Hospital Marketing Journal

Patients Taking Health into their Own Hands: Online PHRs

This epic painting by Norman Rockwell encapsulates the doctor/patient relationship prior to the Seventies. Unless you experienced a life-threatening illness or injury, from the time you were born until you took your last breath, you had the pleasure of “dealing with” one healthcare provider – your family doctor.

 Having one general practice physician may have prevented you from the receiving the expertise of specialists but keeping your medical records straight was far less complicated. Now, if you can’t sleep well, you see a sleep specialist, a neurologist – maybe even a psychiatrist to find out what keeps popping up from your past in your dreams. Got acne? Dermatologist, then plastic surgeon, then another trip to the psychiatrist who convinces you that it was your mom’s fault that no one invited you to prom. Break your toe? That adds up to one ER physician, one orthopedic surgeon, and one physical therapist. These may be extremes but Americans do see a barrage of health specialists and unless they have access to a patient care representative, patients are forced recall their own medical background every time they enter an exam room.

Ever consider what could happen to a patient experiencing a heart attack who happened to take a Viagra earlier in the day? One nitroglycerin later and boom – Sayonara… Who wants to take that chance? Not any healthcare provider or patient we know.

It is this surge in patients having to take their healthcare into their own hands that prompted two of the internet supergiants to craft online Personal Health Records or PHRs. Google (Google Health) and Microsoft (HealthVault) have each dug deep into their creative genius’ to give patients a secure place to store their medical histories and each are looking for large retail pharmacy chains, pharmacy benefit managers, laboratory and diagnostic companies, hospitals, medical clinics and health centers, medical groups, doctor offices, health insurance companies, electronic medical record application companies, personal health record application companies, disease management companies, medical device companies, retail clinics and wellness application companies to partner with.

According to Google Health, “Google is looking for strategic partners who can help our users get access to their medical records and prescription history and do a better job of managing their health needs.”

So where do hospitals, the Meccas of healthcare, fit into this equation of patients, information and the web? Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School became a Google Health partner in May of 2008. BIDMC has an innovative patient portal called PatientSite that enables patients to access their medical records online, securely email their doctors, make appointments, renew medications, and request referrals. Working with Google Health, BIDMC has extended its support for personal health records by linking PatientSite to Google Health.

 “We believe that patients should be the stewards of their own data,” says John Halamka, MD, BIDMC’s chief information officer. “BIDMC’s PatientSite is wonderful if all care is delivered at BIDMC. However, many patients have primary care doctors, specialists, labs, pharmacies, and non-traditional providers at multiple institutions.”

  “Our vision is that BIDMC patients will be able to electronically upload their diagnosis lists, medication lists and allergy lists into a Google Health account and share that information with health care providers who currently don’t have access to PatientSite. The end result will be when patients leave the BIDMC area or see a provider outside the area they can have all their medical data located in one safe place,” adds Halamka.

 Halamka is also a member of the Google Health Advisory Council, a group of 23 experts who have been advising Google for the past year. Halamka specifically advised the Google Health team on standards for healthcare information exchange and has given feedback on the privacy and security of patient records to ensure they are protected.

 What does this mean for Marketing Departments – especially with the glimpse of mandatory EMRs on the horizon? Involving your hospital with state-of-the-art PHRs allows your hospital to position itself within the industry.

• Builds Top-Of-Mind Awareness Among Users
• Creates New Business Opportunities
• Keeps Doctors Up-To-Date
• Eliminates Paperwork
• Eliminates Wasteful Spending
• Backs Up Medical Records
• Increases Safety and Efficiency in the Healthcare Setting
• Helps Doctors and Other Caregivers Deliver Quality Care
• Gives your Patients a Hands-On Approach to their Healthcare

Are you ready to take the next steps in learning more about PHR Applications? In early 2009, the user experience research firm User Centric conducted an independent comparative usability study of two existing online personal health record applications, Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault. Click here for more information about the usability, utility, security and overall perceptions of each of these online applications.

 

 

 

Better Healthcare Might Have Averted Vietnam

Ever heard the phrase, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it?” Read this interesting short from dailykos.com and find out why you should think twice about adequate health insurance for all. 

