Two years ago, many of us in healthcare IT were wowed by the creativity found in Ross Martin’s three part “interoperetta.” The video summed up the complexities of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in just under four minutes through the lyrical mastermix. Check out our blog post “Singing the praises of the HITECH Act” to see the video if you happened to miss it.

While HITECH was the word on the street in 2009, Ross Martin is back again with yet another entertaining and creative video… this time with an edge! For 2011, Martin has taken on Meaningful Use, through his “Meaningful Yoose Rap” and we certainly couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share his unique lessons on how physicians can get yo’ 44 g’s for doing meaning yoose!

Join us for a free webinar on Tuesday, January 25 at 1 p.m. EST, with Scott Gottlieb, MD, and Kip Piper, MA, FACHE, for a forward look at what opportunities health reform has created and how medical technology, health IT and life sciences companies can take advantage of market dynamics to grow and succeed. Click here for more details and to register for the event.

“e-Patient Dave” deBronkart was diagnosed in January 2007 with Stage IV, Grade 4 renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) at a very late stage. His median survival time at diagnosis was just 24 weeks; with tumors in both lungs, several bones, and muscle tissue. He received treatment at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: his surgeon removed the extensive mess and the Biologic Therapy program helped him participate in a clinical trial for the powerful but severe High Dosage Interleukin-2 (HDIL-2). His last treatment was July 23, 2007, and by September it was clear he’d beaten the disease.

An accomplished speaker and writer in his professional life before his illness, today Dave is actively engaged in opening health care information directly to patients on an unprecedented level, thus creating a new dynamic in how information is delivered, accessed and used by the patient. He is the recent author of Laugh, Sing and Eat Like a Pig. In this Q&A post, he explores the intersection of his marketing background with current patient empowerment efforts.

1. Tell me a little about your marketing career prior to embarking on your ePatient Dave “calling,” as you’ve described it.

I’ve been in high tech all my life, though not always in what we’d think of as high tech today. For instance, typesetting machines – I worked on some of the earliest computerized typesetters (modified IBM Selectric typewriters). I was a product manager for a typesetting manufacturer, and I wrote product information (making complex subjects accessible to lay readers). I helped move high-end technology downstream, giving speeches at sales meetings and conferences to evangelize new things. When I was 28, I gave a product demo speech at a newspaper convention and had people lining up for 45 minutes to get in. That was fun.

I’ve long been a fan of automation and data-driven workflows. Twenty years ago I helped create a highly automated typesetting system for Business Card Service, the world’s most automated stationery printer.

Ten years ago I presented a paper in Paris (http://www.gca.org/papers/xmleurope2000/author/s23-01auth1.html) on how to use XML for data-driven digital printing, which at the time was a brand new technology. Keep in mind that one key to value in that industry was relevance: properly used, personalized print delivers more relevant content to each recipient, which earns more “dwell time” in the mind, which converts directly into more conversions and more sales.

That became relevant to me a few years ago when I became my employer’s webmaster and got into PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, which is all about understanding what’s in the mind of the person you’re trying to reach, and presenting them with quick hits that are authentically relevant.

2. In what ways has your past experience marketing high-tech products equipped you to undertake your current efforts to further the acceptance of online, participatory medicine?

Two things my mentors taught me have been invaluable: how to explain complex subjects in layman’s terms, and how to understand what’s on an audience’s mind. Elsewhere, I learned that when a new idea is strange or radical, it’s useful to point out precedents.

In an AMA (American Marketing Association) marketing course, I learned another useful anecdote:

When Shake ‘n’ Bake was introduced in the 1970s it was first marketed as “A whole new way to cook chicken!” This was a dud; it addressed a problem people weren’t looking to solve. It was repositioned as a better way to do good ol’ fried chicken, and it took off like a shot. (See this 1972 commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POI5aMgxYFk)

I’m not advocating for that product here (it’s not exactly health food). But I am talking about the persuasive value of establishing familiarity. It only works, though, if people try it and agree!

In my book, I point out two potent precedents for patient empowerment, one and two generations back. Thirty years ago Our Bodies, Ourselves taught women that they could understand their own bodies and even look at their private parts, of all things. (Ironically, today that’s mostly taken for granted but few young women know that book is in its thirteenth edition.) And a generation before that, Dr. Benjamin Spock started his famous Baby Book with the words to parents, “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”

So, no kidding, patient empowerment is not new. What is new is that the Internet enhances it by bringing patients together with information they could never touch before, and lets us connect with other people like us to share information and experiences.

