F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Q: What exactly do you do?
   A: We provide web strategy, business process improvement and business case development services as well as the tools to execute such as total website solutions, Find a Doctor tools, social media platforms and print directory services. 
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2. Q: Why do you believe social media changes behaviors?  Do you have any evidence of this?
   A: The evidence is clear; social networking has already changed our behaviors in terms of how we communicate and share ideas with others. What we have done is to apply these lessons within the health care environment with the overall goals of better engaging patients in their own care. The results can include happier, more loyal patients and better outcomes, often with lower costs.
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3. Q: I don't think we have the resources to staff a social media approach on our website.  How have you helped others with this issue?
   A:  Among hospitals and health systems sufficient resources are always a concern. We have learned, however, that when using a patient-centric perspective to better address patient wants and needs, marketing, relationship management, and clinical care areas all benefit. As a result, multiple departments are typically willing to share responsibilities, patricularly for a social media effort oriented towards specific diagnoses or clinical conditions.
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4. Q: We already have a social media strategy.  We have several Facebook pages for service lines and we have 500 friends.  Doesn't that cover us?
   A: We would suggest that linking to groups or pages on Facebook is a good initial tactic for exploiting social networking - it gets you in the game, but doesn't offer much potential to change visitor behaviors. By contrast, a successful, user-oriented social media strategy can result in entirely new ways to relate to, support, and gain the loyalty of patients and their families as they go through their health journey.
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5. Q: Do you still offer print referral directory services?
   A: Of course!  Print directories is where we began and we still have many clients who use them as an integral part of their referral development strategies. 
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6. Q: Doesn't providing implementation solutions compromise your ability to offer unbiased strategy development?
   A:  That's a fair question. We, of course, believe that the solutions we offer are good ones - otherwise we wouldn't offer them. Throughout our 18 year history, clients' needs have always come first, we will never suggest anything not in your organizations best interest. In fact, if a competitor offers a better solution, we will be the first to recommend it to you! 
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7. Q: Why should we do more than have a basic search engine for the Find a Doctor solution on our site?
   A: We believe for three reasons: Eighty-plus percent of your revenue comes from physician referrals.  Your own analytics probably show that the Find a Doctor tool on your website is in the top 3 or 4 most visited tools.  (And the other pages are likely health content libraries, job searches and babies online - none of which produce a measurable economic ROI.)  Finally, nearly every user survey we've seen says people want more robust and interactive physician profiles.  Add these three reasons up and you have a pretty powerful case for optimizing your users' experience with this foundational tool. 
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8. Q: Do you do any design work?
   A: Absolutely!  We are more than happy to work with you either from scratch to develop an award-winning website or with your current designers to ensure all graphics are optimized for your website using current best practices. 
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9. Q: Do we need a mobile application or a mobile optimized site?
   A: As you might have guessed, the answer is that it depends.  The difference is that a mobile optimized site is one that a user can access from any phone or platform and it is designed for their screen size.  Of course, you'll need to have a partner who knows how to design in such a way as to optimize for all platforms.  An "app" is a self-contained program that users downloads onto their phones.  While these are not by nature cross-platform programs, you can design for each platform to have access to a similar tool.  The benefits of the application is that it resides locally on the user's device and so has a consistent branding presence.  It also doesn't require a data connection so they can still use the tools in bad reception zones.  Lastly it will be faster in response time and generally provide a richer experience. 
   
   With all of that being said, you have to know what you are trying to accomplish.  A mobile optimized site will allow your users to access your website on the go for highly valuable information.  We believe that as mobile browsing continues to become a higher percentage of the overall browsing traffic numbers, having a mobile optimized site is going to become as normal as having a website at all.  Mobile apps on the other hand extend the reach of your website and act as value-adds to your users lives.  Can you give them a tool to not only find a physician, but also personalize those profiles for themselves?  What about extending your patient health record to a mobile app?  Requesting an appointment or prescription refills could be made more convenient this way as well.  Give us a call and we'd love to discuss what mobile solution would be best for you.
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10. Q: What if I only need a strategy or only a product?  Can you provide one or the other?
    A:  Absolutely. We are only interested in provding you with the specific solutions your organization needs. In other words, if you don't need it, we won't try to sell it.