Get expert advice from Geonetric's eHealth thought leaders, on everything from search engine marketing to crisis communications to selecting a vendor.
White Papers
Top 10 Cost Considerations When Approaching a Redesign 
When preparing for your hospital’s upcoming website, there are a wide
range of options to consider. Do you need a new visual design? Is it
time to upgrade functionality? Should you consider a new content
management system (CMS)? How much do you want to personalize the
experience? It’s important to outline what you want before determining a
dollar figure.
As eHealth consultants for more than 12 years, we’ve guided numerous
organizations through redesigns. We’ve helped teams with big dreams and
small budgets get the most out of their investments. That’s why we wrote
this white paper — to assist you with your website redesign research.
We shed light on how different vendors approach pricing, giving you
valuable knowledge as you embark on this endeavor.
Download the Top 10 Cost Considerations When Approaching a Redesign white paper.
The Future of Healthcare Delivery: How to Implement Technology that Positions Your Hospital to Succeed. 
Pressure to improve healthcare is coming from everywhere. Government stimulus funding is available for hospitals. Millions of new patients will soon be flooding the market. The U.S. population is getting older and sicker. Not to mention the U.S. spends more on healthcare than peer countries, yet we have worse outcomes.
This white paper explains why implementing information technology in healthcare organizations is critical to fixing the problems with our healthcare system. If you’re looking for insight into how technology can help you manage an aging population, control ever-rising costs and overcome care delivery challenges, this white paper is a must-read.
Download the The Future of Healthcare Delivery white paper.
Candid Conversations: A Compilation of Interviews with eHealth Executives
Over the past year Geonetric’s VP and eHealth Evangelist, Ben Dillon, had one-on-one conversations with more than 50 hospital leaders looking for feedback on their online strategy. And no matter how different their organizations are in terms of size, location and type of hospital, they all face the same core issues. From choosing a content management system, to implementing social media in a meaningful way to laying the foundation for patient portals, Ben covered about every topic in the book.
If you’re looking to sneak a glimpse into the challenges faced by eHealth professionals, and learn some tips and tricks along the way, check out our white paper.
Download the Candid Conversations: A Compilation of Interviews with eHealth Executives white paper.
How to Create Professional Videos on a Budget
In the age of social media, videos are becoming a staple to share important messages. Video sharing provides healthcare organizations a unique opportunity to showcase patient testimonials, highlight healthcare providers and offer patient education.
If you’re ready to jump on the video bandwagon or take your hospital’s video production in-house, this white paper will help you determine what equipment you need to get started.
Download the Professional Videos white paper.
A New Vision for Patient-Centric Communications
The world of online communications is growing and changing. Healthcare organizations now have a wide array of online marketing tools available ... from websites to patient portals to a variety of social media channels. Each tool has its place in an online communications plan.
Read Geonetric's white paper to learn an effective framework for selecting the right tools in your planning process to engage your target audiences and achieve your goals.
Download the Patient-Centric Communications white paper.
From RFP to Relationship: Choosing the Right Web Vendor for Your Hospital
A 36-page checklist of functionality. An Excel spreadsheet laden with technical jargon. A repurposed PowerPoint explaining why an organization is an early adopter of technology.
Requests for proposals (RFPs) come in all shapes and sizes. And in the 10 years Geonetric has been building online solutions for the healthcare industry, we've seen them all.
Some make us think, "wow, this organization knows what it wants." But many of them - like the 36-page checklist of functionality - make us wonder if the organization truly understands the goals for its Web site.
If you're searching for a partner to help build an online solution for your hospital, this white paper will help you determine how to develop an effective RFP and select the best vendor for your organization.
Download the "From RFP to Relationship" white paper.
Browse all articles and white papers in our document library
Recent Articles
Everything You Know About Mobile is Wrong
There’s a new way to approach mobile. It’s no longer sufficient to
provide a mobile-optimized window into a small sliver of your site.
Consumers want mobile access to your whole site.
Read the article.
Approaching Responsive Design Responsibly
Studies indicate that some users are leaving their desktop machines
for a mobile device and not turning back. For those users, it appears
their mobile device may be the only computer they need. Other users
strike a balance between their mobile and desktop devices.
Read the article.
Meaningful Use Stage 2 Ushers In the Age of the Patient
Meaningful Use Stage 2 seeks to give everyone involved the data they
need by placing renewed focus on sharing information between providers,
submitting public health data, and engaging patients and families.
Read the article.
Defining Readability
As
professional communicators, we understand the importance of writing for our
audience. But as healthcare communicators, the topics we cover can get complex
quite fast. How do we justify the terminology
choices we make on the Web?
Read the article.
Your Feedback Matters When You're a Geonetric Client
In our latest VitalSite release, we added a feedback mechanism right into the
administrative interface. An icon appears on all VitalSite pages, taking users
to a simple form they can submit to share their comments, thoughts and ideas
for the product.
Read the article.
How Does this Web Stuff Fit In?
What we should be doing as
healthcare organizations is to set up our planning process to ensure every
communication or marketing project considers the opportunities of the Web. Even if you simply include
a URL on your mailers, campaigns and billboards, it's a start toward the
ultimate goal of including Web elements in all of your communications.
Read the article.
Healthcare Marketing: Four Big Trends
From creating their first mobile sites to building a YouTube library,
most healthcare marketers began to concentrate on many of these
developments throughout 2011. In the coming months, it will be time to
take the foundation to the next level. Some trends will be easier to
keep up with – like investments in content strategy and location-based
SEO – others, like ACOs and pay-for-performance models, will require the
entire organization to refocus its efforts.
Read the article.
