Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category

Brand Research Debate: To Validate or Not to Validate?

A client recently approached us seeking advice on validation research for his brand and the importance of testing. He wanted our opinion on the following:

How important is testing the positioning/messaging and eventual creative concepts among my key targets? What are the risks if I decide not to validate?

As a Senior Account Executive at HCB Health, this is a question I hear fairly often from clients. Some of our clients won’t make a move without testing, while others see it as a luxury if they have the time and budget. This specific client request really got my wheels spinning. Not necessarily about the risks of not testing, but more about the considerations to keep in mind when deciding if validation research is right for your brand. Continue reading »

Rise of the Accountable Care Organization

Change is coming to the healthcare neighborhood in the form of the Accountable Care Organization (ACO). ACOs have been cited by some as the savior of our healthcare woes, while others question the validity of this new government initiative.

What is an ACO?

An Accountable Care Organization is a network of diverse physicians who collaborate with each other to provide more holistic, coordinated healthcare to consumers. ACO creators promise increased quality of care while also managing to control costs. Continue reading »

Taking a Broad-Spectrum Approach to Healthcare Marketing

Change is everywhere.

Click the image to read the article in full.

Pharma pipelines are thinner, devices are gaining in sophistication, hospital systems are preparing for healthcare reform and insurers are looking to build their brands before 2014 health exchanges come into effect. What does this mean to us, the brilliant minds who build strategies and brand preferences for healthcare clients? Opportunity.

At HCB Health, we practice broad-spectrum healthcare marketing to gain a fuller understanding of the interconnected parts that contribute to improved health. In fact, we wrote an article about it for the MM&M Viewpoint.

Join the conversation below, if you’re so inclined. Thanks.

A New Spin on Device R&D

An article in Fast Company this month revealed a smart initiative from Stanford, bringing access to affordable medical innovation through collaborative design. It’s an interesting R&D approach, which involves reverse-engineering expensive devices that would be cost-prohibitive for use in developing countries to make affordable alternatives—like bone drills, for example.

While the story’s angle is about offering better technology access in poor regions, there is a nugget of an idea that could benefit the most advanced areas of the world. Think about it, manufacturers/marketers in the U.S., for example, could use Stanford’s India Biodesign principles to compete with other players in their device verticals, offering more affordable alternatives that still give priority to outcomes and safety. It’s worth a read—especially through this different lens.

New Quality Regulations for the Global Device Market

Despite a down economy and shaky healthcare environment, the global medical device industry is still expected to gross $312 billion in 2011 and will continue to expand at an annual rate of 4-6%. The FDA recently announced plans to unveil a strategy to combat the challenges caused by rapidly rising imports of FDA-regulated products and a complex supply chain in a report titled “Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality.”

Highlights of the report include partnerships with the FDA’s “counterparts worldwide to create global coalitions of regulators focused on ensuring and improving global product safety and quality.” Continue reading »

Ford Brings Healthcare on the Road

Ford is giving the modern car a healthy spin. They recently announced the addition of health and wellness in-car connectivity solutions via the existing Ford SYNC system. Ford has teamed up with WellDoc, Medtronic and SDI Health in order to give consumers a well rounded technology that will help drivers and passengers keep up with their health while on the road.

Ford SYNC uses speech-to-text interactions to provide in-the-moment messages. It has the ability to monitor a diabetic’s glucose levels, monitor other chronic illnesses, detect unhealthy air conditions and offer wellness advice. The use cases are eye-opening. According to Auto Evolution: Continue reading »

Mobile Payments Create Opportunities for U.S. Entrepreneurs

On May 26, Google introduced Google Wallet. On May 23, Square introduced Card Case. Mobile payments seem to be on the up and up, but who cares? Obviously major retailers like Macy’s. But why should you, as a healthcare professional, care?

First, let’s take a quick look at how mobile payments work. Then, we’ll talk about potential. Continue reading »

Innovative Examples of Social Media in Health Provider Marketing

As we all know, the healthcare landscape is rapidly changing. With this change, we as marketers need to rethink how we communicate to the public. Many hospitals and healthcare providers are empowering themselves with social media — smart, considering that 34% of consumers are now using social media to search for health information. Check out this TopRank article for 5 great examples of how SMO can work for the healthcare industry:

5 Examples of Social Media in Healthcare Marketing