VIP Healthcare - Not Always Black or White

Though you may never have the always pleasant experience of treating a world-famous entertainer at your hospital, it is entirely possible Whoopi Goldberg could be trucking her way through your town and cause an accident at a red light. (Whoopi doesn't fly, so this is an entirely possible scenario.) What happens when Whoopi enters your ER? Does she call the shots about what medication is administered and what procedures are performed? As her healthcare provider, it would be in everyone's best interest to not give in to whatever Whoopi demands. But, what happens when Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Brittney Spears and other super celebs demand unnecessary and even dangerous "healthcare?" As a marketing director in Nowheresville, North Dakota, you may be thinking, "This isn't something that falls into my plate," but every healthcare provider is faced with influential members of local society that roll out a whole different set of standards. Take a look at this article by CBS News Health about how poor celebrity care may provide lessons to everyone.

What's Your Challenge?

As a CEO or Marketing Director, you know better than anyone how critical marketing is to the success of any health care organization.  It’s the synergy of good programs, delivered by outstanding staff, backed by effective marketing that truly defines your hospital’s brand and helps build profitable market share. Sounds good in theory, but how do you make it happen?

Ten Adams has been utilizing this blog to shed a bit of light on issues that hospital marketing departments face every day. Now, it's your turn to share! Let the experts of Ten Adams help you with some of the challenges you are facing. Simply leave a comment on this blog or email us at asollars@tenadams.com and we will address the subjects you want to know more about!

 

Greening Your Hospital

Greening Your Hospital

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Mergers and Acquisitions - Positive Solutions

 We tend to think of mergers and acquisitions as the big bad wolf - here to blow the house down and eat the inhabitants. Healthcare organizations, however, are finding mergers to be a positive situation for both hospitals and the patients.

Supporting mom and pop stores, dives and local eateries is something that Americans are beginning to acknowledge and embrace but when it comes to health care, patients can't afford to trust high-end care to the unequipped. And, in the current economic state, small hospitals and clinics can't afford to make the improvements on their own.

More and more outlying hospitals are turning to big systems to offer "the hope of safe harbor from whatever financial storms are on the horizon, provide doctors in places where physicians are in short supply and allow easier access to capital. The chains in return, get footholds in new areas, where they can build market share and increase the number of patients they serve."*

Though some patients may be severed from physicians they have longstanding relationships with, top-notch physicians that are affiliated with the larger systems will become available to patients in outlying areas. "For a physician who might be less inclined to settle in a small community, a connection to a larger system may be a plus," explains Carmela Coyle, president of the Maryland Hospital Association.

Dr. Darren Chapman, general surgeon at Trover Health Systems in Madisonville, KY, will be operating his practice part-time in a recently acquired clinic 45 minutes from the main hospital. "For me, it’s a win/win situation – I’m looking for patients, and Muhlenburgh County needs the support of another good general surgeon."

Trover Health System has a long history of operating community-based medical clinics, currently operating eight satellite primary care clinics in locations surrounding Trover’s main campus and Regional Medical Center, in Madisonville, Kentucky.  This network of family care clinics is specifically focused on meeting the primary care needs of local communities, however access to specialty care can also be provided for community residents by specialty physicians traveling to the clinics or through referral to specialty care clinics and Regional Medical Center in Madisonville, where more than 50 medical specialties and sub-specialties are represented.

In 2007, the American Hospital Association reported that 56 percent of the nearly 5,000 hospital in the United States are part of a hospital system.

Mergers and acquisitions can prove financially smart for both parties involved. The smaller hospitals will have access to funds for building and expansion projects and up-to-date technology and will also be able to piggyback on the network for some services and take advantage of the cost cuts on bulk supplies. The larger hospitals will expand to a whole new market. Michael J. Curran, executive vice president and CFO of MedStar explains, "As the largest health care system in the [Maryland] region, we don't need to grow just for growth's sake. Instead, we want to focus on opportunities that promote strategic growth."

As a Marketing Director, the two biggest issues you will deal with when faced with a merger is informing the general public about the services offered at the smaller hospital and clinics (especially if they are new) and getting past the big bad wolf syndrome because unfortunately mergers often times mean job loss in the local hospitals.