Unclutter Your Site
Websites are workspaces for our online audiences as they seek to find
directions and phone numbers, pre-register for a procedure, learn about a
treatment, sign up for a class or complete any number of tasks that
brought them to your site. The more content you have, however, the
harder it may be for people to find what they need.
Read the article.
Put Your Best Foot Forward
Healthcare organizations tend to have strong brand recognition, but weak brand
differentiation. It's difficult for patients to recognize what makes you
different from competitors, or perhaps they simply don't care. Just as often,
for a given service line, there really isn't much that actually makes an
organization truly different.
Read the article.
Twitter Says: Brand Your Profile
We all knew it was only a matter of time. We've spent many hours helping
clients build Facebook Fan Pages and customize them to convey a consistent
message from the main website to social media.
Read the article.
Improving Health One Step at a Time
I bought a FitBit last weekend. I'm telling myself it's for professional
research purposes, and entirely unrelated to any delicious overindulgences from
December. If you're unfamiliar, FitBit is a tiny device that clips to your belt
and tracks your movements 24/7, reporting on your activity level and sleep
quality. It's basically a souped-up, Kinect-era pedometer.
Read the article.
Published Articles
Winning the Content Battle with Strategy
To be successful in today’s online world, website managers
need to approach content strategically. They need to know who their content is
targeting and how to stay consistent across both online and offline media
channels. In the March 2012 edition of Healthcare Marketing Report, Geonetric’s
Ben Dillon discusses the importance of having a strategic content plan, meeting
goals and the ever-evolving Web content lifecycle.
Read the article. [pdf]
To Blog or Not to Blog?
Thinking about starting a blog for your hospital but not
sure where to start? Or have a blog that isn’t producing the value you’ve
hoped? Either way, check out the latest article from Geonetric’s Ben Dillon and
learn how to create a blog that connects with your readers. Published in the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market
Development’s (SHSMD) member newsletter, Spectrum, Ben’s article explains why so many healthcare marketers
are reaching out to their audiences through blogs – and more importantly, how
to develop a strategy that will ensure your blog continuously delivers value.
Read the article. [pdf]
How Can I Use the Web to Improve the Health of My Community?
As hospitals increase their focus on wellness due to health
reform, many are turning to the Web as a tool to promote and manage these
initiatives. In the July 2011 issue of eHealthcare
Strategy & Trends, Ben shares examples of healthcare systems that have
successfully utilized the Web to motivate, educate and build awareness of their
wellness programs to promote healthy behaviors in their communities.
Read the article. [pdf]
Dillon Shares Tips to Gradually Enhance the Online Experience
In the Issue 2, 2011 Healthcare Strategy Alert!, Geonetric’s Ben Dillon tackles the topic of online personalization. He discusses how healthcare is moving from a general online consumer experience to a more personalized experience, and presents a business case on why patient portals are the next logical step in the evolution. Check out the article to learn the three overarching levels of online personalization and how organizations can gradually move from one level to the next.
Read the article. [pdf]
Dillon Explains How to Use the Web to Manage Complex Organizations
It’s hard to know how to manage multiple Web presences for integrated systems. Should you have one site or many different sites that target different audiences? Geonetric’s VP and eHealth Evangelist Ben Dillon addresses this challenge in his Ask the Expert column in the March 2011 issue of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends. Ben explains how to approach this dilemma strategically by highlighting real-life case studies from Genesis Health System and Avera Health.
Read the article. [pdf]
Dillon Discusses the Importance of User Research in Redesigns
Hospital marketers redesign their websites for a number of different reasons – from changing Web platforms to rebranding initiatives. But no matter what motivates the redesign, it’s essential to incorporate user research into your plan. In the October 2010 issue of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, Geonetric’s Ben Dillon provides insight on how to effectively incorporate user research into a redesign process. Check out the article to learn more.
Read the article. [pdf]
Geonetric and Genesis Discuss Patient Portals in Spectrum
Long-time client and patient portal advocate, Ken Croken, of Genesis Health System, and Ben Dillon team up in this Spectrum cover-story to discuss the transformation of the patient-centered website. They explain the evolution of healthcare websites and how they’ve grown from being brochure-ware to a tool for hospitals to connect with patients in personalized ways.
Read the article. [pdf]
Southern Regional's Mobile Site Featured in HealthLeaders Media
Mobile use is on the rise – according to ChangeWave Research, 42% of U.S. consumers used smartphones in 2009. To keep up with the increasing number of mobile health consumers, Southern Regional Health System recently worked with Geonetric to take its site mobile and its story is featured in an article by HealthLeaders Media.
Read the article.
Dillon Answers: How Do I Start a Patient Portal without Breaking the Bank?
More and more hospitals are beginning to implement patient portals on their website. What’s the biggest obstacle they face? It’s overwhelming. And expensive. Or at least that’s the perception. This is the topic Geonetric’s Ben Dillon presents in a recent Ask the Expert column for eHealth Strategy & Trends. Check out the article to learn more about the different ways organizations are approaching portal initiatives.
Read the article. [pdf]
Geonetric and Mercy Medical Center Featured in Marketing Healthcare Today
We knew Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids had something special going on when it developed a virtual open house to introduce its new Web presence to the community. Marketing Healthcare Today thought the idea was pretty inventive too and featured the concept in an article.
Read the article. [pdf]
Geonetric and Avera Health Showcased in Spectrum for Impressive Service Line Marketing Effort
In this article, Avera McKennan’s Kristen Townsend and Geonetric’s Ben Dillon discuss how they created a targeted online marketing campaign designed to establish Avera’s behavioral health service line as national player. The article covers how the campaign was implemented, the search engine marketing tools used, campaign results as well as lessons learned.
Read the article. [pdf]
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