Healthcare

The Impact Of Knowledge: Patient Education Improves Compliance And Outcomes

Daniella Koren | September, 26 2016

The proper diagnosis of a disease and effective treatments are, of course, essential to an individual’s prognosis and quality of life. But there is also compelling evidence about the value of being sufficiently informed; a patient’s misunderstanding of a condition and its care can result in non-compliance to a doctor’s recommendations, significantly and adversely affecting outcomes. The more clearly a disease is understood, the more likely it is that an individual will be comfortable with their care and adhere to necessary regimens.

Healthcare

How Isolation Impacts Those Suffering With Rare Disease

Daniella Koren | September, 6 2016

There’s little in life as jarring as being diagnosed with a serious disease like cancer or diabetes; the news irrevocably changes the lives of both the patient and their family. Yet as difficult as it is, there are many avenues to get information and connecting with others who are dealing with a similar challenge. But for those who learn that they have an illness that is so rare most people have never even heard of it, the scenario can be quite different.

Healthcare

Marketers Can Help Bridge Gap For Parents, Patients, Caregivers

Daniella Koren | August, 10 2016

Any change can be daunting. But for a pediatric patient with a rare disease who is faced with transitioning into adult care, it can be exponentially more intimidating. While parents have often painstakingly developed a support system over the years of managing their child’s care, transition programs that guide young adult patients are scarce. In fact, according to the National Survey of Children with Special Healthcare Needs, more than 50% of the parents reported that no one ever spoke to them about the upcoming need for their child to switch to adult care.

Healthcare

Blogger Outreach 101 For Healthcare Marketers

Daniella Koren | June, 2 2016

The days of influence marketing solely backed by celebrities or public figures are long gone. Today, people publish their own opinions and find their voice online by publishing blogs that carry influence of the same caliber, if not more. Bloggers can engage on a personal level, strengthening influence with their audience, and in fact we are seeing higher engagement rates in some cases vs. paid advertising. But how do health marketers create an “influencer campaign” and where to start? When considering outreach to bloggers for a potential partnership, think about the following considerations:

Healthcare

What Millennials Want When It Comes To Healthcare

Daniella Koren | April, 28 2016

In just the last year, Millennials (adults ages 18-34) have become the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, officially surpassing Gen Xers, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center. The healthcare industry needs to take notice, as this group of young people presents new and distinct challenges.

Healthcare

Two Big Cs For Cancer Patients: Compassionate Communication

Daniella Koren | April, 1 2016

“Sending a patient to do battle with cancer without any training is like parachuting a soldier into the jungle without the benefit of survival training.” —Michael Lerner, president, Commonwealth In this age of rapid healthcare delivery, the big C can be overlooked when it comes to caring and communicating with cancer patients. The C I’m referring to is Compassion. In fact, there’s another C here — the Caregiver — they also seek compassion when interfacing with their oncology healthcare team.

Healthcare

5 Insights To Boost Support For Rare-Disease Communities

Daniella Koren | March, 3 2016

I’ve had the privilege of talking to those touched by or living with rare disease. This post reflects on statistics and insights gained from patients, caregivers and healthcare providers.

Healthcare

5 Best Practices For Personalizing The Call Center Experience

Daniella Koren | January, 22 2016

Healthcare is evolving into a value-based system, with patient satisfaction tied to reimbursements and penalties. And, it’s evolving quicker than you might think. Value-based reimbursement is no longer the future of healthcare, a pilot project, or some far off place where the healthcare system will one day be. That day is today and there are significant financial stakes that hinge on patient satisfaction.

Healthcare

How Telemedicine Is Propelling Change Around The Hospital Experience

Daniella Koren | November, 27 2015

Telemedicine will no doubt increase patient engagement, because patients who receive care when and where they want are more motivated to participate in self-care. And on the provider side, being able to identify what is important to the patient and providing those services will go a long way to establishing a partnership outside of the office visit. From reviewing medical records to charting treatment plans, from reading x-rays to home healthcare, telemedicine is making healthcare more available to everyone.

Healthcare

How The Internet Of Things Is Changing The Future Of Healthcare CRM Strategy

Daniella Koren | October, 30 2015

Customer relationship management (CRM) is here to stay and is at the heart of companies' digital initiatives for years to come, Gartner said in a report that came out in 2014. The hot topic in CRM across multiple leading industries, including healthcare, is the Internet of Things (IoT) as it joins cloud, social, mobile and big data as the fifth driver of CRM investments.

Healthcare

Educating Patients About Surgical Recovery: When, And How?

