Health Technology, Digital Healthcare
Article | September 8, 2023
As the COVID-19 pandemic upended the healthcare system, hospitals and doctor’s offices doubled down on technology and implemented a host oftelemedicine services, from virtual visits to remote patient monitoring and customized treatment plans.
The results were unexpected. Not only did telemedicine help bridge the gap between physicians and patients during the health crisis, but arecent J.D. Power studyfound that telemedicine also delivered increased customer satisfaction, outpacing other healthcare services.
Patient-centered care played the largest role in this shift. Technologies that let staff reach patients anytime, anywhere enabled providers to shift their functional focus away from simply treating issues to building better relationships.
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Health Technology, AI
Article | July 18, 2023
As the cost of care continues to rise, many hospitals are looking for long-term solutions to minimize inpatient services. Learn how technology and health care delivery will merge to influence the future of hospital design and the patient experience across the globe in this report developed by Deloitte US.
Five use cases for the digital hospital of the future
The future of health care delivery may look quite different than the hospital of today. Rapidly evolving technologies, along with demographic and economic changes, are expected to alter hospitals worldwide. A growing number of inpatient health care services are already being pushed to home and outpatient ambulatory facilities. However, many complex andv very ill patients will continue to need acute inpatient services.
With aging infrastructure in some countries and increased demand for more beds in others, hospital executives and governments should consider rethinking how to optimize inpatient and outpatient settings and integrate digital technologies into traditional hospital services to truly create a health system without walls.
To learn what this future of health care delivery may look like, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions conducted a crowdsourcing simulation with 33 experts from across the globe. Participants included health care CXOs, physician and nurse leaders, public policy leaders, technologists, and futurists. Their charge was to come up with specific use cases for the design of digital hospitals globally in 10 years (a period that can offer hospital leaders and boards time to prepare).
The crowdsourcing simulation developed use cases in five categories
Redefined care delivery
Emerging features including centralized digital centers to enable decision making (think: air traffic control for hospitals), continuous clinical monitoring, targeted treatments (such as 3D printing for surgeries), and the use of smaller, portable devices will help characterize acute-care hospitals.
Digital patient experience
Digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can help enable on-demand interaction and seamless processes to improve patient experience.
Enhanced talent development
Robotic process automation (RPA) and AI can allow caregivers to spend more time providing care and less time documenting it.
Operational efficiencies through technology
Digital supply chains, automation, robotics, and next-generation interoperability can drive operations management and back-office efficiencies.
Healing and well-being designs
The well-being of patients and staff members—with an emphasis on the importance of environment and experience in healing—will likely be important in future hospital designs.
Many of these use-case concepts are already in play. And hospital executives should be planning how to integrate technology into newly-built facilities and retrofit it into older ones.
Technology will likely underlie most aspects of future hospital care. But care delivery—especially for complex patients and procedures—may still require hands-on human expertise.
Laying the foundation for the digital hospital of the future
Building a digital hospital of the future can require investments in people, technology, processes, and premises. Most of these investments will likely be upfront. In the short term, hospital leadership may not see immediate returns on these investments. In the longer term, however—as digital technologies improve care delivery, create operational efficiencies, and enhance patient and staff experience—the return result can be in higher quality care, improved operational efficiencies, and increased patient satisfaction.
These six core elements of an enterprise digital strategy can help you get started as you begin to push your hospital into the future
Create a culture for digital transformation
It is essential that senior management understands the importance of a digital future and drives support for its implementation at all organizational levels.
Consider technology that communicates
Digital implementation is complex. Connecting disparate applications, devices, and technologies—all highly interdependent—and making certain they talk to each other can be critical to a successful digital implementation.
Play the long game
Since digital technologies are ever evolving, flexibility and scalability during implementation can be critical. The planning team should confirm that project scope includes adding, modifying, or replacing technology at lower costs.
Focus on data
While the requirements of data interoperability, scalability, productivity, and flexibility are important, they should be built upon a solid foundation of capturing, storing, securing, and analyzing data.
Prepare for Talent 2.0
As hospitals invest in exponential technologies, they should provide employees ample opportunities to develop corresponding digital strategies.
Maintain cybersecurity
With the proliferation of digital technologies, cyber breaches can be a major threat to hospitals of the future. Executives should understand that cybersecurity is the other half of digital implementation and allocate resources appropriately.
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Digital Healthcare
Article | November 29, 2023
Smoking has a lot of consequences to one’s health. It can lead to cancer, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—all of which are chronic diseases. This is part of the reason why the Health and Human Services agency reports that 70% of adult smokers want to quit. As a medical provider, adults looking to stop smoking will come to you for advice and treatment. One alternative smoking product you might want to recommend is an e-cigarette, given their prevalence in recent years.
In this article, let’s take a deeper look at whether e-cigarettes’ should be recommended for smoking cessation and what other treatment options to endorse to patients.
Are e-cigarettes approved for smoking cessation?
