atCommunications addresses American Hospital Association’s Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development’s (SHSMD) annual education conference
Terry Kasdan, founder of the digital development agency atCommunications, LLC, and John Olson, media director for the marketing communications firm INC!TE Chicago, presented recently at the American Hospital Association’s Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development’s (SHSMD) annual education conference. The conference was attended by more than 1,000 marketing professionals representing hundreds of hospitals across the United States.
The two speakers’ session, titled “Using Digital Media to Enhance the Patient’s Experience and Create Brand Preference,” was one of the conference’s most widely anticipated. Mr. Olson proposed that since hospitals are generally perceived to be similar in terms of their clinical capabilities, introducing interactive programs designed to improve the way they communicate with patients regarding administrative and clinical issues may offer better opportunities for hospitals to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
Mr. Kasdan demonstrated several examples of digital technology currently being used to enhance patients’ experiences in hospitals. The case histories he demonstrated included ways to use mobile technology to communicate more efficiently with patients and make their recoveries easier, as well as less traditional, more interesting ways to use the traditional World Wide Web.
Mr. Olson concluded the presentation by outlining a process by which hospital administrators could ideate new digital media tactics and gain consensus on those which should be executed. He also described an approach for citing interactive programs in a hospital’s advertising to further support the hospital’s branding.