Archives For Strategy

Why Hospitals Should Care About Foursquare

July 2, 2012 — 1 Comment

credit: foursquare blog

Foursquare is becoming more and more common outside of us nerds who have been “checking-in” for years now! Hospitals should engage with what foursquare is doing, and if you think about it, every day physicians, employees, patients and their families are telling you they are engaged!

Take a look at some numbers from leading hospitals across the country:

These are not insignificant numbers. You may also want to check out a post I wrote about a year ago on foursquare tips and claiming multiple venues to help jump start your efforts.

So why now? Why do we/should we care about foursquare now?

Foursquare just announced the pending ability to build your app directly into foursquare with their new Connected Apps platform! What does this mean for hospitals and healthcare organization? From the foursquare announcement:

Today, we’re announcing the developer preview of the next evolution: Connected Apps – developer-crafted experiences that exist within foursquare.

This opens up a ton of possibilities, all around interacting with people’s experiences while they’re having them. For instance, Eat This, Not That can suggest healthy dishes the moment someone checks in at a restaurant.

Everyone wants an app and this allows you to engage and place your “brand” inside an app that is already adopted. Imagine the possibilities this opens up:

  • Way finding options
  • Education
  • Announcements
  • Opt-in to other communications
  • Employee communications
  • Physician communications

Question: Will you effort more connectivity though foursquare? If so how?

 

 
In Hospitals, Mobile, Strategy , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Landing Pages versus Blog Posts, Where Should You Direct Traffic?

June 29, 2012 — 10 Comments

When do you direct your traffic to a custom/semi-custom landing page versus a blog post? Why do you make that decision? Is it creation time? The call to action that is used? Longevity of the need?

Actually probably all of the above questions should play into the ultimate decision.

I would love some feedback. We are living in a world where everyone wants their own website but no one wants to create content.

- Reed

 

 
In Blogging, Hospitals, Marketing, Strategy , , , ,
permalink

Changes on the Horizon

June 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

The blog has been quite and there is good reason. I have been working hard on a couple of other projects that will take my efforts to new heights. In the coming days/weeks I hope to be able to share more about how my work over the last three years as a sole-practictioner are compounding.

I am really excited about the next chapter and look forward to sharing soon. This will allow my work to not be dependent on just my hours in a day. More to come…

- Reed

 
In Reed Smith, Strategy ,
permalink

Digital = Lazy?

March 9, 2012 — 4 Comments

Has the wave of digital technology made us lazy?

I wonder this as I see how instant information and instant feedback rules our lives (mine included.)

  • I do not check for spelling unless I see a red wavy line.
  • I hardly ever re-read a email prior to sending – although I have tried to get better about this.
  • I can hardly read anything longer than 140 characters anymore.
  • Give me pictures and videos vs words any day.

You get the idea.

Most of all if the content is not easily displayed on my iPhone then why bother?

What does this mean about how we communicate and how we should communicate?

 
In Communications, Hospitals, Marketing, Strategy , , , ,
permalink

How Do You Evaluate the Next Social Media Platform?

February 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

I just finished reading (OK… listening to) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I took a lot away from the book and it was very interesting to hear his life recounted by many who were close to him. Regardless of being a Apple fan or not it is an intriguing story.

I could go on and on about learnings from the book but something in the closing pages of the book caught my attention. Jobs was talking about creating a company with a legacy. He used phrases like, “…a deep current of humanity,” when talking about Apple.

I looked online and found this supporting quote by him in a 2011 Inc. article:

On selling your startup

“So when these people sell out, even though they get fabulously rich, they’re gypping themselves out of one of the potentially most rewarding experiences of their unfolding lives. Without it, they may never know their values or how to keep their newfound wealth in perspective.”

I see the number of startups and it seems that the end goal of most is to create something cool and then sell it to Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc…

So how do you create to last?

I think of Quint Studer who founded the Studer Group. Quint founded the Studer Group on a principle of making healthcare a better place… a better place to work, practice medicine, and of course be a patient.

The work the Studer Group is doing is something that will stand for generations to come. It is not a flashy gadget on your iPhone, it is not the new social media platform, and it is not something that is going away anytime soon. (I would encourage you to spend some time on their site and even pick up his book Hardwiring Excellence.)

In regards to where I spend my time:

  • Can technology alter the way care is delivered? Yes
  • Can technology alter the way we communicate? Yes
  • Can technology alter the methods in which we serve? Yes

Are we focused on the right things? Are we creating systems, technology, and devices that make a difference and will stand for generations?

My thought is we should use the technologies we have to communicate the passion and life changing methods we know impact where we work, where we practice medicine, and how we serve patients.

Next time you evaluate a new app or platforms ask yourself:

“Does this have a positive impact on patient care, physician relations, or worksite improvement?”