Electronic cigarettes, more commonly known as e-cigarettes, are devices that vaporize nicotine-based liquid to be inhaled by its user. It almost replicates the experience of smoking a cigarette due to the device’s shape and the vapor it produces. However, the FDA has yet to approve e-cigarettes for smoking cessation because there is currently limited research on their effectiveness, benefits, and risks for the human body.
Additionally, scientists at the University of California found harmful metals in the vapor from tank-style e-cigarettes. These e-cigarettes are equipped with high-power batteries and atomizers to store more liquid. These result in high concentrations of metals like iron, lead, and nickel in the vapor. Exposure to and inhaling metallic particles may impair lung function and cause chronic respiratory diseases. As such, medical providers should not recommend e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.
What can medical providers recommend for smoking cessation?
Smoking cessation medication
Presently, two FDA-approved prescription medicines for smoking cessation are Bupropion and Varenicline. Bupropion is an antidepressant that decreases tobacco cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It does this by increasing the brain chemicals dopamine and noradrenaline. This comes in a pill and can be used alongside other smoking cessation aids.
Varenicline also reduces cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. It blocks nicotine receptors in the brain, decreasing the amount of enjoyment one gets from smoking. One thing to note about this is that it will take several days for Varenicline's effects to take place. Therefore, it's best to prescribe these pills 1-2 weeks before the patient quits smoking. Like Bupropion, Varenicline may be used simultaneously with other quit-smoking products.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is a treatment involving nicotine consumption at gradually decreasing levels. This reduces the patient’s desire to smoke without them having to quit cold turkey. NRT involves using nicotine alternatives that don’t produce smoke, such as nicotine pouches and nicotine gum.
Nicotine pouches are oral products containing ingredients like nicotine, flavoring, and plant-based fibers. These are placed between the lip and gum, where nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream. Different variations have different strengths. On! pouches come in different strengths: 2mg, 4mg, and 8mg. Patients may start from 8mg variants and gradually decrease this dosage as their NRT progresses. Pouches also come in a wide range of flavors—including citrus, mint, and berry—to entice users.
Meanwhile, nicotine gum is chewing gum that contains nicotine. It is chewed a few times before being parked between the gums and cheek for nicotine absorption. The nicotine gums by Lucy are a significantly better alternative for tobacco users. Like pouches, this gum comes in several flavors, such as cinnamon, mango, and wintergreen, and different strengths ranging from 2mg to 6mg.
Counseling
The recommendations mentioned above—medication and NRT—are more effective when coupled with counseling. A Primary Care Respiratory Medicine study revealed that successful smoking cessation is best attained through pharmacological treatment and counseling. Sessions typically involve a patient meeting with a counselor and they discuss their smoking habits, possible causes, and how to mitigate them. Medical providers should include counseling in addition to medication and NRT.
E-cigarettes have yet to be approved by the FDA as smoking cessation aids. For now, medical providers should provide medication, NRT, and counseling to patients who want to quit smoking.
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Article | April 17, 2021
The healthcare industry is witnessing an unparalleled phase of expansion and vitality. It is a phase of radical revolution due to the wake of digital transformation. Digital transformation has opened up enormous unique opportunities that were unimaginable until a few years back.
These digital trends are bringing companies and individuals together. Data is the starting point of the digital revolution. These data are then transformed into relationships. Today, including healthcare companies, the success of every company is at stake. In other words, it is how you communicate with customers that matters.
This blog is all about healthcare digital communication, especially healthcare video marketing.
We’ll start by looking at data that demonstrates the power and effectiveness of the video marketing medium. There is nothing equal to the power and efficacy of video marketing in our world today. Then, we’ll look at the video marketing best strategies, healthcare video marketing best practices, and successful examples for healthcare video marketing.
There’s Nothing More Effective than Video Marketing
Here are some numbers that alone demonstrate why video is the most effective marketing medium in the digital age:
More than 5 billion videos are viewed on Youtube every day;
78% of online users watch at least one video every week. And 55% watch one every day;
According to estimates by Cisco, by 2022, 82% of all internet traffic will be generated by video. This percentage was already 72.3% in 2017;
When it comes to video, 55% of people pay more attention than any other type of content;
when viewing a video, the average user retains 95% of the message it contains; this percentage goes down to 10% when we talk about the text;
about 100 million hours of video watched every day on Facebook;
82% of registered Twitter users consume video content constantly;
on Instagram, posts containing video record 38% higher engagement on average than posts containing images;
54% of consumers say they want to see more videos from the brands they follow and support.
Such statistics are compelling for brands, and brands are taking notice. As a result, brands are moving to implement videos as much as possible in their marketing strategies, with excellent results. Two statistics below offer additional proof:
87% of marketing professionals use video in their strategy.
88% of marketers are satisfied with the ROI generated by video marketing campaigns.
