Archive for the ‘health care’ Category

New social media site invites users to review public health care services

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

As an adjunct professor at Simmons College’s Department of Health Care Administration, I received a press release (the first paragraph of which appears below) with a request to spread the word.  I should also disclose that I know a couple of the donors involved through a separate relationship, and have known about this project since its inception.

Press release lead paragraph

“Simmons College’s Department of Health Care Administration launched a new website that will gauge the experiences of Boston-area healthcare users who have their services paid for by public programs. USisUS.net, which stands for the United States is Us, aims to reach out to minority populations and healthcare users who receive aid through programs such as Medicaid, VA, Commonwealth Care and others.  Users of the site can review these comments and ratings about particular health care providers.”

The many faces of Barbara Bix, Managing Principal, BB Marketing Plus

This post discusses my observations from several perspectives including that of a health care marketing consultant, a social media marketing consultant, a user of services, a citizen, and a taxpayer.  So, please join me now as I switch hats and weigh in from each of these roles.

Health care marketing consultant

The topic was also of particular interest to me as a health care marketing consultant.  There’s a lot of debate about what constitutes health care quality.  It’s hard to measure since we’re not widgets.  Each of us comes to our health through a unique combination of genes and behavior–and at different stages of wellness/illness–before health care providers even begin administering care.  For another, most of us don’t have the medical knowledge to assess the relative quality of our treatment regimes or outcomes.

Nevertheless, user perspectives are important; and health care providers have begun to seek them out over the last decade or so.  For one, we’re the only ones who know how we feel.  For another, we are qualified to rate some of the more visible aspects of our care–as well as our overall experience during the care process.

User of services

I see this site as a “Yelp” for government services.  The interesting twist is that citizen reviewers are not only users of the services and prospective users of the services, but also citizens who pay for the services–whether they ultimately use them or not.

As soon as I heard about this concept, my first reaction was, “We need this for our town”.  As a user, I think it’s a great way to hear from trusted citizens about new services of which I might otherwise have not been aware–as well as to get recommendations for which services to use when I have a choice.

Taxpayer

As a taxpayer, I’d find it useful to have information that helps me evaluate our programs and help me determine for which enhancements to advocate.  Today, I read about controversial decisions in the local newspaper and wish I could get a better understanding of the pros and cons from the people these decisions will most affect.  I also love the idea that administrators of those programs have a way to get specific actionable feedback on services without extra effort.

Social media marketing consultant

One of the best ways to develop superior offerings is to collaborate with clients, and prospective clients, to design and then improve the services you deliver.  A frequent “unintended consequence” is that users then feel more engaged and more involved, just because someone sought their feedback.  This engagement often leads to even greater satisfaction.

The magic of social media is that you can so easily, and inexpensively, reach so many of the people you aim to serve, get instant feedback, and have a forum where they can work as a group to refine that feedback.  This aspect is often referred to as the “wisdom of the crowd”.

Bias

Yes, there will be bias.  You’re most likely only to hear from those who are “high responders”, extremely satisfied, or extremely dissatisfied.  The hope is that, as with many other social media, “the crowd” keeps the conversation centered and useful.  I know that when I’m the user, I look to the crowd for overall sentiment, and to individual reviewers’ comments only for the details that they will bring to my attention.

Your perspectives, please

What’s your take?  Have you used any programs that evaluate public services?  If so, what value have you derived?  What reservations do you have?  What feedback do you have for USisus.net as they start to spread the word?

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Use of Social Media for Marketing Medical Devices

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

medical device
Last summer, Robert DeSimone of MediComm Consultants, Inc., a colleague from the Medical Development Group, mentioned that several of his clients had inquired about social media. Recognizing that medical device companies face special marketing challenges because they are regulated by the FDA, we decided to go right to the source. Here’s what we learned:

Is social media part of the medical device marketing mix?

Our primary objective was to learn whether and how medical device companies are using social media to communicate with prospects and customers, and the effect that FDA regulation or the lack thereof, is having on these activities.

Our methodology

We developed an online survey to learn more about what types of medical device companies are using social media, how they’re using it, what they hope to accomplish, and how they will measure success. We partnered with medical device trade associations and on-line social communities to distribute the survey and solicit participation.

Then, we conducted qualitative interviews with a subset of respondents to learn more about how their companies were using social media. This subset encompassed individuals working for an FDA-regulated concern that are using social media as a company.

The respondents

The sample was self-selected in that members of the groups that participated in the survey could opt whether or not to participate. The trade associations we partnered with are in California, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. We focused on these three areas due to the heavy representation of medical device companies within these geographies.

Most of the social communities were sponsored by LinkedIn and focus on the medical device industry. A couple of the groups are associated with the partner trade associations. We specifically excluded pharmaceutical concerns, as this segment, unlike the medical device industry, has traditionally been more aggressive in directly pursuing consumers.

251 people participated in the survey. Fifty-seven percent of the total respondents work for regulated medical device companies; and, of the regulated group, 67% work for companies with greater than 51 employees.

The individual participants work in a number of functions. Our report, however, focused on those whose jobs include communications with customers or prospects. Of these, only 11% work for companies that include social media in the marketing mix.

We conducted follow-up interviews with five survey respondents, all of whom work for FDA-regulated companies and use social media to communicate with customers and prospects.

How medical device professionals and medical device companies are using social media

Our analysis focused on respondents who work for FDA-regulated companies. Of these, 63% use social media for job-related activities, and only a subset, (16%), use social media to communicate with customers and prospects.

