August 2008 Blog Posts (8)

Hot New Branding Book: "Buying In"

In my Marketing Daily: Around the Net in Brand Marketing email blast earlier this week, there was a small piece about a new book titled Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. The book is by New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker. USA Today has a review of the text that is worth checking out.

Based on the USA Today review, Walker is describing a relationship between consumers and brands similar to what I… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 28, 2008 at 8:32am — 1 Comment

Consumers Seeking Healthcare Information In Record Numbers

In my Daily Dose email blast yesterday from Modern Healthcare they gave a brief synopsis of the findings from a new study that shows that consumers are increasingly using the Internet and other resources to gather information related to their personal health concerns. The national study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change can be… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 22, 2008 at 9:00am — No Comments

Update on a Heart Center for Lexington Medical Center

This is a brief update on my blog post of August 18 about LMC's struggle to gain approval for a heart center. In The State newspaper today there is an opinion piece titled "Revote a good idea." It seems that someone at The State has been rethinking his or her stance on the importance of a fair and open process. No doubt they still object to the proposed heart center, but I can live with… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 21, 2008 at 9:11am — No Comments

What's Happening to Integrative Medicine Practices?

In my home market, two prominent integrative medicine practices have struggled, with one closing its doors recently: Integrative Health Center of Chapel Hill (struggling to succeed) and the Plum Spring Clinic (out of business) - both in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When I visited Plum Spring's website earlier today, I found a letter on the homepage explaining that the clinic has closed its doors after 7… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 21, 2008 at 6:00am — No Comments

This Healthcare Marketing Blog and Google Analytics

I am fascinated by social media. I just spent the last 20 minutes looking over the Google Analytics for this social media site. What always strikes me when I review the analytics is that we live in such an amazing time; we can communicate with people around the world with so little effort.

Over the last month the people visiting this site came from 10 countries. The majority of them came from the United States (85%). But the site also had visitors from Hong Kong, India, Brazil,… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 20, 2008 at 6:00am — No Comments

A Heart Center for Lexington Medical Center?

If you think you've seen some strange things in your healthcare marketing career, check out what's happening in Columbia, South Carolina. For a few years now, Lexington Medical Center, a suburban hospital in West Columbia, South Carolina, has been going through the CON process and other channels to try to gain approval to build a heart center. They have faced consistent and vocal opposition from The State newspaper who fears that a new heart center in Lexington County would water down… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 18, 2008 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Culturally Competent Healthcare

Recently in my Daily Dose e-blast from Modern Healthcare there was a feature about 'culturally competent' healthcare. They were pulling from a Yahoo News story by AP writer Felicia Fonseca. The article is titled "States mandate 'culturally competent' healthcare."

Both New Mexico and New Jersey have passed legislation requiring that medical schools provide cultural competency training for… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 12, 2008 at 9:00am — No Comments

Involving the Consumer in the Business of Healthcare

The AAMC has published studies that clearly demonstrate that consumers are put off by healthcare organizations publicly airing their disputes. They have no appetite for it. They simply don't want to think about the business side of healthcare. And they want us focused on health and patient care, rather than profits and battles over territory.

For better or worse, I live and work in a very hotly contested healthcare market: the Raleigh-Durham market of North Carolina. We have several… Continue

Added by Dan Dunlop on August 8, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments