthcare Association Counters the Blame Debate on the High Cost of Care in the U.S.

Health care costs in the U.S. continue to rise. Who’s responsible? There are many contributors, but hospitals are taking a disproportionate share of the blame in the media. While they bear some responsibility, current news coverage pins most of the blame on them. How can health systems take charge of the narrative? // By John Read More

Revive Special Report: The Value Attack

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The time is now to defend your hospital or health system from the trend that Revive calls the value attack: a false narrative that detracts from the tangible value your organization provides to your community.

Even if your system hasn’t been criticized aloud, your reputation is suffering. Consumers, politicians, and the media are watching healthcare with a skeptical eye as costs rise and care becomes less accessible. We conducted research with 1,200 consumers to understand what consumers think about hospitals, health systems, and their priorities, and our findings uncovered insights that your organization needs to change the narrative with actionable steps to weather the storm.

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Physician Relations: Increasing Referrals and Driving Growth

Connections between hospitals and doctors working outside the hospital aren’t as strong as they used to be. “So many organizations have realized we have completely lost touch with our primary care physicians,” says Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA, principal at Barlow McCarthy. “They don’t come to the hospital, they use hospitalists.” The pandemic has added to Read More

The Role of Physician Relations in Driving Growth

While health system marketing departments largely focus on consumers, physician relations professionals, aligned with business development, focus on building relationships with referring physicians, overcoming barriers, and growing referrals. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Connections between hospitals and doctors working outside the hospital aren’t as strong as they used to be. “So many organizations have Read More

Has Your Health System Adopted Person-Centered Care?

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: Health care is complex, dysfunctional, and slow to change. But one person can still make a difference. For Angelica Thieriot, it took a horrific experience as patient in a U.S. hospital in 1978 for her to imagine how different things could be if patients Read More

44 Years of Person-Centered Care: The Power of Planetree to Transform Organizations

Enloe Medical Center’s transformation to person-centered care has made it the first choice for patients in its Northern California region after a series of crises damaged its reputation. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: Health care is complex, dysfunctional, and slow to change. But Read More

An Industry Outsider Takes a Fresh Approach to Updating a Venerable Health System’s Brand Identity

View from the C-Suite: Heather Geisler, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Communications and Experience Officer, Henry Ford Health A strong brand acts as a unifying force to express the shared values of an organization. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When Heather Geisler joined Henry Ford Health two years ago as executive vice president Read More

Like All Brands, the Key to an Effective Employer Brand Is Your Promise — and Delivering on It

Does the brand promise you’re making reflect reality and the clear, explicit commitments your leadership and organization as a whole are willing to make? // By Chris Bevolo and Benjamin Kalevitch //  Workforce is the number-one issue facing hospitals and health systems today — and potentially for months or even years to come. COVID-19 burnout, Read More

At Renown Health, Employees Have a Friend in Senior Leadership

When you think of the view from the C-suite, you think of a physical or metaphorical high-rise vantage point. A position that sits above many others, taking in big-picture ideas and providing direction for the masses. But Renown Health’s Suzanne Hendery tries to keep that C-suite view on a similar level to her managers and Read More

How Honest, Open Conversations Drive Renown Health’s Internal and External Communications

// By Melanie Graham // For Renown Health’s Suzanne Hendery, sitting in the C-suite is about listening and having real conversations. Through these listening sessions Hendery and her colleagues find new ways to connect with employees and patients across Renown’s 100,000-square-mile footprint. When you think of the view from the C-suite, you think of a Read More

Platform Helps Improve Patient Communication Channels

Sharp HealthCare in San Diego believes in expediting change. To prove it, a little more than a year ago the organization partnered with Podium, a leading customer communication and payments platform, to improve its patient communication and feedback operations through text communication and online reviews. “Our goal was to help our patients provide timely feedback Read More

Hello Customers… Sharp HealthCare Is Listening

// By John Marzano // In health care’s “moment of need” demand environment, progress and innovation rely on time and patience. It takes time to orchestrate real change to better the patient experience, and patience by everyone to realize the benefit of seeing measurable results. Sharp HealthCare in San Diego believes in expediting change. To Read More

Johns Hopkins Medicine Leveraged Positive Momentum to Drive Repositioning

During the past two years of a pandemic that continues to rage, health care brands have absorbed the additional burden of managing their reputations in the throes of unprecedented consumer demand for needed services to counter COVID-19 within their communities. Hospitals and health systems across the U.S., including Johns Hopkins Medicine, have overwhelmingly answered the Read More

Johns Hopkins Medicine — Positioning Brand Beyond the Product

// By John Marzano // In the middle of a pandemic, with the world tuning in daily to view the latest alarming statistics on infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, Johns Hopkins Medicine launched a new brand campaign centered on hope, connection, and progress. During the past two years of a pandemic that continues to rage throughout Read More

How Can You Pivot to a Retail-First Mindset?

Consumer expectations have changed since the pandemic, and patients are shopping for health care much like they shop for retail goods. They want a seamless, Amazon-like digital experience and they expect to schedule an appointment, check in, pay a bill, or see a doctor virtually, all from a mobile device. Moreover, they pay attention to Read More

How a Retail Mindset in Health Care Drives Patient Acquisition

// By Marlene Kurban //  ProMedica has operations in 28 states. It saw huge improvements in key metrics after implementing a robust reputation management strategy at scale.  Consumer expectations have changed since the pandemic, and patients are shopping for health care much like they shop for retail goods. They want a seamless, Amazon-like digital experience Read More

Lessons from Retail: How Health Care Can Win by Adapting to Changes in Consumer Behavior

Discover how ProMedica uses customer feedback and a digital-first approach to consumers to achieve stellar results across more than 400 facilities in 28 states.

A Strategic Health Care Marketing webinar for marketers, communicators, and strategists at hospitals, health systems, and physician groups

Your Presenters:

• Annie Haarmann, Head of Strategy and Consulting, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Reputation
• Adeline Ashley, Director of Digital Strategy and Marketing Communications, ProMedica

Learn how to harness the power of digital to deliver a more retail-like experience in a changing environment. You’ll see real-world examples and learn best practices from health care leaders and industry disruptors.

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New Technology Helps Target Health Disinformation at the Source

As marketers, we spend time and resources to take full advantage of the internet. We want our content to show up at the top of the search results page. We want our brand to be trusted. We want our physicians to be the ones patients find and choose. But as we’ve seen over the past Read More

Fighting the Infodemic: How a Browser Extension Separates Fact from Fiction

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // As marketers, we spend time and resources to take full advantage of the internet. We want our content to show up at the top of the search results page. We want our brand to be trusted. We want our physicians to be the ones patients find and choose. But Read More