Daniella Koren | September, 25 2015

Educating patients about what to expect after surgery needs to start in the weeks beforehand. By helping patients understand what their surgery involves and preparing them both for the procedure and recovery, providers can improve patient satisfaction and make a real difference in how patients perceive their entire surgical experience and results.

Healthcare

Patient Portals And Missed Opportunities

Daniella Koren | August, 28 2015

As value-based care becomes common practice, healthcare organizations are working to increase patient engagement—but are current engagement strategies getting the job done when it comes to improving outcomes long term?

Healthcare

Shared Decision-making: It Takes Two

Daniella Koren | July, 28 2015

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, “Shared decision making is a model of patient-centered care that enables and encourages people to play a role in the management of their own health. It operates under the premise that, armed with good information, consumers can and will participate in the medical decision-making process by asking informed questions and expressing personal values and opinions about their conditions and treatment options.”

Healthcare

Prehabilitation-Improving Outcomes Proactively

Daniella Koren | June, 26 2015

One area where outcomes-based care is having a huge impact is orthopedic surgery. According to a 2014 study published in the Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, the projected number of total knee replacement surgeries for 2016 is 1,046,000—in 15 years, this number is projected to increase by 600%. While rehabilitation is important for improving outcomes in this type of procedure, the groundwork laid before the surgery—with prehabilitation—can make all the difference for patients’ recovery.

Healthcare

The Synergy Between Call Centers And Population Health

Daniella Koren | May, 22 2015

Healthcare is evolving from a fee-for-service and volume-driven model to one that is value based. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has stepped up its timeline for shifting Medicare to a value-based system so that by the end of 2016, at least 30% of fee-for-service Medicare payments will be tied to value through accountable care organizations or bundled payment arrangements. By the end of 2018, that number will increase to 50%.

Healthcare

Call Centers - Filling The Gaps In The Patient Care Continuum

Daniella Koren | April, 24 2015

A report in Healthcare IT News, “Strategies to Maximize Patient Engagement and Retention,” observed that the healthcare industry is evolving to a model where patients are approaching their healthcare as consumers. As a result, patients’ expectations of an “exceptional care experience” are requiring that providers start engaging patients not only during office visits, but throughout the care continuum. To achieve this end, the single most important component is communication.

Healthcare

Patients And Physicians On Using Technology And Sharing Information

Daniella Koren | March, 27 2015

Technology is advancing how medicine is practiced, giving patients the chance to participate more fully in their healthcare. These new developments have the potential to elevate the provider-patient relationship, and are being welcomed, for the most part, by both groups.

Healthcare

The Waiting Room Is Prime Time For Patient Engagement

Daniella Koren | February, 27 2015

The waiting room is often the place where patients spend the majority of their time during a visit to their doctor. According to a Software Advice survey of 5,000 U.S. patients, the average time patients wait before seeing a doctor is 20 minutes, and sometimes this wait can be a lot longer.

Healthcare

Would You Recommend This App?

Daniella Koren | January, 26 2015

According to industry estimates, 500 million smartphone owners worldwide use at least one health or wellness app. Within the next three years, 50% of the more than 3 billion smartphone and tablet users will have downloaded mobile health apps.

Healthcare

Healthcare Trends To Watch For In 2015

Daniella Koren | December, 26 2014

Tech-savvy consumers, the Affordable Care Act, and competitive new companies entering the healthcare industry are all contributors to changes that will be affecting patients, providers, and payers in 2015.

Healthcare

Patient Access to EHRs - How Much Should Doctors Share?

Daniella Koren | November, 28 2014

The use of electronic health records (EHRs) is now standard operating procedure in many medical practices, but access to them is a bone of contention. While many patients want to be able to read and add to their records, doctors may not be comfortable with this.

Healthcare

Helping Patients Get The Most From Patient Portals

Daniella Koren | October, 24 2014

While patient portals can't replace an in-office visit, they have many benefits: They encourage patients to view test results and health records and can facilitate an ongoing doctor-patient dialogue. They can reduce paperwork by serving as online billing and payment centers. They can also help practices meet meaningful use Stage 2 requirements, which state that providers must have "at least five percent of their patients using an online patient portal" to get incentive payments.

Healthcare

Using Patient Education To Stop The Hospital Revolving Door

Daniella Koren | September, 26 2014

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), about one in five Medicare patients discharged from a hospital is readmitted within 30 days. In an effort to change this, in 2009, the CMS began publicly reporting hospital readmission rates for certain conditions, and the Affordable Care Act contains multiple payment reforms intended to promote hospital efforts to address and prevent adverse events after discharge. Chief among these are financial penalties for hospitals with above-average readmission rates for certain illnesses.

