Billian's HealthDATA Blog http://billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog Billian's HealthDATA Blog RSS Feed <![CDATA[The Social Sale: Fitting Social Media into the Sales Funnel]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2012/February/The_Social_Salex_Fitting_Social_Media_into_the_Sales_Funnel.html February 9, 2012
  • 75 percent of marketing executives surveyed believe social media marketing has a positive impact on their business   
  • 65 percent of respondents would like to invest more resources in social media marketing   
  • Over 70 percent expect to increase their use of Twitter and LinkedIn in 2012   
  • Just over half of respondents are using qualified leads as a key ROI metric for social media marketing.
These statistics help shore up the notion that social media marketing practices are continuing to grow, and as such, beginning to spill over into the sales side of the house.

As marketing and sales departments begin to take baby steps to incorporate social media strategies into their daily routines, they are having to rethink just what those routines should be. Take the timeless sales funnel - new opportunities go in at the top, go through the pipeline, and arrive at the bottom as maintained accounts.

Juxtapose this traditional graphic with the newer social sales funnel, where initial brand exposure ultimately leads to not just new customers, but enthusiastic brand evangelists.

socialsalesfunnelcms The combining of these two funnels is what many B2B companies are in the process of figuring out. 

Jennifer Dunphy, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Vayu Media, spoke of the broad applicability that social media offers along the sales funnel at the recent SoCon12 marketing conference in Atlanta. She also concentrated on the value that brand exposure via social media can bring to lead generation, noting that 57 percent of respondents believe search engine optimization (SEO) has the biggest impact on a B2B's lead-generation goals.

Dunphy put it all into perspective with the remark that "So much discussion in the SEO community today centers around social media because of its potential to drive traffic, increase awareness and build links. The challenge of this medium, though, is to marry social media tactics with real business goals.

"It will be up to each individual company to determine the amount of time, money and strategy necessary to bring about truly qualified leads.

Here are 3 Ways That Billian's HealthDATA is Using Social Media to Drive Sales
  1. Daily engagement on multiple social media platforms - results in exponentially increased brand awareness across followers' individual networks
  2. Distribution via social media of unique editorial content authored by the BHD team as well as thought leaders within the company's customer base - establishes Billian's HealthDATA as a trusted authority on healthcare industry-related challenges, which in turn helps to further establish trust in its sales and marketing products
  3. Taking social relationships offline - constant engagement with customers and prospects via social media results in the ability to easily transfer an online relationship to an in-person relationship
Need social media marketing or sales advice? Chat with Billian's HealthDATA and Porter Research Social Marketing Director Jennifer Dennard at the HIMSS12 Social Media Genius Bar, Wednesday, Feb. 22nd from 10-11 a.m. The bar will be located within the HIMSS Social Media Center in Hall C. During this hour-long session, Jennifer and other social media experts will be available to aspiring and established bloggers and social media users to offer personalized feedback on their social media and blogging strategies and tactics, as well as offer direction on how to make improvements. Walk-ins are welcome or make appointments online by clicking here.








]]> <![CDATA[The EMR and the Two-Fingered Typist]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2012/February/The_EMR_and_the_Two-Fingered_Typist.html February 6, 2012
The forgotten piece of the puzzle, however, is the more experienced physician - the one who's made a living addressing their patient's every health concern and documenting the old-fashioned way - with pen on paper. As these providers are being gently swayed to adoption of an EMR, the patient population in many communities will suffer. Adoption consumes time and money, and physicians nearing retirement are struggling with the investment in an EMR system. The time and frustration of learning a new system can, at times, be almost too much for a less computer-savvy physician to bear, and this is not the only factor this group is contemplating regarding their future. And EMR is a huge financial investment that may not be completely returned by the time these physicians are ready to retire.   

The most important point that seems to be overlooked in this discussion is the enormous amount of knowledge being lost by taking the focus away from these elder statesmen. Instead of building upon the expertise of physicians and nurses that have been in the trenches year after year, many of those in government and, unfortunately, the C-suite, label them as non-conformists and reluctant to change. EMR regulations should be examined and a compromise reached to ensure these knowledgeable colleagues continue to practice and serve their communities as long as possible. Because, in the end, is it more important to have all the boxes checked or the ailments cured? Hopefully both can be achieved, but the line walked is growing tighter as frustrations continue to grow.







