November 2007

Paranoia Andy Grove Would Be Proud Of

I was reading about progressive wellness programs last week, and yesterday watching Moore's Sicko again. A thought occurred to me. Personal health coaching as part of wellness programs is in vogue right now. Are health plans tracking compliance to such programs, for the purpose of later denying associated condition claims on the basis that the individual's noncompliance contributed to a pre-existing condition?  I wouldn't put it past them. What do you think?

Posted by Shawn Whalen on November 23, 2007 at 6:06 AM
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SEO in PR - Best Practices

Stepping away from our usual issue-oriented discussion, here is Part 12 in a continuing series on PR strategies and tactics for healthcare IT marketers

This week's post brings advice from colleague and CrossRoads blogger Chuck Tanowitz on how healthcare IT vendors can get better placement in Google searches through search engine optimization (SEO) practices in your press release writing.

• Tighten the Messaging - Do your market research and understand the key words and search terms. Your messaging should reflect those terms. Also, the messaging should be tighter, so just saying that a company is a "leading provider of healthcare IT solutions" doesn't help the search results.

• Cluster - Put the relevant terms in close physical proximity to the links back to the your site. Google looks at how words relate to one another as a way to decide whether something (like your company or product) should be associated with it.

• Headline Help - Search engines pay particular attention to headlines, so try to include keywords where possible. Still, don't let the headlines get out of hand; try to stick to 120 characters where possible.

• Link - Links act like a highlighter pen for certain words and also help drive traffic and attention back to your your site.

• Don't Forget to Write - SEO isn't an excuse for poor writing. Be creative while still trying to do the best work possible. If it's done right, SEO just complements what you're already doing.

· Be Consistent - An SEO effort, like a media relations effort, takes time to show results. Depending on the keyword(s) your targeting it could take 3 to 6 months to see significant results.

Continue reading "SEO in PR - Best Practices" »

Posted by Shawn Whalen on November 16, 2007 at 1:09 PM
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HCIT PR Webinar PPT

Response to last Thursday's Webinar on Healthcare IT Public Relations was good. For those who weren't able to attend but would like the Powerpoint, please contact me.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on November 12, 2007 at 12:55 PM
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Free HCIT PR Webinar

Maximizing Healthcare IT PR to Impact the Bottom Line

Date & Time: Thursday, December 6th at 12:30pm EDT.

Please join us for a complimentary Webinar, "Maximizing Healthcare IT PR to Impact the Bottom Line" on Thursday, December 6th, at 12:30pm EDT. In this informative, free Webinar, I'll demystify the PR process, explain what it takes to keep the media alive when news is slow, show how PR can impact revenue and offer real-world examples. To register click here.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on November 9, 2007 at 9:37 AM
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A Joking Matter

A few have said my last several posts are getting to be too cynical. How could I ever be that ;) To lighten the mood, perhaps I should offer a monthly doctor joke?

Three Doctors in Heaven

Three doctors are waiting in line to get into the pearly gates.

St. Peter walks out and asks the first one, "What have you done to enter Heaven?"

"I am a pediatrician and have brought thousands of the Lord's babies into the world."

"Good enough to enter the gates," replied St. Peter and in he goes. The same question is asked of the second doctor.

"I am a general practitioner and go to Third World countries three times a year to cure the poor." St. Peter is impressed and allows him through the gates.

The third doctor steps up in line and knowing the question, blurts out, "I am a director of a HMO."

St. Peter meditates on this for a while and then says, "Fine, you can enter Heaven... but only for 2 days."

Okay, nevermind the monthly jokes ;)

Posted by Shawn Whalen on November 5, 2007 at 1:29 PM
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Is It This Bad?

A recently survey on EMR adoption from the Medical Records Institute (sponsors of the TEPR show) revealed that:

• Nearly 19% of respondents indicated they either have in the past experienced the de-installation of an EMR system (12%) or are now going through a de-installation (7%).

• Slightly more than 8% of those surveyed indicated they'd removed their EMRs and gone back to paper, with 6% indicating the removal occurred in the past, while another 2% responded that they were now experiencing the reversion to paper.

• 30% of respondents indicated they either have had an EMR in the past (12%) that not all clinicians used because some refused to do so, or that they now have a system (18%) and are experiencing the same recalcitrance by some clinicians.

• When switching systems, the trend has been to downgrade to less-expensive, less-complicated EMRs than to more-expensive, complicated ones.  

If you add up the number of negative responses and divide it by the total number of respondents it shows that a bit more than 50% of the respondents have had a negative experience with EMR. That's technology for you, whether it's an EMR or PC.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on November 2, 2007 at 12:16 PM
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