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Comment on The Service IS the Marketing by Kent Seltman

Kent Seltman — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:19:28 +0000

Great to hear from you both, Janet and Jim. I’ll paste at the end of my note a press release from today that is indicative of Mayo’s commitment to leverage the social media tools made available on the Internet in recent times. This press release should answer the good questions that Janet raises.

Our talk will not deal directly with the topics either of you have raised, but they are good questions that I hope will be adequately addressed here. If not, you know how to get in touch with me.

The confidentiality issues associated with Internet communications, except through secure portals, restrained the official use of this medium for serveral years, although many patients and doctors did communicate through the unsecured sites in spite of the official policy. The secure portals are either up and running now or will be soon. They have been beta tested with employee patients for many months.

But more significantly, as we discuss in chapter nine of our book, Mayo is committing lots of resources into developing the 21st century delivery system which the organization believes will use the new communication tecnologies to provide information exchange, monitor care, and conduct some clinical examinations remotely. The business unit formerly known as “Mayo Medical Ventures” has been reorganized as “Mayo Clinic Health Solutions” and many of the innovative concepts will come to the market through this unit. In addition, the past chair of medicine is leading the effort to develop the care model for the 21st C — there are a couple of pages about that in our book.

Here’s the press release about social media.

For Immediate Release

Mayo Clinic Announces Sharing Mayo Clinic Blog for Patients, Employees
New blog will connect global community of Mayo patients and caregivers

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic today announced the launch of its culture blog, Sharing Mayo Clinic, (http://sharing.mayoclinic.org), which provides an online site for patients and employees to share their stories about what makes Mayo Clinic unique.

VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources, including excerpts from an interview with Lee Aase describing Mayo Clinic’s new blog, are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog.

The new blog is one of several social media initiatives to encourage patients, health care providers and other Mayo Clinic employees to share their experiences and connect with people all over the world.

“Mayo Clinic’s reputation has been built by patients sharing their personal Mayo stories with family members and friends,” says Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic’s manager of social media and syndication. “Many patients share their Mayo experiences with others when they go home. Sharing Mayo Clinic offers a place for this worldwide community of patients and providers to gather and tell their stories.”

“Patient feature stories are among the most popular pages on our MayoClinic.org Web site,” says Thoralf Sundt, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiovascular surgeon. “This new blog will enable many more patients and their families to share their Mayo Clinic experience in their own words. In turn, we at Mayo Clinic look forward to learning how to preserve those services that are of most value, how we might improve those that can be strengthened, and enhance the health care experiences for all of our patients in the future.”

Mayo Clinic has previously established a presence on several popular social sites, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr, and provides other social media venues such as a news blog, podcasts and consumer health blogs through two Mayo Clinic Web sites, http://www.MayoClinic.org and http://www.MayoClinic.com. Aase says Sharing Mayo Clinic will be the hub for these and future Mayo social media platforms, providing links and guidance for members of the global Mayo Clinic community who are interested in connecting on the Web.

“Rather than our patients just being able to talk with the people they see every day, these platforms allow them to share their experiences with people all over the world — some of whom they know personally, and many they do not,” says Aase. “We also see Sharing Mayo Clinic as an opportunity to provide glimpses into the lives and motivations of Mayo employees who are dedicated to working together in teams to provide the best care to every patient, every day.”

Sharing Mayo Clinic builds on Mayo Clinic’s existing social media initiatives:

Mayo Clinic YouTube Channel

The Mayo Clinic Channel has more than 250 videos for consumers to watch and share. They include patient stories, information about Mayo services and programs, background on Mayo Clinic’s history and people, and details about Mayo’s latest research and treatment advances. Through the “Share Your Mayo Clinic Story” campaign, patients are encouraged to post videos about their personal experiences with Mayo Clinic on YouTube. Patients who do not have the technical expertise or equipment to do this may have their stories recorded during their visit to Mayo Clinic.

Mayo Clinic Facebook page (Type Mayo Clinic Facebook in any search engine.)

On this social networking site, patients can tell their Mayo Clinic story, watch videos about Mayo’s latest news and research, become a Facebook “fan” of Mayo, and share it all with their friends. They also can read and discuss what others say about their experiences at Mayo Clinic.

Mayo Clinic podcast blog

Dozens of Mayo podcasts are available on this site. Mayo’s podcasts include extended conversations and news stories on many diseases and conditions, emphasizing conditions that Mayo Clinic experts treat and research. Consumers can search by topic, post comments and subscribe to have new episodes of a particular podcast delivered automatically.

Mayo Clinic news blog

In this blog, journalists and consumers can see and hear video and audio excerpts featuring Mayo Clinic physicians and researchers providing context for stories about their research and other health and medical news. They also can join discussions with other readers through the blog comments.