For further reading on successful hospital mergers and acquisitions, see below:

Nonprofit Management and Leadership

Volume 1 Issue 4, Pages 357 - 369

Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company

Predicting Successful Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions: A Financial and Marketing Analytical Tool
by William Winston (Author), Robert L Goldman (Author), David P Angrisani (Author)

What Every Hospital Needs to Know about Social Media

I posed the question to my husband just last night, "Why is having a MySpace considered to be low-class and unadult but everyone - even major corporations - have jumped on the Facebook bandwagon? Was I surprised my mother-in-law and her mother (my daughter's great grandmother) is on FB? A little... Was I baffled that the country's top hospitals "facebook?" Um, YES! ("Facebook" is a noun as well as a verb, in case you were unaware.) Now, I have come to accept that the former "college-only" site is as common as a cold.

If you feel that it is still a passing fad or classify Facebookers (yes, the word to describe a person who utlizes Facebook) as a stereotype of vagrants, daters and hoodlums, maybe it is time to take a closer look at what our favorite social media is doing in the world of business.

On May 10, 2009, the Target corporation kicked off Bullseye Gives - its first-ever Facebook campaign. Target invited users to visit their FB page and help Target decide on how to divvy up $3 million among ten charities. After tallying 291,300 votes, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with a total of 77,427 votes (26.6%) came in first and received $797,123.

According to Target, "during the two-week campaign, Bullseye Gives generated incredible results and voter resonse, including:
-- Target Facebook Page added 97,091 new fans
-- During the campaign, the Target Facebook Page increased daily views by 4,800%* -- Target Facebook Page experienced a 3,000% surge in wall posts, with more than 3,000 personal stories shared throughout the campaign*
-- More than 167,000 fans on Facebook voted for the charity of their choice 

Now, if you think FB is still a waste of time, consider this: according to ebennett.org, over 275 hospitals around the country are using social media including: the Mayo Clinic, Riley Children's Hospital and Johns Hopkins. In fact, out of 277 hospitals who use social media, 135 have YouTube Channels, 101 have Facebook pages, 201 have Twitter accounts and 25 have blogs.

Hospitals are seen as outsiders to the online social conversation because of the typical boundaries and limitations healthcare organizations place on themselves. People want to communicate with hospitals and want these organizations as part of the conversation.

 It is key to an organization’s success to become involved in this conversation and to develop relationships with current and future patients.

Social Media For Hospitals

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Interactive Patient Care

Take charge of your own health care! As a patient, you have heard this phrase a hundred times and with the internet as a vast resource for medical knowledge, taking charge of your own health care is easier and more accessible now than it has ever been. As a patient in the hospital, you are at the mercy of the staff, your friends and family and (uhh) the hospital's chosen cable provider for countless hours of Judge Judy. As a hospital administrator, you look for ways to improve quality, service and cost performance outcomes. 

One NY-based cable vendor, Optimum Lightpath, has partnered with GetWellNetwork® Inc., Bethesda, MD, to offer an Interactive Patient Care System in the New York City metropolitan hospitals. The GetWellNetwork® and its competitors like TIGRNET™ offers patients a variety of features that are not only entertaining but also educate them on their illness and recovery. By using a wireless keyboard, touch screen or hand-held device, patients can use the in-room television to access internet, e-mail, movies, educational videos, menus and meal ordering capabilities and a medications database.

According to GetWellNetwork®, "We are passionate about developing innovative solutions that empower patients. In fact, patients are at the core of everything we do. Our software platform features Patient Pathways™ that enable your hospital to rapidly achieve an interactive patient care environment. One in which patients can learn about their condition, collaborate with their caregivers, secure helpful services, and enjoy entertainment resources – all from their hospital bed."

Will allowing patients to take charge of their hospital stay improve quality, service and cost performance outcomes in American healthcare? A group of prominent healthcare leaders, clinicians, researchers and policy makers announced the launch of the Institute for Interactive Patient Care (IIPC).

The IIPC will be comprised of two principal functions:

• To conduct research that will establish the efficacy of patient engagement on advancing hospital quality, safety, service and financial outcomes, as well as patient outcomes; and
• To utilize these findings to establish and promote patient engagement policy, standards and requirements for healthcare providers.
  

“We are excited to support such important work and believe that engaging patients in the care process will result in improved outcomes and reduced costs. The group of thought leaders joining the Institute is remarkable, symbolizing the importance of patient engagement in the healthcare transformation formula,” said Michael O'Neil, Jr., founder and chief executive officer of GetWellNetwork, Inc.

