healthcare competition / shutterstock

In our recent post about what’s really behind the CVS tobacco announcement, we raised a flag about increasing competition as CVS/Caremark and other national retailers are clearly committed to reinventing themselves as a provider resource for the public. Our readers offered a range of insightful views.[read more]

medical bills / shutterstock

Two medical bills arrived in the mail over the weekend. One requested $525 for a specialist office visit, another $250 for a routine colonoscopy at a hospital. Since I don’t think we owe for either of these and the numbers are pretty big, I decided to tackle them.[read more]

Medical tricorders

Increasingly, hand-held Star Trek-like gadgets will likely be standard issue in physician offices. What’s more, the already-active, and quite real, marketplace will shift into high gear as device manufacturers and new players (such as Apple) rush to the transporter room for both consumers and medical professionals.[read more]

tax credits for Obamacare / shutterstock

What to make of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ notice that it will pay out retroactive ObamaCare premium tax credits and cost-reducing subsidies to people who have not yet signed up for ObamaCare? According to the New York Times, the new policy is a result of the heroic lobbying of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber.[read more]

Performance program officers

Hospitals, like other businesses, have become successful managing a discrete service for a predetermined reimbursement. It could be an inpatient stay, emergency room visit, outpatient clinic visit or other services. Soon, this model will be turned on its head with the implementation of performance programs.[read more]

Images in healthcare marketing

Images are key to achieving social media success – and that includes the world of healthcare. Graphic elements create conversation, inspire engagement and hopefully culminate in the addition of new patients to your practice. Here's how you can get a photo to garner scores of comments and shares.[read more]

healthcare IT

Three years ago, Kaweah Delta was using the Soarian® workflow engine to track its clinical processes. David Gravender, the medical center’s CIO, had the idea to use the engine not only to monitor clinical metrics but also to send out reminders or alerts to the medical staff when something that was supposed to happen didn't.[read more]

Martha Coakley

In this podcast interview, Martha Coakley, Attorney General and Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, discusses her views on healthcare with healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of the Health Business Group.[read more]

Jonny Imerman of Imermans Angels

“I've been there. I beat it. And so will you," says Jonny Imerman, cancer survivor and founder of Imerman Angels, a cancer support group that matches cancer survivors to cancer patients on a one-to-one basis. Started in 2006, Imerman Angels now has a roster of over 6,000 cancer survivor mentors and caregivers.[read more]

Geotargeting marketing ads

Search marketing and pay per click (PPC) advertising can put a bite in your medical practice's marketing budget if not executed properly. However, with a carefully managed campaign, you can get quality results that bring new patient revenue to your practice. Here are a few techniques every search marketing campaign should employ.[read more]

Transparency in healthcare (image: David Wright)

Relationships are important in rare—and so are reputations. Rare disease communities are often small and closely knit. Patients and caregivers rely on each other for advice, opinions, and support. As a pharmaceutical marketer, you are part of this community, which means you will be held to the same high standard.[read more]

Google Glass in hospitals

Health IT startups have lots of ideas about how Google Glass could be applied to medical care, from telemedicine to information sharing. But what about doctors? How are early adopters in medicine finding Glass useful, and what opportunities do they see for future applications?[read more]