]]> <![CDATA[Long-Term Care: Achieving the Triple Aim of ACOs with Healthcare IT]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2012/January/Long-Term_Carex_Achieving_the_Triple_Aim_of_ACOs_with_Healthcare_IT.html January 24, 2012 Long-term care providers must have a well thought out HIT strategy in place before getting into the accountable care organization (ACO) game. Despite a lot of grumbling early on, 2011 ended with greater clarity from CMS about what it means to be an accountable care organization (ACO) under Medicare. The final Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) rules were published in early November; and the 32 Pioneer ACOs were announced just before Christmas.  Given these developments, many long-term care and post-acute care providers are asking, "What can we do to be part of an ACO? What are ACO's strategies for post-acute services?" 

There is no single way to answer this question, as each ACO has its own strategy for approaching post-acute services. Just consider:
1.    Some hospital-led ACOs are trying to figure out how to provide post-acute care themselves. 
2.    Some ACOs are identifying or developing a preferred post-acute provider network
- Some are picking their "friends"  -- a small subset of post-acute providers based upon longstanding relationships.
- Others are "interviewing" potential partners by asking for cost and quality performance outcomes and only sending referrals to those that meet certain benchmarks.
3.    Other ACOs are just beginning to develop their post-acute strategy.

So, What Does This Mean for the Long-Term Care Provider? 
Relationships with referral partners and ACOs will always be important, but fundamentally, an ability to deliver on the Triple Aim - better health, better care, lower cost - will make long-term care providers most desirable ACO partners. Let's be honest - not every market will have an ACO operating this year or any time soon, but other markets will have multiple competing ACOs. Also - every Medicare provider will be subject to a value-based purchasing program, which withholds a portion of everyone's Medicare payments and redistributes them to high-performing providers based upon a defined set of quality outcomes measures. In either situation, providers must prepare to both provide and prove they deliver value and the Triple Aim. Ultimately, all payers - including commercial insurers and ACOs - will have certain performance expectations of providers as healthcare evolves toward value-based payment. 

Health IT Can't be Ignored Anymore
Success will not be achieved with paper records in this new value-based environment. Today, providers collect innumerable information on the patients/residents/consumers they serve. To be successful going forward, providers will need to not only collect information on their patients, but also track their performance on key metrics related to cost and quality outcomes, identify areas requiring improvement, and report their outcomes. Payers, in turn, will reward or penalize them based on the level of quality provided and how satisfied patients are. Simply put, providers will need to be able to harness this information to maximize their revenues. This cannot be done with piles of paper files.

Providers will need to collect data through means that can monitor patient outcomes in real time and make adjustments along the way. If providers wait until the end of a performance year to report their results on established performance standards, it will be too late to improve. In addition, real-time information sharing with other providers in the healthcare system will be critical to improving care transitions and reducing readmissions to hospitals - both of which are fundamental to reducing the total cost of care. 

Don't Wait
Now is the time to begin developing a value proposition for ACOs, which means really understanding the individual organization's performance both on cost and quality. An electronic health record can be a key tool in this process, and will be a critical success factor in a value-based payment environment. There's a lot at stake for long-term care and post-acute care providers. Measurable performance will drive both payments and referrals - and ultimately - survival of the fittest.

clalogoready
Nicole O. Fallon is Manager Consultant Healthcare at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, which delivers industry-focused audit, accounting, advisory, wealth management, tax, and outsourcing services tailored for private businesses and their owners, public sector organizations and individuals.







]]> <![CDATA[The Social Sale: a New Year, a New Way of Connecting]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2012/January/The_Social_Salex_a_New_Yearx_a_New_Way_of_Connecting.html January 7, 2012
Those on the B2B side of healthcare are looking for new ways to reach the new customers that reform has helped create. The B2C market realized a while ago that social media offers untapped potential in this area, and it seemed last year that B2B folks were warming to the idea. Marketing folks certainly helped to spearhead this lead-generation effort, and as seems to usually be the case, continue to try to bridge the gap between themselves and their sales teams.