To learn more about GetWellNetwork® and the products they provide, visit www.getwellnetwork.com.

To learn more about TIGRNET™ and the services they provide, visit www.telehealth.com.

Cut Backs Now or Job Cuts Later

Newton Medical Center in Newton, KS, has not had to lay off a single employee in 10 years. With astronomical amounts of Americans out of work, this small statistic seems like a beacon of light on a dark night. How is Newton Med accomplishing this feat? In 2008, the hospital saved $2,000,000 simply by utilizing cost-cutting suggestions by employees.

Many times, hospitals leave the task of trimming the fat up to administration and purchasing departments but Newton Med discovered that employees would rather make small cuts in the present than deal with layoffs in the future.

The problem is that purchasers and administration aren't always privy to the small details in a hospital - details that employees handle every day. According to Newton Medical's Registered Dietician, Rhonda Horsch, "I think that everybody knew that we all had to pull together and give up a little something. We added up how much free hot chocolate was going out every month, and every year, and that came up to about $10,000 a year - which we were surprised at."

How much "hot chocolate" is your hospital serving? We encourage your hospital to reassess your bottom line through your employees eyes. Not only will it make their ideas and input more valuable, it could mean the difference between being able to stay fully staffed or having to cut some jobs.

Click Here for more information about this subject

Do I Feel A Draft?

As children we are forced to bear it all to the world. Of course, it's cute when you are an infant. Beyond puberty, the only time you'll be caught dead with your bum swaying in the breeze is when you are forced to wear a hospital gown.

Though the material is usually softer than a newborn bunny (probably because it has been worn and washed 30 times) everyone knows what lies beyond that thin layer of fabric - especially when they have to help you to the bathroom (reason #324 to honor nurses).

According to Lucette Lagnado, "Medical historians believe the current gown evolved from nightshirts patients wore in hospitals int he 1800s that were slit open in the back. Variations of the current style have been in use since at least the 1920s."

Of course, nobody enjoys wearing these skivvies but changing the concept of the garment is difficult because of its functionality and price.

Patient gowns are now a $76 million market, according to Premier Inc., an alliance of hospitals that negotiates to buy supplies and works with hospitals on quality improvement. Gowns can be purchased for $2-$3 each and washed several times. And, try designing a garment that allows doctors to get to the parts they need in an emergency.

That is exactly what a group of students at the College of Textiles has been doing for the last two-and-a-half years.

"We thought that it would be a much easier problem to tackle," says Professor Traci Lamar, who has been guiding the students through this arduous task. "It is as if the patient is an object - can't we develop a more  respectful garment?"

The students were given a $236,110 grant to work on not only designing a new gown but also production and marketing of the piece.

This is not the first effort to design new hospital digs. Nearly ten years ago, Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ, hired designer Nicole Miller to redesign their gowns. The final cost of the gowns are about double the price of an original hospital gown but the hospital says the colorful garb is worth the extra money.

At the Maine Medical Center in Portland, administrators noticed a decline in Muslim patients missing their scheduled appointments. The root of the problem: Muslim patients were so distressed about the free-wheeling gown, their medical problems were second to their modesty. A new sarong-style gown was outfitted immediately.

The question remains - will outfitting a less assuming hospital gown boost a hospital's bottom line? Ask yourself, "would you choose one hospital over another because of a more comfortable stay? Though we couldn't find research supporting whether updating hospital apparel raised revenue or not it might be worth looking in to.

So where are hospital gowns headed? V-neck lines, iPod pockets and tapered seams? I'd say watch next season's runways for the future of fashion - hospital gowns.

How do you save 17.4 BILLION dollars? Hire a coach!

  My grandmother was literally hit by a Mack truck fifteen years ago. When she left the hospital, the barrage of medications were a little too much for her to handle. Disoriented and disengaged from her several-month stay at the hospital, her medication regimens were not correctly followed and she landed right back in the hospital. It was only determined at that time, someone needed to reacclimate her to life on her own.

According to modernhealthcare.com, "Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has introduced legislation that seeks to reduce hospital readmission rates by improving the follow-up care patients receive after leaving the hospital. The Medicare Care Transitions Act of 2009 would save billions of dollars each year by incorporating a model that Colorado has used to reduce readmission rates and improve care."