3. In your opinion, is mainstream America ready to embrace the concept of using health information technology to fully empower patients? Why is—or why isn’t—there a need to “market” the concept?  

“Ready to embrace” is a trick question. There’s nothing harder in marketing than persuading people to adopt a solution to a problem they don’t have, and “mainstream America” isn’t in a health crisis – yet.

But we know EVERYONE is headed that way eventually. Some will have it happen next week, some next month, some in five years. My mission is to help society “prepare the house” for when that knock on the door comes, late one night. I want citizens to know it’s legitimate to augment their physicians’ advice online. I want everyone else – insurance companies, clinicians, policy people – to know it too, so they can help patients help themselves.

Once people accept that, then supporting health IT is a no-brainer. By the time your mother is in a health crisis someday, we’ll all want to have better tools available than we have today. It will take some doing, so let’s get started!

4. What do you view as the biggest challenges—pain points, if you will—in efforts to promote greater patient involvement in their own healthcare?

Paradoxically, the pain point isn’t “over here” on the provider side, it’s on the consumer/patient side. I myself am a perfect example of someone who didn’t know much—or care much—about healthcare until I had what I call a “NOW I care” moment.

5. As you advocate patient empowerment through speaking engagements and other venues, do you find yourself having to tailor the message based on the audience? If no, why not? Why is it important for the message to remain consistent? If yes, how must the message to physicians differ from the message to insurance company execs…patients…etc., in order to be effective?

Nobody ever “has to” tailor the message, but I always strive to for reasons I learned in marketing: a more relevant message earns more attention in the recipient’s mind, and that greatly increases the chance of making any difference.

Ted Eytan, a great physician friend at the Permanente Foundation, starts some talks by saying, “It’s fine with me if you do email while I talk, because it’s my job to be more interesting than your email.” I think that’s perfect.

There are standard parts to my story, in greater or lesser detail: my own “NOW I care” cancer story; what “e-patient” means; and the basic evidence that establishes the validity of patient engagement. All of that information is covered in videos of my past talks (which you can find on the Speaking tab of my website). But beyond that, I work my butt off to understand each individual audience and think about why and how my story can change their lives.

For patients – people who’ve experienced a crisis, either on their own or via a dear family member– this is pretty easy. They know why healthcare matters, and they’re really interested in helping survive and adapt.

For clinicians – doctors, nurses, hospital administrators – it’s more of a challenge, because they have specialist training that we don’t have. Some of them are bull-headed and arrogant, but the vast majority are quite open to understanding how patient engagement can make their work lives better – if we learn how to do it wisely.

Similarly, health policy people are pretty open to the idea, except for a very few I’ve met who are mainly interested in maintaining their own positions of power. But those are very few, as I say.

Health plans are a varied lot. Some have figured out that it makes sense to empower and enable consumers to keep themselves well. For those insurers, the e-patient movement is “more of the same,” in a very good way. Other plans, for some reason, seem not to object to rising costs. What’s up with that? Are they happy to ride along because they see themselves as a cost-plus business— basically operating on commission— so cost increases simply mean they get more commission? I don’t get it.

In any event, for insurance companies, the relevance of patient engagement is that it can improve population health and avoid office visits and, we all presume, thus reduce hospitalizations. This is received intensely well by people at health plans who are in the business to help people have better lives.

For people in industry, whether it’s pharma or product vendors, software or services, the task can be more complex. There are two reasons for that: 1) some of them (e.g., all of pharma) live in an enormously complex regulatory environment, where a misstep can cost a gazillion dollars; and 2) for most of them, the consumer is not their customer – they sell to or persuade others, like insurance companies.

For all business people, I point out that whether they like it or not—and whether they know it or not—there’s a major new value stream in the world of healthcare. It’s consumer to consumer, and consumer to web – and players who recognize it and learn to work with it will have a big leg up on people not as aware. It’s exactly as if two tall ships were in a race, and one of them discovered the Gulf Stream and rode it while the other one didn’t. It’s already happening now.