Of the FDA-regulated companies that use social media to communicate with customers and prospects, most have been using social media for less than six months. They are still in the early stages and are testing multiple social media venues.

In most of these companies, the Marketing Department initiated these communications. Only one company, among the 18 that use social media to communicate with customers or prospects, indicated that they have been able to quantify success. Nevertheless, all plan to continue funding at current levels or increase the funding for their social media programs.

Individual medical device marketers’ perspectives on social media

The responses to the follow-up qualitative interviews were relatively consistent with the quantitative findings. Everyone we interviewed had started using social media relatively recently and most were careful to limit posts to content previously approved for press releases, website, and/or print communications. All the respondents we interviewed said that Marketing had initiated the company’s foray into social media.

In one case, the marketing executive learned that their customers were active social media users from her customer advisory council. She decided to pursue social media marketing because she felt it was important that the company participate in the conversation.

In another case, the company’s agency recommended that they begin participating in social media. In the remaining cases, the companies began experimenting with social media because their competition was already actively involved. Most engaged the services of an agency to jump start the process.

Most of the respondents researched the market and the competition before jumping into social media. At least, one company also established social media guidelines. A couple reported the differences in participation levels they are seeing between consumers and clinicians; and even more interesting, that there are participation differences among clinicians in different roles and medical specialties.

The respondents told us they were listening as well as posting. The listening tools they use run the gamut from Google Alerts to one company’s decision to pay an agency to listen in their stead.

It was our sense, however, that the listening and the posting were somewhat independent, and not necessarily social conversations per se. That is, companies listened to learn what was important to their prospects and to determine where to post. Nevertheless, because they limited their posts to pre-approved content, outgoing communications were not necessarily in direct response to what others were saying.

As for measurement, most expressed the desire to do so, but didn’t believe they had a definitive approach. One pointed to retweets and the opportunity to discover, and congratulate a customer about a recent award as early indications of success. Perhaps due to their short social media tenure, and the restrictions they face as a regulated industry, most had relatively few followers.

Perhaps surprising, except in the case of one respondent, FDA restrictions were not the major concern about launching social media programs. It was our impression that these marketers had accepted the fact that medical devices are a regulated industry with a given set of constraints.

Instead, the respondents appeared more concerned about resource limitations. None had a dedicated social media resource, although several commented that their competitors did. One didn’t even have time to do much listening on a consistent basis.

Medical device companies believe they must participate in social media to remain competitive

The medical device companies that we interviewed are in the early stages of social media participation. Most are optimistic that social media will accelerate their marketing efforts, but few have enough data to measure success. Nevertheless, they feel they must participate to learn or risk being left behind. That said, medical device companies are likely to lag the competition, at least until the FDA clarifies the regulations governing the use of social media.

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Posted in Marketing communications programs, health care, social media, social media marketing | 5 Comments »

Social media works—more than 600 attend Boston health care conference

Sunday, March 1st, 2009


By Barbara Bix -

A lot of the work I do is at the intersection of health care and technology. Yet, I didn’t hear about last Thursday’s conference on Transforming Health Care until a few weeks ago. No else did either.

In fact, organizer Steve Wardell only began publicizing the event in the last 6-8 weeks. Yet, more than 600 people attended—including many local luminaries who not only follow, but make health care news in Boston.

So what attracted the crowd? I believe that in this case the medium was the message.

Strong offer is just the beginning

Certainly, the topic—Impact and Opportunity in the Obama Plan–was compelling. Yet, with the ink still wet on the Obama plan, no one really has enough information to assess the specific implications of the plan for health care providers, health care payers, or health care software developers. And, the speakers said as much.

The speakers were also remarkable. Two, Charlie Baker and James Roosevelt, lead major Boston-based health plans and have been influential in shaping state and national health care policy. John Glaser is the CIO at Partners Health Care, the largest health care provider in Massachusetts. Jonathan Bush is the CEO of a successful health care technology provider and a cousin of former President Bush. Moderator Scott Kirsner, known for his sharp wit and incisive observations writes about innovation for The Boston Globe and other leading news publications.

Nevertheless, I don’t think the speakers can account for the record-breaking crowd either. Despite the fact that all of them are important thought leaders, each works locally and there are other opportunities to hear their views. In my experience, none of these other occasions have drawn the crowds that flocked to Thursday’s event—even though many of these events had months of publicity.

Blogs, Linked in, Twitter–event organizers pull out all the stops

My theory is that most people came because of the savvy way in which event organizers leveraged social media. Event organizers and sponsors reached out to local bloggers, many of whom wrote about the event encouraging attendance. The volunteer coordinators suggested that volunteers use Linked In to let colleagues know that they were attending. And, both volunteers and bloggers were invited to extend discounts to their friends and colleagues. Finally, everyone was asked to tweet about the event before—and during the event—using Twitter.

Social marketing is more than social media

The social orientation, however, went far beyond promotion. When participants registered, they were invited to submit questions—and vote on others’ submissions. Perhaps, most important, everyone could see who else was planning to come—before they, themselves, registered.

And, it worked. It was amazing to watch. I logged into the registration page each day and watched registrations grow geometrically from one day to the next. Moreover, many of those that signed up for this after-work event were mid-level, and even senior managers.

Based on the registration pattern, it’s clear to me that most people came largely because they knew that others they respect planned to attend. This conclusion was borne out by the fact that most people arrived early to network—and a large number stayed late to do more of the same. In short, this event was a poster child for social media.

So what can we learn from this experience? How can social media increase your business’ success?

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