In other words, "Care Coaches" will help patients make the transition from hospital life, to life on the outside. These coaches will help patients manage their condition and medications, provide follow-up care and become a standard when patients must either return to the hospital or change treatment centers. 

Modernhealthcare.com goes on to state, " 'The goal is to improve patient quality and cost-effectiveness of care for Medicare beneficiaries and ease the burden on providers to reduce hospital readmission rates,' according to a summary of the bill."

“ 'Across the country, too many seniors are being readmitted to a hospital within a month even though it could often be preventable,'  according to the statement. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that unplanned rehospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries are expensive and frequent, accounting for $17.4 billion of $102.6 billion Medicare paid to hospitals in 2004. Bennet’s legislation has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee."

Read more at www.healthcarecoach.com

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McClinics - You want fries with that?

Haircuts, banking and now - health care - in super markets like Wal-Mart and chain pharmacies like CVS; hospitals are finding that there are benefits to branching out.

Around the country, hospitals are now affiliated with more than 25 Wal-Mart clinics including: the Christus Medical Group, in Texas; the Aurora Health System, in Wisconsin, Coxhealth in Missouri and even the Mayo Clinic has opened one Express Care clinic at a supermarket in Rochester, Minn and a second one across town at a local mall.

"We think of ourselves as a new model of care; we meet our patients at least halfway," explains Dr. David Herman, a Mayo executive who supervises the two retail clinics.  "Maybe our primary-care practices in general are not as convenient and transparent as our patients want them to be."

Currently, the typical supermarket clinic is staffed by physicians assistants and nurse practicioners, like Planned Parenthood clinics and are supervised by physicians. The minimal overhead allow the clinics to operate a lower cost than primary care physicans and emergency rooms -a typical physical is about $30. These lower costs are especially attractive to the uninsured and unemployed.

From a marketing perspective, it isn't the profits that hospitals will seek from these clinics but the relationships they build with potential clients.

"[They are] exactly the customers that hospitals want - women of child-bearing age. The hospitals want to deliver the babies," explains Margaret Lewis, a policy expert at the California Health Care Foundation.

According to Dr. Brian Nester, senior vice president at the lehigh Valley Health Network, "The economics in the health system are broken." Even President Obama and Congress have warned of a shortage of primary - care physicians. These clinics will be filling a need - unplugging emergency room waiting rooms and extending general health care hours to the public.

So, what does that mean for consumers? You can get a gallon of milk, your car tuned-up, a new 'do, cash your check, have dinner, and get checked out for that rash all in one place - for under a hundred bucks. You can make a night of it.

National Nurses Week 2009 Nurses: Building a Healthy America

Being a patient in a hospital or doctor's office usually isn't a "fun" experience. You usually aren't there because you feel great and want to share it. Those that bear the brunt of your disdain  are usually the nurses. Long hours, unpleasant tasks and a endless amounts of sick people boils the job of nursing down to two factors - passion and compassion.
 

 "Often described as an art and a science, nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated people with varied interests, strengths and passions because of the many opportunities the profession offers. As nurses, we work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, to name a few. We have many roles – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and serve all of them with passion for the profession and with a strong commitment to patient safety.

Background
National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of
modern nursing."

Read more about National Nurses Week and send an ecard here.

FDA, FTC Warn Public of Fraudulent 2009 H1N1 Influenza Products Offending web sites and illegal activity targeted for action

administered by the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission are alerting the public to be wary of Internet sites and other promotions for products that claim to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.  The agencies are also advising operators of offending web sites that they must take prompt action to correct and/or remove promotions of these fraudulent products or face enforcement action.

“Consumers who purchase products to treat the novel 2009 H1N1 virus that are not approved, cleared or authorized by the FDA for the treatment or prevention of influenza risk their health and the health of their families,” said Michael Chappell, acting FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs. “In conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission, the FDA has developed an aggressive strategy to identify, investigate, and take regulatory or criminal action against individuals or businesses that wrongfully promote purported 2009 H1N1 influenza products in an attempt to take advantage of the current flu public health emergency.”