That’s a long answer, but you can see why I bust my butt to understand the needs of each different audience. Any marketer knows there’s no point in relying on preaching. People change behavior and attitudes only when they understand an idea’s relevance to their own needs. 

6. Ultimately, what is it that you hope you’ll be able to achieve—both on a personal level and a broader level—through your patient empowerment advocacy?

Better health care, and thus better health, for everyone. That includes my mother…and wife…and daughter…and siblings… and yours… and every single person you know. It’s a goal worth living for, and I’m absolutely thrilled that I’ve tumbled into this new life where I can help make that happen.

I attended the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) annual convention last week. Not surprisingly, in line with the transformative changes affecting the healthcare industry-at-large, health information management (HIM) professionals are also coping with some adjustments.

HIM professionals used to be the “keepers of the record.” In days past, this was a much needed full-time occupation—with masses of paper files, privacy concerns and storage issues. Today, information management is still a dire component of any healthcare organization, but an obvious blurring of the lines between HIM and informatics is taking place.The AHIMA convention showcased sessions aimed at HIM professionals working side by side with IT specialists to ensure new systems were tailored to the needs and processes of the entire healthcare enterprise. The organization now advocates that “HIM professionals move beyond general familiarity with informatics standards to specific knowledge acquisition in order to serve as a professional resource to healthcare organizations.”

It seems that the age of HITECH not only serves to modernize the healthcare industry, it also opens doors to those professionals wanting to move beyond information management into the expanding field of healthcare informatics. HIT vendors are wise to pay attention to this emerging group of decision-makers as the market landscape evolves. Learn more about AHIMA and the changing roles of HIM professionals here.

Looking to get more out of Twitter? Avid users and newcomers alike can easily expand their industry knowledge, stay on top of the latest trends and monitor best practices − all by following the right mix of associations, pundits and experts. Here’s a brief guide to get you started:

1. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (@HIMSS). Few PR and marketing professionals in the health IT field aren’t affected by the current dialogue surrounding EMRs, interoperability and the related technologies. HIMSS provides valuable updates on industry events, healthcare reform and a multitude of other topics.
2. Medical Group Management Association (@mgma). If physician practices are part of your target market, this is an excellent resource for staying on top of those issues that impact physicians from a clinical, administrative and financial perspective.
3. Healthcare Financial Management Association (@hfmaorg). By following HFMA, you’ll learn how financial trends are affecting healthcare organizations. You’ll also receive results of recent studies and valuable statistics.
4. Bulldog Reporter (@BulldogReporter). While not specific to healthcare, this is a great resource for B2B PR professionals looking for news and insights to better hone their strategies for generating positive media exposure.
5. Public Relations Society of America (@prsa). As the world’s largest PR organization, PRSA offers tips on educational tools, like webinars and publications, as well as news on issues affecting those working in the field.
6. PRSourceCode (@PRSourceCode). Geared specifically toward PR professionals within the IT industry, this resource provides ways to grow your PR savvy, from Webinars to interviews with editors and industry influencers.
7. HISTalk (@IngaHISTalk). This well-read blog covers a wide range of news and opinion related to the healthcare IT industry and is a great way to hear the perspective of those professionals working in the trenches.
8. iHealthBeat (@iHealthBeat). Compiled by the California Health Care Foundation, this free newsletter combines recent headlines from a variety of news media, including healthcare trades, magazines and daily newspapers. With so much content being written about healthcare IT, it’s a simple way to scan the headlines and make sure you’re not missing something specific your unique interests.
9. The New York Times Prescriptions Blog (@NYTPrescription). Monitoring the constant activity surrounding the proposed healthcare reform is no easy task. This blog from The New York Times is a great all-in-one-source for the latest on current proposals, what they mean for various stakeholders and what the experts have to say about it.
10. AP Style Book (@APStylebook). Keeping up on the latest style rules is much simpler when you follow the AP Style Book. You can even ask the editor a question and receive a response to a specific style question.

Any others you’d add to the list? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Twitter has been all the buzz for the past few months, but many people still have misconceptions about this social media tool from who is using it to how it can be used. Following, we’ve decoded some of the most prevalent Twitter myths in the healthcare industry.