No matter what the name of the department, "social" and "selling" are, like the healthcare industry itself, hot topics. But like any buzzword, the hype can often belie the true meaning of and intent behind the term. So, just what is "social selling?" A quick Google search yields several angles:   

3 Ways to Build an Awesome Social Selling Machine   
Need Extra Cash? Learn How to be a Social Selling Superstar   
Social Selling - Everybody's Talking About the New Sound

Though many in this industry would undoubtedly love to be awesome selling machines earning loads of extra cash, using social media to help make the sale ultimately boils down to one fundamental concept:  "The best use of social media in selling is to increase the rapport and interest from the prospect based on significantly improved preparation prior to actual prospect contact," explains Don Graham, General Manager of Billian's HealthDATA. "It calls for much better 'homework' and increases the probability of a successful sales call.

"In other words, says Billian's HealthDATA client Chris Luoma, Vice President of Business Development at Vendormate, "the cold call is dead."

"I know that if I get a call from someone trying to provide a service to us who doesn't know anything about our company, then I'm immediately turned off," he explains. "But if you can approach someone with an understanding of their business, you're in the door a lot faster."

Vendormate, a healthcare technology solutions company that helps buyers manage their supplier relationships, is working to create social networks that enable their customers to build relationships among themselves, outside of the direct Vendormate relationship.  At the same time, the company is educating its sales teams on the value of information found in social media updates from Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook along with the challenge of filtering those updates down to the most relevant. 

The company currently has an active blog, a Twitter presence, and targeted LinkedIn group participation handled through marketing. "We aren't necessarily pushing our sales force to do that," Luoma says. "More of what we're doing on the sales side is mining social media data to learn about our customers."

He adds that social selling ultimately comes down to using social media to:
  • understand a customer or prospect's business;
  • present them with information about a new product based on that information; and
  • gauge their response and then refine that message to suit where they are in the sales cycle.
"Our mantra is to help the people in our network - both buyers and sellers - better understand who they're doing business with today and who they should be doing business with tomorrow. We're interested in helping to drive that transparency and activity in and around our network."

Look for future monthly installments of "The Social Sale," the latest Billian's HealthDATA blog series.







]]> <![CDATA[IT Struggles for Rural Hospitals - Why HITECH Success May be Limited]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2011/December/IT_Struggles_for_Rural_Hospitals_-_Why_HITECH_Success_May_be_Limited.html December 9, 2011
In most rural communities, the hospital is one of the top three employers and, along with the local school system, one of the bedrocks of community businesses and agriculture. Losing a hospital in a rural community can have a devastating effect on the local economy. Understanding the challenges these hospitals and communities face and figuring out applicable solutions is critical to their survival.

Though the early results of the HITECH stimulus bill could be considered a success for rural hospitals in that many have made the conversion to electronic medical records (EMRs), these digital upgrades have, however, highlighted the financial and operational difficulties rural hospitals have always faced and continue to experience and could in fact prolong them.

The challenges that most rural hospitals face on a day-to-day basis can be summed up in a single word: Access
  • Access to Capital
  • Access to Resources
  • Geographical access
These components are fairly simple to understand. Rural hospitals operate on thinner margins than urban hospitals. Due to their location, most rural hospitals have trouble recruiting and retaining qualified people - this applies to most areas in the hospital, not just IT. Geographical access to most rural hospitals is a factor that exacerbates the previous two issues.

What does this mean for the typical rural hospital trying to piece together an IT strategic plan for the next five years after implementing an EMR? What are the messages for the IT industry as a whole?
  • Many facilities have completed the installation and implementation of an EMR and been left with the feeling of "what now?" Without additional clinical informatics resources, the benefit of installing an EMR is often minimal or lost. Facilities have a mountain of new data, but no one experienced in extracting and using it. With a shortage of these positions across the nation, where does one find them in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota ... and then where do the resources come from to pay them?
  • There is little or no increased ongoing reimbursement for the additional expenses necessary to gain benefits from an EMR.
  • Current IT development for specialized applications that tie into EMRs is mostly focused on larger hospitals.
Conclusion
The most important issue that rural healthcare is faced with today is inadequate funding to deal with its somewhat unique set of challenges. In addition, the healthcare industry and the IT industry in particular have to find more realistic solutions to help rural hospitals in the United States. Systems that are simpler, easier to deploy and make better use of current technology are critical. SaaS and cloud-based technologies offer significant opportunities to address the three main issues that are all tied to access.