Products that are offered for sale to the public with claims to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat, or cure infections caused by the H1N1 influenza virus that have not  been proven to be safe and effective for these uses must be carefully evaluated. Many of these deceptive products are being sold over the Internet via illegitimate web sites. The operators of these web sites take advantage of the public’s concerns about H1N1 influenza and their desire to protect themselves and their families.  These fraudulent products come in all varieties and could include dietary supplements or other food products, or products purporting to be drugs, devices or vaccines.  Such fraudulent products will not prevent the transmission of the virus or offer effective treatments against infections caused by the H1N1 influenza virus.

“The last thing any consumer needs right now is to be conned by someone selling fraudulent flu remedies,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.  “The FTC will act swiftly against companies that resort to deceptive advertising.”

Consumers are urged to contact their health care providers or legitimate medical supply services if they have questions or concerns about medical products or personal protective equipment. Consumers are also urged to visit the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web sites for more information about this emergency, and to determine which products the FDA has approved, cleared or authorized for use to diagnose, treat, prevent, mitigate or cure infections caused by H1N1 influenza virus. 

Consumers should also visit FDA's web site for tips about how to protect themselves when buying medicines online:  http://www.fda.gov/buyonlineguide/

The two antiviral drugs approved by the FDA for treatment and prophylaxis of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus are Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) and Relenza (zanamivir).  Tamiflu and Relenza, in addition to their approved labeling, have Emergency Use Authorizations that describe specific authorized uses during this public health emergency.

For more information about FDA-approved antiviral drugs for influenza, see http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antivirals/influenza/default.htm. 

For more information on CDC recommendations regarding use of antiviral drugs against the current novel 2009 H1N1 influenza strain, see http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/?s_cid=swineFlu_outbreak_001.

For more information about personal protective equipment see http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ppe/.

At present, there are no licensed vaccines approved for this new H1N1 influenza virus.

Consumers are urged to report any suspected fraudulent products or criminal activity relating to FDA regulated products associated with H1N1 Flu Virus (Swine Flu), including the names of web sites that may be offering these products for sale, to the FDA by visiting: http://www.fda.gov/oci/flucontact.html

Ten Adams Wins 13 Aster Awards

 

Ten Adams nationally recognized in 2009 Aster Awards Program for excellence in medical marketing

 Honored for advertising excellence in the 2009 Aster Awards, Ten Adams received 9 GOLD, 1 SILVER and 3 BRONZE recognitions in this year’s competition. 

 The Aster Awards, one of the largest competitions of its kind, is hosted by Marketing Healthcare Today and Creative Images, Inc.  This elite national program recognizes outstanding healthcare professionals for excellence in their advertising/marketing efforts.

 The 2009 Aster Awards consisted of approximately 3,000 entries from across America.  Participant’s entries competed against similar-sized organizations in their category.  Entries must score at least in the top 85% to receive an award.  Judging criteria includes creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal.

 “Ten Adams is among the top in the nation for healthcare advertising expertise… specifically scoring in the top five percent.  It was an honor to have Ten Adams participate in the 2009 Aster Awards,” said Melinda R. Lucas, Aster Awards Program Coordinator. “They exceeded the judges’ expectations.”

 Entries in the Aster Awards were judged by a diverse panel of healthcare marketing experts.  All winners are posted on the Aster Awards’ website (www.AsterAwards.com), as well as published in Marketing Healthcare Today, a national healthcare marketing magazine.

Ten Adams Welcomes New Account Executive - Deborah Wilkinson

For over 15 years, Deborah has been involved in the design and implementation of research for her clients, assisted in the development of strategy, the creation of marketing communications plans and the management of marketing plan implementation. In addition, she has developed media recommendations, overseen print production and coordinated special events. Deborah is an integral part of the Ten Adams team tackling marketing and positioning for existing clients while also serving as liaison between the client and Ten Adams.

Deborah has spent a number of years working directly with patients, physicians and nurses in private practices and outpatient services. This experience gives her an understanding of the internal issues healthcare systems deal with day to day such as workforce development, corporate culture as well as physician recruitment.

Prior to joining the Ten Adam’s team Deborah worked as an Account Executive/New Business Development Manager at a Healthcare focused Advertising and Marketing firm in Southern Indiana. To reach Deborah please email her at DWilkinson@TenAdams.com or give her a call at (812) 253-6324.

