As I near the end of my pregnancy, I’m holding down my daytime gig of being a PR/marketing professional in HIT, but I’m also moonlighting as a professional patient. And, at the same time this is happening, the rollout of the ARRA incentives for meaningful EHR use draws closer. We’ve seen the articles lamenting the barriers, others singing the program’s praise and some recently on the impact this will have on vendors and its potential “for bringing measurement, data-based decision-making and accountability to the practice of medicine,” according to Dr. David Blumenthal in a New York Times post.
Before starting this pregnancy adventure, I didn’t have an intimate understanding of my providers’ use of
technology. Now, almost 40 weeks later and immersed in a myriad of visits, I’ve been granted a peek into the world and opinions of my medical team as I often couldn’t avoid my curiosity about their use of EHRs or lack thereof, and their feelings about ARRA and meaningful use. Do they think that utilizing an EHR in accordance with the terms set forth by meaningful use will bring better measurement and clinical support into their practices? Are they already using a system of some sort on its most basic level? With so many test results and forms needed by OB patients, why isn’t there a PHR used to create greater efficiencies?
My primary OB for example, a group of savvy, younger physicians from a variety of backgrounds, has taken a hybrid approach. None of the nurses taking vitals can tell me what EHR they are using, just that it makes entering weight and blood pressure easy. And what about the physicians? After numerous appointments and regularly seeing only paper charts, one OB recently showed up with a tablet PC to my visit. A previous user of a full-fledged EHR at another job, Dr. A—to protect her identity—felt that using an EHR as fully intended was not only cumbersome, but really generated more billings and did not necessarily lead to better clinical care. When using the system and entering all the notes and fields required, the previous EHR still took Dr. A more time to use per patient than traditional charting despite being well beyond the implementation phase. Much happier with the approach she currently uses, my OBGYN practice now uses an EHR to track some basics and have paired it with a document management system for electronic scans of certain paper forms, resulting in a somewhat comprehensive patient view.
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While we sing the praises of social media, such as Twitter, blogs and LinkedIn, healthcare IT companies need much more to succeed. For example, social media doesn’t replace a marketing strategy, nor does it substitute for public relations efforts. And taking on a social media campaign is not a short-term strategy that should be entered into lightly. You need buy-in, a realistic budget and a dedicated team, whether it’s internal or your PR agency, to man the effort and ensure it’s given the resources required to actually accomplish your short- and long-term goals.
Check out this article from AdAge that further expounds upon these points and appropriately sets social media expectations.
Whether you’re selling to consumers or other businesses, there’s no better endorsement than one from a client, and this is especially true for healthcare IT vendors. Showing prospects that you have clients willing to speak on your behalf gives your product third-party credibility and often puts it ahead of competitive products. We’ve included five ways you can utilize your clients to drive sales and generate buzz around your offerings.
- Media opportunities: When securing media coverage highlighting a customer’s use of your products, it’s important to realize the story has a life beyond the month it’s issued. You can e-mail prospects and customers a link to the piece once it comes out; order a PDF from the publication for e-mailing or posting on your Web site; or secure hard copy reprints for use as part of a direct mail or for your sales team to hand out at meetings or tradeshows. (more…)
This Q&A is from our conversation with Jim Riley, vice president sales and marketing at Capario. We asked him to share his thoughts on the healthcare company’s recent rebranding initiative, which spanned everything from a new corporate name, logo and tagline to a new Web site, collateral materials and a comprehensive public relations campaign.
Q: Why did you select the name Capario? What brand attributes did you want to represent?
A: When we started the rebranding process, we viewed it as more than a marketing strategy – it was a company-wide, fundamental change in the way we did business. A brand personality of fresh, contemporary, innovative and unique accurately portrayed the image we wanted to reflect and the new direction we were taking. (more…)
In public relations, press releases aren’t really the Holy Grail, but they are certainly a meat and potatoes staple of the profession. That being said, many have speculated if this form of PR is moving toward extinction, especially as social media continues to gain momentum. A recent opinion piece from Bulldog Reporter highlights this exact issue and evaluates the press release’s vital signs. Currently, there is no true replacement for press releases, but surely there’s room for improvement.
So, what can you do to ensure your press release stands out from the rest of the healthcare IT vendors while keeping up with the changing times? (more…)
Twitter has been all the buzz for the past few months, but many people still have misconceptions about this social media tool from who is using it to how it can be used. Following, we’ve decoded some of the most prevalent Twitter myths in the healthcare industry.
- Nobody in healthcare uses it.
To the contrary. I think everyone has seen the story of how hospitals are utilizing Twitter during surgery to connect with potential patients, share information with other practitioners and improve the educational value to residents. This other article discusses how physicians and hospitals are using the social media tool in public health emergencies, like swine flu, to disseminate information to various audiences. (more…)
Twitter has undoubtedly been a hot topic for quite a few months now. We know hospitals for example have been twittering during surgeries and other organizations like HIMSS have been using it to publicize Web content and upcoming events. But, what’s in it for you as a healthcare IT vendor?
The value of business-to-business and business-to-consumer conversations conducted through Twitter is hard to ignore. For example, this recent New York Times article provides insight into how many small companies have significantly grown their operations or customer base through relationships built in Twitter. (more…)
Naming a new product or company is a tricky endeavor, but when done right it can make you stand out from the rest. When done wrong, however, it can result in your company or product blending in with everything else in its category.
Further adding to the complexity of this process, estimates show that an average of 23,000 domain names are purchased daily and more than 25 million .com domains have already been registered. Finding a domain that is not only available as a .com, but is also easy to remember and matches up with your new name can be complicated.
By employing different naming techniques, you can simplify this process and open the door to more possibilities. This will not only help you stand out from the competition, but it may make it easier to find a memorable .com domain name and one free of trademark issues. (more…)
As the economy requires companies to tighten their belts and more carefully monitor budgets and expenses, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer organizations are cutting back. In the healthcare IT industry, we’ve seen a somewhat lower HIMSS turnout, layoffs and smaller advertising budgets—if any at all. So this begs the question for marketing folks, to spend or not to spend?
A recent NPR story from All Things Considered discusses how some companies are defying the norm in this economy by continuing to advertise and make marketing initiatives a priority. Google, unlike other media companies driven by ad revenue, has actually continued to see increasing profits, especially from smaller businesses. But why? Google’s ability to connect advertisers to their target audience by pairing ads with search terms relevant to the product or service offered is providing companies with the ROI and reports necessary to justify the expense.
As Google shows in this example, it’s all about connecting with the right consumer, or in our case the right business. Companies with ad budgets often struggle with the print to online media ratio as well as identifying the top media targets for their ad dollars. At this juncture, the most important thing is getting the information to the right audience to maximize exposure. Perhaps you are dead set on advertising, but have a very limited budget. Instead of sprinkling an ad here and there across numerous publications, pick the one that reaches your key decision-makers and maximize your visibility through online and print opportunities—perhaps even complement your buy with smaller sponsorship opportunities for one of the publication’s e-newsletters or webinars. (more…)