These applications are often cheaper and involve less start-up expenses. They can be maintained and supported in a distributed environment. This solves many of the resource and geography problems that providers face today. Rural hospitals can, for example, share the cost of clinical (and financial) experts to reap the benefits of their investment in EMR technology. The results will be better healthcare and healthier rural communities.


healthtechlogoDerek Morkel is President and CEO of HealthTech, LLC, which operates HealthTech Management Services - a hospital management and consulting company, and HealthTech Solutions Group - a revenue cycle and technology company.







]]> <![CDATA[Better Business by 2012: Ten Steps to Selling Smarter]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2011/December/Better_Business_by_2012x_Ten_Steps_to_Selling_Smarter.html December 9, 2011
1)      Out with Old Data
         Purge out-dated information that's slowing down sales and hurting marketing
         bounce rates.

2)      In with New Insight
         Restock sales pipelines with quality leads that offer enriched detail on target
         buyers.
 
3)      Know the Landscape
         Review market research to identify trends, buyer needs and new market potential.

4)      Examine Your Ideal Buyer
         Evaluate current key account characteristics to establish an Ideal Buyer model.

5)      Prioritize Best-Fit Prospects
         Identify healthcare leads that mirror ideal buyer traits to focus efforts on best-fits
         first.

6)      Divide and Conquer
         Align territories to operate aggressively in regions saturated with buyer potential.

7)      Leverage Data Enterprise-Wide
         Arm sales, marketing and research with buyer intel to use at each step of selling.
 
8)      Connect with Relevance
         Build messages and proposals around buyer details to better engage prospects.

9)      Capitalize by Being Up-To-Date
         Stay ahead of the competition by monitoring real-time news on healthcare
         accounts.

10)    Evolve and prosper
         Review business and buyer data frequently to adapt to market shifts along the way.







]]> <![CDATA[Patient Perceptions: Best & Worst Rated Hospitals]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2011/November/Patient_Perceptionsx_Best_x_Worst_Rated_Hospitals.html November 21, 2011
While just 1 percent of hospital revenue is initially on the line, care quality is already slated to have extended impact on revenues over time, putting clinical outcomes and patient ratings (currently weighted in determining the re-distribution of withheld funds at 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively) at its proper place in the national spotlight.

An NPR Health article recently highlighted patient experience trends, proposing that the " Unhappiest Hospital Patients are in New York City, Chicago and Florida." NPR's findings piqued the interest of several staff members in the Billian's HealthDATA (BHD) office, prompting additional digging into hospital patient satisfaction data. 

Researchers looked at patients' overall hospital ratings in HCAHPS surveys, isolating the 25 top-rated and 25 worst-rated hospitals among a universe of about 3,000 hospitals that had survey participation rates of 25 percent or greater for the July 2009  through June 2010 reporting period. Unlike the NPR study (which focused on three more specific aspects of HCAHPS surveys - 1: how well doctors/nurses communicated, 2: whether pain was always handled well and 3: whether rooms were clean/quiet), BHD findings didn't show any geographic clustering, but did reveal other commonalities shared among best-rated facilities.

What Best Rated Hospitals Have In Common
Ninety percent of the 25 best-rated hospitals were for profit facilities and over 75 percent had 35 beds or fewer, with average admissions well below the 25 worst-rated hospitals' average.

Surprisingly, neither clinical outcomes nor profitability of the hospital seemed to factor into positive or negative ratings.  Only two of the top 25 facilities beat national averages for mortality or readmission rates for pneumonia, heart attack or heart failure.  Just seven of the bottom facilities scored below national averages. Worst-rated facilities also reported net patient revenue averages double that of their top 25 counterparts (not surprising considering the smaller stature of the latter group).

