Immediate Release

Survey says ... PR among most important business tools in 2010

A recent survey by VerticalResponse found that small business owners ranked public relations as one of the most important tools for their businesses to succeed in 2010. The survey of 831 people at businesses with fewer than 500 employees also found that 96 percent of small businesses will use e-mail marketing next year.

More than two-thirds of respondents plan to increase their use of e-mail marketing and increase social media marketing. Meanwhile, many respondents seemed wary of online banner advertisements and search engine marketing.

[ via PR Daily ]

101 more cool ways hospitals are using Twitter

From letting a doctor know that his or her patient is running late (Hey, what about the other way around?) to a device that tweets an announcement every time a fetus kicks its pregnant mother (seriously), this list of 101 ways hospitals can use Twitter just goes to show that hospitals and other organizations are dreaming up new ways to use the social networking site. 

Read more here.

Healthcare Marketers: Out of the Patient Experience Picture?

Top healthcare executives say patient experience is among their top priorities, but are they looking toward marketers to drive the effort? Not according to the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Patient Experience Leadership Survey, released online this week.

Nancy Cawley Jean, Lifespan Health System: the future of health brands and social media

Nancy Cawley Jean is a senior media relations officer for a health system in Rhode Island. This is an in-depth interview about the future of social media and health care.

“In our business, the tools we are offered through social media do not offer new ways of conducting business, but they allow us to expand our efforts in the realm of marketing, customer relations and communication,” Jean says. “Twitter, Facebook and YouTube now provide new avenues to engage with our community and hear back from them.”

Read more here.

HIPAA and Your Social Media Strategy Webinar

Health care has taken notice of social media as a way to connect and interact with patients. With the escalating use by physicians, medical professionals, hospitals and clinics, concerns are growing as to how HIPAA regulations affect your online presence.

Join Jamie Verkamp of (e)Merge to sort out the confusion with leading health care attorney David Harlow, Principal of The Harlow Group.  They will answer your questions and share valuable tips on how your practice can develop an effective social media and online strategy, while remaining compliant with HIPAA and other applicable rules.

The complimentary webinar sponsored by (e)Merge and The Harlow Group is set for  Wednesday, November 18 at 1 pm EST. 

Register for the webinar here.

5 marketing megatrends you can't ignore

What’s a megatrend? It’s no simple trend. A megatrend is something big, huge, sweeping.

Here are five about the marketing industry. 

Special Report: 7 YouTube Health Care Videos Worth Watching

If you still think YouTube is just for those durned kids, you're really missing out. FierceHealthcare presents seven of their favorite health care videos, with topics ranging from the serious (a critique of U.S. public health efforts in controlling H1N1) to the purely silly (an anesthesiologist singing about his duty to "sit and listen to the beep.")

View videos

Society Member Robby Channell is the JFP Person of the Day

Robby Channell, media manager at Baptist Health Systems, was the JFP Person of the Day recently. He also received the Senior Practitioner award from the Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF) on Oct. 8 at the Gold Strike Casino Resort In Tunica. Congratulatons, Robby!

Yes we can: measuring marketing performance for hospitals and health systems

Hospital and health system marketing leaders are under increasing pressure to demonstrate results and prove the worth of their efforts, their budgets, their FTE count and more. Proving the worth of you and your department is, of course, essential. But perhaps an even more important benefit of measuring marketing performance is its ability to help you learn what works and what doesn’t in healthcare marketing.

Download a PDF of the full report from Interval.

Healthcare Marketing Leaders: What’s on Your Mind?

In the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey, only 16% of health care marketing leaders said their efforts were “highly valued” by stakeholders organization-wide. Curious to know if that number has changed in the past year? Well, here’s your chance to participate: The 2010 marketing leaders survey is now open. 

The annual survey reveals a host of information about the health care industry in general and health care marketing in particular.

And in coming years they will be benchmarking questions, gathering information about what leaders consider their top priorities and how they assess of key marketing initiatives. They also have some new questions this year—so make sure to speak up and be heard. The survey of health care professionals should take about 14 minutes to complete.

Take the Survey Now