Hospitals: Never Have a Never Event

We've all heard the horror stories: a middle-aged woman goes in for a routine knee replacement and passes away on the table because of a slight negligence of the staff. Hospitals consider catastrophes a normal part of the process but every once in a while something happens that is unthinkable and totally unforeseeable. The problem is, it is almost always preventable.
    Not only are these events often tragic, they're expensive. In a large teaching hospital, errors in healthcare have been conservatively estimated to cost more than $5 million per year, and preventable healthcare-related errors cost the U.S. economy up to $29 billion each year. According to the 2008 Hospital Professional Liability/Physician Liability Benchmark Analysis -- a new study by insurance giant Aon Corporation in conjunction with the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management -- hospital never events accounted for one out of every six closed claims, and four categories of hospital-acquired conditions accounted for 12.2% of total medical professional liability costs.
    Often times, "preventable" doesn't fall on the surgeon or hospital administration but an employee whose job is seemingly unappreciated. By learning to engage your staff and make them feel valued mishaps can be prevented. Read more about this at the Gallup Management Journal by clicking here.

26th Annual Marketing Healthcare Report Awards

Ten Adams has once again been recognized nationally for outstanding healthcare advertising presented by the Healthcare Marketing Report Awards. In this year’s competition, Ten Adams was recognized with nine awards: 

"Best in Show" and Gold   
The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, OH - Television Ad/Series - "Thank You TV"

Silver Award
BroMenn Regional Medical Center, Bloomington, IL - Logo/Letterhead Design - "Be Well"

Bronze  Awards
The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, OH - New Media Animated Banner Ads - "Caring Above All"

Witham Health Services, Lebanon, IL - Logo/Letterhead Design - "Baby Photo Contest"

Merit                

St. Mary’s Health System - Physician Referral Program - "4-Doc Physician Referral"                                       

The Christ Hospital - Newspaper Ad/Single - "Thank You for Caring"   

The Christ Hospital - Direct Mail Advertising - "Are You Ready to Downsize?" 

Witham Health Services  -  Television Ad/Single - "Think Again"

Over 3,600 entries were received in this year, the Twenty-Sixth Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards competition, sponsored by Healthcare Marketing Report, the leading publication covering all aspects of healthcare marketing, advertising and strategic business development. A National panel of judges was engaged in reviewing all entries based on creativity, quality, message effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design and overall impact. The judges recognized only fourteen entrants with the Best of Show designation, for their overall excellence and breakthrough advertising production. Gold awards were bestowed to 259 entries and silver awards went to 251 entries. Additionally bronze awards were given to 241 entries.  The Healthcare Advertising Awards is the oldest, largest and most widely respected healthcare advertising awards competition.

Patient Censorship?

In the past, we’ve posted about well known consumer rating services like Zagat's and Angie's List moving into the healthcare space by rating physicians. Well, it appears many docs don’t care for the new spirit of transparency and are requiring patients to sign waivers preventing them from posting negative comments online.

They're basically forcing the patients to choose between health care and their First Amendment rights, and I really find that repulsive," Swapceinski said.

Death & Taxes

As marketers, many of us try to avoid stuff related to scary things like math and taxes. Our moms wanted us to be accountants, but even they eventually relented. Heck, we’re barely involved with the preparation of our own taxes. If we feel that way, we can only imagine your dismay at all the talk about the new IRS form 990H and how marketing and finance need to work together. At first that might seem a high price to pay for your hospital’s tax exempt status, but we have faith you can take one for the team. To learn more, look here, here and here.

Have You Heard?

Not sure if you folks have been paying attention, but there seems to be a great deal of discussion about healthcare as of late. Even if you were completely immersed in the holidays or out of the country for an extended period of time, you’ve probably heard that “change has come to America.” While we can’t predict the scope of the new administrations impact on healthcare, it’s a virtual certainty that life in the halls of your institution is about to change. To get a better idea of what the future may hold, you may want to read this book. Stay tuned for details.

Good Tidings of Great Joy

Ten Adams wishes all our clients, friends and the entire hospital marketing community a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years.

What’s Your Brand?

Have you checked out the cover story in the November issue of HealthLeaders? Penned by Gienna Shaw, consider it a must read for any self-respecting hospital marketing professional. Not just because it’s on the subject of branding or that it’s necessarily ground-breaking content, but anytime a healthcare business publication writes anything about marketing – let alone makes it the cover story – you should take notice. More to the point – your CEO has probably read it, so you should too.