Healthcare

Finding Time For Patient Education: 4 Tips For Healthcare Providers

Daniella Koren | August, 22 2014

It’s not news to doctors that an important part of their job is educating their patients about their health and medical conditions. The problem is that a meaningful interaction takes time—one thing that doctors don’t have. A 2013 Medscape survey found that the largest group of physician responders spent between 13 and 16 minutes per patient.

Healthcare

4 Barriers To Patient Engagement And How To Overcome Them

Daniella Koren | July, 25 2014

We can all agree that empowering patients to engage in their healthcare is a good thing. Improving patients’ understanding of their disease and health so they take a more active role in their healthcare has been shown to lead to better health outcomes and reduced costs.

Healthcare

Tips For Improving Written Communication To Patients

Daniella Koren | June, 27 2014

To help patients proactively manage their health, many healthcare providers supplement what they tell patients during appointments with written content. This may include printouts of educational material about their condition, healthy lifestyle tips, or hand-written notes about the patient’s condition and treatment plan. Physicians may also refer patients to websites or social media sites, or send emails with additional information.

Healthcare

5 Tips To Help Healthcare Providers Improve Patient Empowerment

Daniella Koren | May, 23 2014

Which patient is likely to have the best outcome: The one who puts their health entirely in their doctor’s hands, or the one who is empowered to help manage their own health?

Healthcare

Top 4 Ways To Help Patients With Shared Decision Making

Daniella Koren | April, 28 2014

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) identifies patient engagement as an integral part of quality in accountable care organizations. In fact, a separate section (3506) of the ACA calls for new Shared Decision-Making Resource Centers to help integrate the approach into clinical practice.

Healthcare

Patient Engagement: It's More Than You May Think

Daniella Koren | March, 31 2014

Patient engagement is a very popular term right now. But what exactly is it? As part of Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements, healthcare organizations will be making important decisions about how to improve access to patient data using health information exchanges and online patient portals. However, successfully engaging patients and meeting the requirements may not be synonymous. To truly impact patient behavior and motivate positive health changes requires a comprehensive strategy for patient engagement that includes a thoughtful and tailored approach.

Healthcare

Being A Good Patient Marketer – A Short List

Daniella Koren | March, 10 2014

Daniella Koren, Founder and President of DKI, CEO of ARCHES Technology, and co-founder of Convergence Point Media, is being honored as one of the 50 best business women in New Jersey. This award is produced by NJBIZ, New Jersey’s premiere business news publication, and sponsored by Wells Fargo, WithumSmith+Brown, PC, Comcast Business, and Wolff & Samson PC.

Healthcare

What Is Responsive Relationship Marketing?

Daniella Koren | November, 7 2013

Responsive design is about giving people a great experience, no matter what device they use. Healthcare expert Daniella Koren says it’s time to bring that principle to relationship marketing.

Healthcare

Building Relationships With Content Marketing

Daniella Koren | October, 25 2013

My last post introduced the concept of Responsive Relationship Marketing: the practice of listening first and communicating subsequently, allowing segmentation and tailoring to emerge dynamically. Just as responsive design is about creating engaging content for a proliferating number of devices, Responsive RM is about creating engaging content for proliferating patient and caregiver needs. At the core, a CMS (Content Management System) is being called upon to serve and respond to user interactions, while organic segmentation is borne out of the “dialogue.”

Healthcare

Why Preparation Is Everything When It Comes To Positive Patient Outcomes

Daniella Koren | June, 28 2013

Patients not only need medical care but also emotional and educational support from their healthcare team. Treatment can be a daunting experience, but a good medical team can assuage patient fears for an easier healing experience.

Healthcare

Content: Create Or Curate?

Daniella Koren | May, 24 2013

We’ve all heard the phrase “content is king,” but in the world of inbound marketing has our definition of “Content” changed? Ninety-one percent of B2B marketers use content in their marketing mix and a majority use social media to distribute content. While content creation has always been a force in marketing, trends show companies shifting towards content curation. But can curation provide accurate, targeted information or are we sacrificing informational effectiveness for cost effectiveness?

Healthcare

Caregiver Content Is A Win-Win-Win

Daniella Koren | May, 1 2013

The caregiver has become a primary target audience for healthcare marketers, especially in the oncology and rare disease spaces. Often clients ask whether the content we provide to patients is sufficient for caregivers, too. Our answer is – not always. As we study attitudinal variations in patients, we must also determine caregiver types and how to support them during this challenging journey.