MayoClinic.com consumer blogs and podcasts

MayoClinic.com offers consumer blogs on topics such as stress, smoking cessation, pregnancy, nutrition, depression, diabetes and more. MayoClinic.com podcasts are available in portable audio files that contain consumer-friendly information from a Mayo Clinic expert. Consumers can sign up for RSS feeds for new blog posts and podcast topics, as well as several other content features from MayoClinic.com.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a primary value that “the needs of the patient come first.” More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year.

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To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to http://www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.

Comment on Forum Roster by Steve Seekins

Steve Seekins — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:16:03 +0000

My partners Kathy Lewton, Ken Trester and I are looking forward to meeting all the attendees at the upcoming Forum. We are putting the final touches on a presentation we hope will stimulate lots of discussion and a great deal of exchange and learning…for all of us.

We present sessions at major health care meetings each year and find it is a great way for us to give of the information we have learned over 30 years. Not surprisingly we also find we learn lots as well.

If you have anything you would like to let us know in advance of the Forum please contact me at 818-526-7753 or at sseekins@lstllc.com. You can also look at our website to get a feel for our backgrounds and what we do. http://www.lstllc.com

Comment on The Service IS the Marketing by Jim Blazar

Jim Blazar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:14:04 +0000

Mayo has been one of the world leaders in creating positve patient experiences for decades. I believe this is one reason they have developed such a strong National/International reputation. I am interested in learning how Mayo has integrated electronic technology into their tools for communicating with patients and providing access to information and providers both on campus and from distant locations.

Comment on An Insider’s View of Cyberspace by Janet Guptill

Janet Guptill — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:29:50 +0000

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal offered an interesting statistic: EverydayHealth.com, which recently merged with Revolution Health, links 24 different health sites catering to various interests. The combined sites had more than 25 million unique visitors in Nov. 2008, compared to the 18.2 million visitors to WebMd.com, to become the most popular health related website. A key feature of EverydayHealth.com is the ability for consumers to create their own health related homepage and blog.

What can hospital marketers learn from this kind of consumer engagement and what does it suggest as a strategy for participating in the web 2.0 world?

Janet Guptill
IT Executive Search, Witt/Kieffer
jguptill@wittkieffer.com

Comment on The Service IS the Marketing by Janet Guptill

Janet Guptill — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:49:12 +0000

I have been impressed by what Community Health System is doing in this regard - they have a website that facilitates patients networking with one another in a support group, with the ability to share resources for the condition they are discussing, and the hospital has also created private blogs for their patient families to use to share news and updates. Furthermore, they ask for patient feedback, both positive and negative, and use this to reward good employees and to address operational problems. I’m looking forward to hearing what Mayo is doing in the area of customer engagement through social networking tools!
Janet Guptill
IT Executive Search, Witt/Kieffer
jguptill@wittkieffer.com

Comment on CBM is just one month away … by Janet Guptill

Janet Guptill — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:44:10 +0000

Great idea to give attendees this opportunity to experiment directly with social networking - this is definitely the new wave of relationship building. Hospitals are beginning to experiment with engaging consumers in online communities and support groups, and they are also recognizing that new tools are needed to engage employees to make them feel connected to the organization. Sometimes the best way to get educated on such tools is to just try them! Great job!
Janet

Comment on Forum Roster by Gabrielle DeTora

Gabrielle DeTora — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:25:49 +0000

Gabrielle DeTora, VP, Health Strategy, Princeton Partners Health

As the strategic marketing lead for Princeton Partners Health, a leading brand marketing agency for healthcare, I have led strategic direction for clients such as North Shore-LIJ Health System, Penn State Hershey Health System, Capital Health System, Westchester Medical Center, and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals. With well over a dozen years of experience, I have a proven track record in effective market research, strategic planning, campaign strategy, media planning, public relations, consumer/physician sales and marketing, and e-marketing.

I have presented at national healthcare conferences and forums such as The Healthcare Roundtable, the Snowmass Women’s Health Conference, and the Healthcare Association of New York State. I have written articles for HealthLeadersFinance, Healthcare Advertising Review, Healthcare Marketing Report, and MHS and am on the editorial advisory board of HealthLeadersMedia.

I look forward to meeting the attendees. Please feel free to contact me in advance to set up discussions on online digital strategies such as patient portals and social media, as well as integrated marketing strategies that drive ROI. Please contact me at 609-806-1007 or at gdetora@princetonpartners.com. Check out Princeton Partners Health at http://www.princetonpartnershealth.com.

Comment on CBM is just one month away … by Rob Rosenberg

Rob Rosenberg — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:05:56 +0000

Great idea for this blog!

Comment on CBM is just one month away … by Rob Rosenberg

Rob Rosenberg — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:03:52 +0000

Look forward to attending the conference - you’re right, in tough times, marketers shouldn’t put their heads in the sand, rather reach out, network, and learn about the most efficient strategies for brand influence.

Please stop by our booth and let’s talk branding.