How many of your current tactics would make the cut?

 

 

 
In Hospitals, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy , , , ,
permalink

Are We Creating Left Handed Pencils?

February 24, 2012 — 3 Comments

Is it possible we are spending our time creating programs, communities, blogs, etc… that are just not needed?

I feel like we are still functioning inside a vacuum. If we look at the overall strategy of what a respective hospital is trying to accomplish are we adding value (in a digital way) to the overall strategy?

I wonder about this each time a new platform is launched. Some of these are great because the strategic objective is very clear:

  • Facebook = critical mass, user base (for hospitals) is largely female, ads can be targeted and tracked.
  • Pinterest = strong adoption rate, female user base, visual, time on site is very high (from what we can tell.)

In both of these examples (and others) I can see the case for spending time here and how they tie to a strategic objective of reaching women. Women are the heath care buyer and most hospitals have women’s health as  a key objective.

There are on the other hand ideas I am not sure makes so much sense:

  • Custom mobile apps for hospitals (there are obviously exceptions to every rule.)
  • Twitter – great for customer service and even interval communications, but for most regional healthcare providers I am not sure the time/benefit equation works out.
  • Message boards – should you have your own message boards? Or participate within existing communities?

I am kinda thinking out loud here… I would love your thoughts. When you think about this you have to use the 80% rule… disregard the 10% of top tier hospital brands and the bottom 10%. Look at the 80% in the middle most of which are regional providers without a national brand.

Thoughts?

[image credit]

 
In Facebook, Google+, Hospitals, Marketing Mix, Pinterest, Social Media, Strategy , , , ,
permalink

Why Hospitals Block Employee’s Access to Social Media

February 10, 2012 — 3 Comments

I (Social Health Institute) recently had the chance to interview 25 of the best and brightest upcoming hospital administrators in the state of Texas. I asked them a series of questions to better help me understand where hospitals are in their social media journey. I plan to do a series of post on my findings but wanted to cover (briefly) some thoughts on one question up front…

“Does your organization block any access to social media outlets internally?”

Incase you were wondering purple = yes… The follow up question was, “if yes why?”

Here is where the light went off for me…

  • 46% answered Productivity
  • 31% answered Security
  • 23% did not know why

At face value this is not overly shocking. The issue here is I did not prompt them. They simply filled in why they felt social media was blocked at their facility or organization.

To me what stands out is we as marketeers or social media “experts” have done a poor job educating senior leadership about social media. The majority of these leaders do not use the tools/platforms that the organization blocks so it is up to us to make sure they understand the business case of unblocking these mediums.

Those of us working in this space can defend the concerns of productivity and security in our sleep, but before you do try this…

I encourage you to setup a time where you can sit down with senior leaders and listen… don’t talk… listen. Understand their concerns and what about these technologies makes them uneasy. Resist the urge to jump in and defend every point. Let them talk…

In the end read back the key points to make sure you are on the same page. Then setup a follow up meeting where you can come back with data to support why you are right or they are right. Tell your leaders you want to keep this dialogue open and that you are not asking someone to flip the switch, on access, this afternoon but you do want to have he opportunity to make your case after you hear their concerns.

I think we worry about our defense too often without really hearing the concerns upfront.

Thoughts?

 

 
In Blocking Social Media, Hospitals, Social Media, Strategy , , , ,
permalink

Discipline to Delight – How to Move Social to the Next Level

January 17, 2012 — 4 Comments

I was listening to a podcast of a recent sermon from Matt Chandler, Teaching Pastor at the Village Church in the Dallas/FTW area, and he brought up an interesting concept. He was speaking on “A Call to Pray,” and here is what he says:

My hope is to try to move us a little bit away from discipline and into delight. Because I think the best motivator out there isn’t discipline, but rather it’s delight. If you delight in something, you will be far more apt to be disciplined at something rather than just trying to create discipline in your life in the hope that it will bring about delight. If you love something, if you love doing something, you’re much more apt to do it and actually build things into your life that enable and empower it. If you don’t delight in it, then regardless of what kind of discipline you put in place, you’re going to stumble, fall, fail and give up.

Maybe we have been going about social media all wrong in hospitals? Maybe we keep trying to put programs, infrastructure, and guidelines (“discipline”) in place to make social media successful.

Maybe we should spend our time finding those who want to connect with patients in a new way, those who feel emerging technologies should be a focal point (“delight”), and use those resources and people for advancing ways we connect with employees, physicians, and patients.

I am not saying we should not have policies, guidelines, training, etc… but we do need to find those who really understand the goals and missions we are trying to advance with social media.

Thoughts?

 
In Hospitals, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Tips , ,
permalink