Healthcare

Social Listening for Pharma RM: Lessons Learned When No One Is Talking About Your Brand

Daniella Koren | March, 22 2013

We recently completed the first phase of a yearlong social listening project for one of our clients. It’s a global project, spanning seven countries and includes “listening in” on all of the popular social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, Sina Wiebo (a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook in China), YouTube, and countless blogs and forums.

Healthcare

Dancing Into Business

Daniella Koren | May, 2013

Miss Wanda was my first ballet teacher. I was four years old. She seemed ancient and held a long stick in her hand as she taught. I wonder now how old Miss Wanda really was back then. I remember wanting to please her, probably because she’d poke or tap us with her stick when we weren’t doing something right.

Healthcare

Data - It's The New 'Creative'

Daniella Koren | February, 22 2013

One of the hottest marketing catch phrases of 2012 is "data is the new creative." The premise is that all of the creative in the world won't help you if your decisions aren't data driven.

Healthcare

Social Media: A Game-changer For Relationship Marketing

Daniella Koren | January, 25 2013

For the past 12 years, my focus and interest has been Relationship Marketing, specifically Patient Relationship Marketing. It has been the allure around building, segmenting, and leveraging a database of qualified patients, usually suffering from disease states where they could benefit from high quality information. DTP and healthcare RM has been an interesting integration of disciplines, converging to create measurable marketing initiatives that demonstrate ROI for brands and businesses.

Healthcare

Pharma Needs To Learn To COPE

Daniella Koren | December, 28 2012

2012 has been a year of innovation in mhealth, wellness and prevention start-ups, a focus on EMR and patient/doctor communications, and much discussion about big data.

Healthcare

The Perfect Drug

Daniella Koren | November, 23 2012

What once would have once sounded like the plot of a 1950’s science fiction novel is now the future of modern medicine — soon, our medications will not just treat our conditions, they’ll be tailored to our individual genomes. Accompanying this gigantic leap into limitless potential will be a new era for health care. The FDA is referring to it as “personalized medicine,” and it’s going to change everything.

Healthcare

Are Our Results Good? Find Out If Your Engagement Rates Stack Up

Daniella Koren | October, 26 2012

Relationship marketing (RM) programs are powerful tools that help consumers make educated healthcare decisions. We have been creating and evaluating RM programs for over 10 years. Since the beginning, we have placed an emphasis on measuring results to ensure that programs are successful and provide robust ROIs.

Healthcare

What Problem Is Pinterest Solving?

Daniella Koren | September, 28 2012

Recently at a meeting, we were talking about the healthcare boards that have popped up on Pinterest. As we discussed the idea of creating a way for oncology patients to find others like themselves on Pinterest, and share inspirational pins, one of the clients turned to me and asked, “What problem are we trying to solve?” An interesting question, indeed. At first I answered – “we are not solving a problem; rather we are embracing an opportunity.”

Healthcare

Pump Up The Volume On Email Strategy For Building Relationships In Healthcare

Daniella Koren | August, 21 2012

Yes, e-mail has gone through phases in healthcare marketing since 2001, but, no, it is not going to be obliterated. Email remains one of the “meat and potatoes” means of communication between healthcare brands and consumer targets.

Healthcare

All The Gear, But No Idea

Daniella Koren | August, 2 2012

I recently went on a hiking trip in New Zealand where one in our group had the most expensive gear: boots, clothing, poles, backpack. Despite his lavish equipment, he was always the last one to arrive at the destination and, ultimately, injured himself to the extent that he couldn’t finish the trip! We all chattered about the guy with “all the gear, but no idea.”

Healthcare

What Do Patients Really Want?

Daniella Koren | June, 26 2012

In today’s fast-shifting patient-centric world, do we know what patients with serious diseases really want when it comes to information about their health? And are pharmaceutical companies listening?

Healthcare

12 Things About People With Chronic Conditions You May Not Know

Daniella Koren | May, 25 2012

For years, many myths about chronic patient care and communications have hobbled our ability to offer the optimum supportive information. Through years of work with leading healthcare companies, I have identified some truths about patients and caregivers that may surprise you.

Healthcare

Relationship Marketing At The Speed Of Social

Daniella Koren | April, 27 2012

The speed of social rules the day. We traverse platforms faster than we can blink an eye. Can social channels get any faster or more amalgamated? I’m sure. So how do healthcare brands keep up with the speed and intensity of relationships that are being formed in a variety of channels by consumers and healthcare professionals? How can brands form ongoing and valued relationships with their customers?