This collection of data proves one thing: video is the most effective tool for healthcare digital marketing. And this also applies to the Healthcare sector. It’s even more accurate for this sector, which is intimately involved with consumers as part of their daily lives. Thus, healthcare video marketing is much effective and should be included in your healthcare marketing plan.
Strategies and Best Practices of Healthcare Video Marketing
So, let’s take a closer look at how we can build a video marketing strategy in the Healthcare sector, the fundamental points that must be included, the best practices, and some examples of success.
Start from education
It is often said that we live in the information age. Today, as never before, we have access to all the information we could need in just a few seconds, maybe with just a few taps on our smartphone during a coffee break. Health information is undoubtedly among the most sought-after online. In Italy alone, web searches made on this topic are 4 billion per year, a constantly growing trend.
The downside of all of this is the difficulty of finding your way around this mass of information, which is sometimes complex, misleading, or even untrue. That is why the first task of a company in the Healthcare sector is education. Education is not just a responsibility; and it’s also an opportunity.
In this sense, healthcare videos marketing prove to be the best ally. Healthcare video marketing is a way to provide the consumer with an effortless way to have access to transparent, precise, and authoritative information from your brand. That can be the first step toward establishing a relationship of trust with your brand.
Be clear, but also calm
In this case, let’s start immediately with an exciting and practical example. Targeted toward their younger patients, Miami Children’s Hospital created a healthcare video marketing campaign that explains what happens before, during, and after heart surgery. Understandably, this is a sensitive topic. With this effort of healthcare video marketing, the Miami Children’s Hospital manages to achieve the complex objective of providing clear and authoritative information while at the same time reassuring the viewer.
How?
They make the healthcare video marketing campaign compelling, authoritative, and reassuring by showing the faces of its staff members, demonstrating their professionalism, the environment, the healthcare technologies used, and everything related to the surgery. In this way, the high level of preparation and humanity of the people involved stand out to the viewer.
Learn to be engaging
As we saw above, you have to know how to correctly inform and educate your audience using influential healthcare video marketing trends, all with a calm demeanor. However, it’s also true that success also depends on your ability to excite and involve the viewer for healthcare video marketing in the sector. In short, the keyword is ‘storytelling.
An excellent example is the healthcare video marketing campaign carried out by the dental health department of Bupa UK and addressed to children (but applicable and reachable to adults as well). Through a great use of animations and storytelling, the brand uses the well-known story of the tooth fairy and associates it with childhood memories. This healthcare video marketing campaign has proven to be an excellent vehicle for establishing a truly intimate relationship with the viewer (and, not surprisingly, the video has exceeded 1.3 million views on YouTube).
Another effective way to be direct and engaging is to use influencers in your healthcare video marketing campaigns. An exciting example is the Australian pole vaulter, Amanda Bisk, diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. On her Instagram channel, Bisk talks about her path to fight the disease through fitness, and she has quickly become one of the most famous figures in Healthcare on the platform.
It’s important to note that today, more and more brands target top influencers and micro-influencers. Micro-influencers have a much smaller yet targeted and loyal following of fans. Therefore, their healthcare video marketing messages are perceived by the public as more authentic and personal.
Personalization
94% of marketers believe that personalization is crucial for the future of the business in which it moves. But what do we mean when we talk about personalization?
First of all, it’s not something new: knowing your audience has always been the best way to make a profit, calibrate your communication and your “tone of voice,” and increase engagement and loyalty. But what is the turning point of personalization today?
It is a digital turning point. Today, we all leave traces online at every moment: geolocation, Google searches, preferences on social networks, apps (which in Healthcare are increasingly widespread), and so on. We are talking about a vast amount of data that benefits both companies and consumers from a win-win perspective.
Therefore, it’s a matter of utilizing efficient systems to collect this data, dynamic systems designed with an omnichannel approach in mind. From the collection, the next step is to analyze and interpret this information. Then, you will want to divide your audience into many micro-targets with homogeneous and consistent characteristics to target with tailored communications and offers.
In conclusion, these facts are all the more true in a sector like healthcare that impacts people’s daily lives. The best healthcare video marketing strategy for brands can only be to get closer and closer to customers. That is precisely where specialized companies like us, Media7, come into play. Through compelling B2B healthcare video marketing efforts, we create opportunities for interaction and the possibility to insert custom calls to action.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a video marketing strategy?
Video marketing strategy is creating, curating, and utilizing videos for marketing products and services of companies to the targeted audience. Marketing teams design the strategy. The idea behind the strategy is to keep the audience engaged with the brand.
Are videos effective for health tech marketing?
Videos are much effective for health tech marketing as people prefer to watch things than reading. Also, people are likely to trust what they see than reading. Videos are the highly impactful medium of marketing for any domain of business, including healthcare.
How to start with healthcare video marketing?
The first step to healthcare video marketing is to define your video marketing strategy. Fix and analyze the target audience to understand the online behavior trends to get an idea about their video engagements and clicks on various social media channels.
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