Reading Between the Lines
Undoubtedly, positive marks are more likely to come when rating neighbors in close-knit communities, but it's also probably safe to suggest that smaller facilities offer more opportunities for unadulterated patient interaction that may foster a higher level of comfort in patients. So, how on earth do larger hospitals in densely-populated metro areas or the chaotic halls of teaching hospitals mimic the more intimate settings patients seem so fond of? 

The recent HealthcareITNews.com blog, " Bringing Disney Magic - and Business Philosophies - to Healthcare," explores the epic success of Disney - a brand that successfully caters to hoards of people daily - and suggests ways that the Disney-way-of-doing-business has a place in healthcare, particularly their oath of "Quality Service."  Like healthcare, Disney isn't cheap, but "the attention to detail and the commitment to going above and beyond for guests at Disney are unparalleled," to quote Kim Wacker, Marketing Specialist at Jackson Healthcare and former Disney professional. "If people know that you truly care and want to help them and do not have a selfish motive, they will become customers - or patients - for life," she explains.

In other words: Do whatever it takes to make sure the patient feels like something more than "billable."  This pressure to increase patient comfort levels, while working with tighter budgets, while likely grappling with major IT projects and adjusting to new workflows is no small feat for today's healthcare professional. 

What initiatives - large or small - have had a positive impact on patient satisfaction? Share your thoughts via the patient perceptions discussion going on right now at HITR.com.







]]> <![CDATA[Wireless Devices: For Home Health Programs and More]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2011/November/Wireless_Devicesx_For_Home_Health_Programs_and_More.html November 21, 2011
Mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems (MPERS) are one example of mobile health devices, and are typically of great relevance to seniors. MPERS solutions include cellular modules that provide an individual with access to emergency response services while in and outside of the home. MPERS devices can provide significant value to active seniors and others, such as those that live alone. With the use of MPERS devices, seniors can feel secure in knowing that help is just a button push away thanks to the device's ability to provide location information via GPS and connect to an Emergency Response Specialist anywhere, at any time. This type of additional protection allows a senior to live a much more independent life.

In addition, MPERS technology addresses a common concern among seniors: the possibility of a fall resulting in significant injuries. Nearly one-third of all adults aged 65 and over fall each year, with 20 to 30 percent suffering moderate to severe injuries. Some MPERS devices feature Automatic Fall Detection, which instantly detects a fall and automatically connects to an emergency response specialist. The key benefit is near real-time response in what is often referred to as "The Golden Hour" - the first 60 minutes after a traumatic injury in which immediate medical treatment increases the likelihood of a positive outcome.

Wireless technology is acting as a catalyst for innovation in the rapidly growing mobile health industry. Industry revenue is expected to grow from less than $1B in 2010 to a projected $4B to $5B by 2014. Undoubtedly, wireless technologies will significantly benefit the development of mobile health solutions and play a major role in creating value through a higher quality of service and reduced cost of care.


lifecommRichard Lobovsky is Vice President of Business Development at Lifecomm LLC, a mobile health and wellness solutions company.







]]> <![CDATA[Healthcare IT Vendors, Take a Tip from Medical Librarians]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2011/November/Medical_Librarian_Blog.html November 4, 2011
The article further postulated that as service organizations, libraries are well known for their customer service. Library staffs manage large collections of "data," much like an IT department. An important distinction between the two entities may be that libraries focus their attention on the users of the library, not the books and databases they have to offer. Librarians actively teach and provide their patrons with tools they can utilize to access and maximize the utility of the resources available within the library. This customer-centric approach, along with the professional librarian's considerable expertise in identifying and meeting the unique, individual needs of their customers, is central to the author's argument that some IT departments could benefit from following a library-like customer service model.

