Get expert advice from Geonetric's eHealth thought leaders, on everything from search engine marketing to crisis communications to selecting a vendor.
Reports and White Papers
Annual eHealth Benchmark Survey
Healthcare organizations are continually improving their websites — they’re adding more health content, implementing more transactional functionality and providing more personalized features. They obviously understand the value of the Web in maintaining a competitive position and building relationships with key constituents. But how much are they really investing in their websites? And what functionality are they adding to their sites?
Geonetric’s eHealth Insights survey asked health professionals across the country to identify the functionality they have on their sites and the resources they devote to their Web initiatives. See what other hospitals and health systems are doing online.
Download the eHealth Benchmark Survey [pdf]
Change is Coming to Healthcare
Healthcare organizations are placing more and more significance on the importance of achieving "meaningful use" under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It's a hot topic in the healthcare media. Organizations interested in securing funding from the stimulus bill are starting to take action. But how much is the legislation really impacting your communications strategies?
Geonetric sought to find out how ARRA - in particular the meaningful use criteria of the HITECH Act as well as more recent healthcare reform deliberations - is impacting your marketing efforts.
Download the ARRA eHealth Insights Survey [pdf]
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 [pdf]
Hospitals Look to Patients for Portal Priorities
Patient portals represent the next frontier for eHealth and play an important role in many of the current healthcare changes - from helping organizations achieve "meaningful use" under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to providing a foundation for future healthcare delivery models.
Yet patient portal adoption by the healthcare industry has been limited. Geonetric sought to find out how quickly we can expect the industry to embrace patient portals in a recent eHealth Insights survey.
Download the Patient Portals eHealth Insights Survey [pdf]
Proceeding with Caution: How Hospitals are Weathering the Economic Downturn
As the economy continues to present challenges, hospitals are responding. They have become more cautious, staffing conservatively and reducing spending in many areas.
To measure just how hospitals are weathering the economic downturn, Geonetric asked healthcare organizations about the financial pinch they are experiencing and how it's affecting their spending decisions in I.T., marketing, eHealth and other related areas.
Download the Proceeding with Caution eHealth Insights Survey [pdf]
2008 Study on Initiatives in eHealth: Summation of Fourth Annual Study
For the last four years, Geonetric has surveyed healthcare organizations to learn how they are using the Web to connect with their patients, potential patients, employees, job seekers and the community.
This year we segmented the respondents into three categories - Leaders, Followers and Trailers - and we tracked how the groups respond to questions.
Download the 2008 eHealth Initiatives report [pdf]
Browse all articles and white papers in our document library
Recent Articles
The Case for Mobile Communications in Healthcare
As if you didn't already have enough channels for connecting with health consumers - Web, email, patient portal, and a seemingly endless flow of social media platforms - there's another one to add to the list: mobile communications.
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The Value of Iterative Development
Evaluating a software platform against your organization's current needs is relatively simple when compared to anticipating how that software will serve your needs years into the future. It can be very challenging to take a long-term view when your organization's evolving goals are combined with rapid changes in the industry, technology, and consumer behavior.
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Get Ready for Social Search
Where did you begin the last time you looked for a new primary care physician (or a specialist to cure your unsettling, Internet-diagnosed affliction)? Turning to friends, family, and acquaintances for their recommendations is a common solution. Whether you're seeking a good restaurant, hotel, or hospital bed, the people in your social network are a key source of information.
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A Social Path to Community Support
Social media is about more than being social, it's about building a community, and often around areas of related interest. When it's your real-world community you're trying to engage, social media provides an excellent set of tools.
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Engaging Site Visitors is a Long-Standing Quest
Over the past month, I've been talking with many hospitals and health systems about their online goals (through our Ask Ben consultations) and have consistently been asked about ways to use the Web to promote a service or center of excellence. It's exciting to see many organizations are interested in promoting the specific initiatives that bring patients in the door.
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Building (Digital) Bridges from Hospital to Physician
Consumers are demanding a more active role in making healthcare choices. This is one of the most significant changes taking place in the industry and one we've talked about extensively via our webinars, whitepapers and articles. However, consumers aren't the only constituents that hospitals must target to develop business. Hospitals are placing renewed focus on improving physician relations and physician sales.
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How Do You Use the Web to Support Your Key Service Lines?
Over the past month, I've been talking with many hospitals and health systems about their online goals (through our Ask Ben consultations) and have consistently been asked about ways to use the Web to promote a service or center of excellence. It's exciting to see many organizations are interested in promoting the specific initiatives that bring patients in the door.
Read the article
Gradual Engagement: What Banking Can Teach the Healthcare Industry 
Think back to when banks decided to move to ATMs. Think of the overwhelming, logistical nightmare it must have looked like to banking executives in the 70s. Developing the technology. Implementing the telecommunications infrastructure. Setting up the machines. Setting up the ATM cards. The authentication process. The possibility of fraud and other security issues. But banks knew the benefits outweighed the risks.
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Browse all articles and white papers in our document library
Published Articles
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.
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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.
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Ben 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.
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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]
Browse all articles and white papers in our document library