1. Nobody in healthcare uses it.
   To the contrary. I think everyone has seen the story of how hospitals are utilizing Twitter during surgery to connect with potential patients, share information with other practitioners and improve the educational value to residents. This other article discusses how physicians and hospitals are using the social media tool in public health emergencies, like swine flu, to disseminate information to various audiences.

 

2. Twitter is just for celebrities who want more media attention and people who feel the need for their friends to follow their day-to-day activities, from what they ate to the most recent gym workout.
   Not quite. Although Twitter does hold value for these audiences, it also is a good tool for healthcare companies to connect with their customer base, listen to what’s going on in the HIT industry, keep track of competitors and improve search engine visibility, etc. This article provides some insight into the importance of using Twitter as a business and the value it can bring to your company.

 

3. You have to be a major corporation to be on Twitter and gain followers.
   Nope. Associations like HIMSS with 2,885 followers and MGMA with 673 followers use Twitter as do other small and large HIT companies, such as NextGen. In other industries, mom-and-pop companies have revolutionized their businesses through Twitter as shown in this New York Times article.

 

4. Tweeting is just a black hole for companies to waste time doing unproductive stuff.
   In fact, many companies are creating a two-way dialog with target audiences, others are strengthening company loyalty and some are just listening and learning by following competitors, editors and associations. And Gartner released a report earlier in the year further highlighting a few of the different ways companies are using Twitter.

 

5. Healthcare editors and trades don’t cover Twitter or even use it.
   Definitively false. In June, American Medical News published an article on Twitter and whether or not physicians should be using it. Editors from numerous HIT trades use Twitter to highlight what they’re currently writing about, seek potential sources, post blogs they’ve written and promote their interests. It’s a great way to connect with editors and find out more about what types of stories they’re looking for to ensure you’re targeting the right person with story pitches. By posting thought leader commentary and links on your Twitter page as well as providing editors with the information they need, you may gain a few editors as followers and become a go-to source for information on particular topics.

Now that the myths are decoded, perhaps you’re wondering how to get started. This 101 guide will walk you through the process and you’ll be tweeting or just listening in no time.

Naming a new product or company is a tricky endeavor, but when done right it can make you stand out from the rest. When done wrong, however, it can result in your company or product blending in with everything else in its category.

Further adding to the complexity of this process, estimates show that an average of 23,000 domain names are purchased daily and more than 25 million .com domains have already been registered. Finding a domain that is not only available as a .com, but is also easy to remember and matches up with your new name can be complicated.

By employing different naming techniques, you can simplify this process and open the door to more possibilities. This will not only help you stand out from the competition, but it may make it easier to find a memorable .com domain name and one free of trademark issues.

Following are a few different naming techniques to take into consideration when naming a new HIT product or healthcare company:

• Describe what your healthcare company or product does. By giving the HIT market a clear understanding of who you are and what you do, a descriptive name can help you build a strong brand. For example, everyone has a general understanding of what Healthcare Billing & Management Association does based solely on its name. Or for products, ones like MPV Contract Analysis fit this category to a T. The disadvantage to these names is that they can be difficult to trademark and legally protect since competitors are often pulling from the same limited supply of descriptive words.
• Combine words, root words or suffixes that offer meaning. Many healthcare organizations want their names to mean something, and a good way to do that is to look at Latin and Greek root words or mix and match various prefixes and suffixes. By doing so, you’ll create a fresh name that is usually free of any negative connotation. A good example is Capario, which comes from a root word for seize and a suffix meaning strength. You can also use day-to-day words like NextGen does. Additionally, these names are easier to trademark, but they generally require the support of a strong marketing and advertising campaign to give the personality and market recognition required for success.
• Suggest a feeling. This approach is a great way to create a name that is both memorable and engaging. The resulting names are often contemporary, playful and short, like Epic or Yahoo. The main challenge with this approach is identifying a name that truly reflects your company or product. They can also be difficult to pronounce and spell, which is another hurdle you’ll need to overcome.
• Draw on an experience or function. While this technique is not commonly employed in B2B markets, it’s a great way to tie emotion to your brand and garner the attention of your market. One example is RFID and bar code company Zebra, which plays off of the stripes on a zebra and those in a bar code. Unfortunately, these names can be difficult to trademark if they rely on fairly common, everyday words or experiences.

Regardless of the naming technique you choose, don’t be afraid to be creative and get away from the traditional healthcare industry names and phrases that you hear time and time again.