Speaking from personal experience, medical librarians who deal with physicians and nurses learn the importance of uncovering exactly what their clients' needs are.  For example, a physician might call the library asking about an article he had seen in the "Green Journal." Had the librarian not asked, "Which 'Green Journal?" and acquired more detail regarding the year of publication and other aspects of the article's citation, the librarian's search would have been much more difficult and time consuming. By "peeling the onion" and gathering all the information needed up front, the librarian can more efficiently gather the information the patron/doctor requested. Working in a very busy medical library in a major hospital and academic research center, acquiring and employing good reference interview skills facilitated what might have otherwise been the proverbial "trying to find a needle in a haystack!"

IT professionals could apply similar reference interview techniques when interacting with their customers. Again, speaking from personal experience, medical librarians must learn to understand and speak the language of their clientele, and determine what is the best customer service approach based on their individual needs, whether that be on-demand training documents, recurring group training refresher sessions, or one-on-one on-call attention.

In turn, the physicians and other healthcare professionals served also learn over time the kind of information medical librarians need to fulfill their requests. IT pros may find it necessary to set aside IT jargon and strive to fully understand the unique needs of their customers to effectively identify and meet those needs. In doing so, these service providers can find effective ways to work efficiently while fully meeting and even exceeding the expectations of their customers. The "magic" that follows is customer satisfaction and an improved reputation for customer service.

What healthcare IT customer service techniques have vendors found to be effective in meeting the needs of their provider customers? Please join in the discussion at www.HITR.com.







]]> <![CDATA[Better Business by 2012: Identifying the Ideal Buyer]]> http://www.billianshealthdata.com/Knowledge/Blog/2011/October/Better_Business_by_2012x_Identifying_the_Ideal_Buyer.html October 24, 2011 inaugural edition of the 'Better Business by 2012' series encouraged businesses to evaluate the integrity of buyer information resources as a prerequisite to enabling better sales:

"Bringing additional layers of buyer data into view creates a foundation of prospect knowledge that paves the way for more proactive selling, more effective marketing and better insight into business patterns and trends."

Right now, planning may be taking place around 2012's Tabula Rasa potential, examining the nuances of this year's new, returning and lost buyers - aspiring to shore up more of the former and fewer of the latter in the coming year.

How detailed is the big sales picture? Were there common factors in each buyer outcome group that would benefit from identification in advance moving forward? Are there information gaps that make it difficult to identify what the target customer really looks like? 

All Buyers Are Not Created Equal
Imagine the perspective that could be gained if not just the few basic fields captured via web forms and manual notation, but a true 360-degree view of healthcare account demographics like executive leadership, financial standing, clinical performance and patient volumes were accessible?

Real-time, data-rich resources like the Billian's HealthDATA Portal offer healthcare vendors instant access to targeted pieces of healthcare business intelligence.

By expanding what is known about buyers and prospects, sales teams are better equipped to identify commonalities among different buyer groups and establish a profile of account characteristics that constitute a highly qualified buyer so that sales success can be readily identified.

What Does the Ideal Buyer Look Like?
Billian's HealthDATA encourages clients to establish an 'Ideal Buyer Model' by getting more familiar with the shared characteristics of the top accounts they already have. 

Maybe the bulk of sales is to facilities in a particular staff size range? Perhaps more success has been found with corporately owned facilities? Was there a correlation between sales losses and facilities that were in financial distress?

This Ideal Buyer portrait becomes a standard to leverage when identifying new prospects.  Portal resources afford subscribers the unique opportunity to not only grow what they know about key accounts, but also segment the system using over 1,300 hospital data filters to isolate new prospects with precision.

By implementing a tiered prospect-targeting approach that initially focuses on prospects identical to current buyers and moves on to less precise matches mirroring fewer ideal buyer traits over time - multi-phased campaigns can be established that keep efforts rolling and make best-fit buyers the first priority.

Next: Taking Data Resources Enterprise-Wide
Buyer information as an asset spans well beyond Ideal Buyer education and prospect identification. The next blog in this series will focus on how prospect and buyer data is a resource to leverage throughout the life cycle of prospect engagement, from initial outreach to repeat customer. Tune in to the next edition of the Healthcare Intelligence Hub to learn how to maximize use of information resources organization-wide. 

Catch up on past editions of Better Business by 2012:
Fresh Data is an Absolute Must









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