Delivering on the brand promise starts with a clear understanding not only of how you want to be known or how you promote your organization, but also how your employees and customers actually perceive your brand.

Employees as Brand-Builders

Every year Zappos.com, one of the fastest-growing e-commerce sites, publishes a "culture book." Three hundred pages in length, the book includes written – and often gushy – testimonials from employees about what it means to work at Zappos.com.

"Our Zappos culture is truly the best work experience I have ever encountered," writes Chris V. "As a new employee of the company, I was blown away by how amazing the company really was. When I started I felt so unreal," notes David J. And on and on and on – you get the idea.

Wow. So, can you imagine doing something similar at your hospital? After reading this piece from Advertising Age (free registration required) that may not be the only thing on your mind. What’s next, taking money from the advertising budget and investing in your employees as brand-builders? Come to think of it, that may not be such a bad idea. In fact, here at Ten Adams, we can even help you on both fronts.

Best Places to Work in Healthcare

 The folks at Modern Healthcare just came out with their Best Places to Work in Healthcare supplement. The new program “recognizes workplaces in healthcare that enable employees to perform at their optimum level to provide patients and customers with the best possible care and services.” First appearing a few months ago with 100 “winners” listed in alphabetical order, that kinder, gentler announcement has given way to the recently released top-to-bottom ranking. Is your organization on the list?

Free Parking

While it’s no secret that healthcare is offered as a free service in Great Britain, the Scottish parliament has taken an even more literal interpretation. They want to completely eliminate all paid hospital parking.

Ending the fees will cost the hospitals an estimated £5.5 million a year in lost revenue (about $11 million). And fees will remain in place for the time being at a few hospitals built as part of a public-private partnership.

Hospitality by Design

Hospitals continue taking their services and settings upscale and it’s a development not lost on the design industry. Some proof of that can be found on the pages of Metropolis magazine.

“Health-care officials have realized that design can become a strong point of differentiation,” Rheault says. “And improving the environment is not only good for the patient; it creates a better environment for workers. Happy workers are likely to provide better care.” The upshot is that we’re finally seeing products for the health-care market that are well designed, responsive to the end user, and, in many cases, even green.

“A better environment for the workers,” you say? OK, maybe that will never be the primary motivation, but it sure is a nice bonus.

Dare to be Different

While most hospital administrators will tell you their organization is service line-focused, more often than not, they are still secretly trying to be all things to all people. A recent piece in the McKinsey Quarterly (free registration required) entitled, “Service-line strategies for US hospitals,” clearly advocates for a more specialized future.

Specializing in a few service lines allows hospitals to build a critical mass of patients in select areas and to enjoy economies of skill and scale. In our experience, hospitals that make the leap to a service-line orientation become more productive, improve their quality of care, recruit physicians more effectively, and build market share. By developing a focused service-line strategy, hospitals can also limit their investment in non-priority areas, with savings to be found in areas ranging from marketing to new technologies.

Doc Hollywood

One third of the 80 percent of Americans who utilize the web as a health information resource, also use it as a tool to identify doctors and hospitals. That’s a lot of people, but some physicians still struggle with the whole concept. Of course, other docs have more than embraced the idea and are even featured performers in their own online video. Want proof? There are some interesting examples in this post on the WSJ Health Blog.

Many doctors are being pulled kicking and screaming into the electronic age. But some are jumping right in, going so far as to make online videos to promote their practices.

These videos aren’t exactly Hollywood productions, though some have higher production values than others. But most, as Victoria Knight of Dow Jones Newswires reports, are trying to give a glimpse of their credentials and bedside manners to potential patients.

If Jetson Ran Your Hospital

While we’re definitely old enough to know better, we still read stuff about the [fill in the blank] of the future with a certain amount of childlike anticipation. We admit to feeling a little short-changed about not having a flying car parked in the driveway, but remain hopeful. Well, imagine our excitement when we spotted the cover of the latest HealthLeaders mag trumpeting “The Hospital of the Future.”

Discussions about the hospital of the future tend to revolve around technology—things like genomics, robotic surgery, and integrated patient records. Although advanced technology will make futuristic improvements possible, experts say the hospital of the future's foundation will be based on improvements to care.

Alas, nothing about flying cars (or anything really earth-shattering), but we still enjoyed the article and recommend everyone take a look.