Blog Archives

Are EHRs Are a Threat to Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom?

August 10th 2016

While pending legislation in Congress would protect patients rights to express truthful views on their medical treatment, the doctors who treat them can be prevented from commenting on the tools or systems their hospitals provide.

Call for Volunteers: Test the Hospital Digital Experience Index (HDX)

June 15th 2016

I’m in the process of trying out a pretty elaborate set tests to score how patients experience hospital websites. While everyone can focus on KPI’s that show interactions that hospitals’ want, in the age of empowered patients our own KPI’s alone simply don’t cut it. We also need to know how our site compares against alternatives patients may see, and develop toward best practice examples in and beyond the healthcare industry. That’s what this will do — and I need to some hospital marketers or IT leaders to help test this approach out.

Who Is In Charge of Doctor’s Contact Data? Big Lists Become Big Liabilities When They’re Wrong

May 23rd 2016

Content isn’t king, its not even scarce. And when it comes to keeping thousands of doctors practice details correct, it now becomes an expensive liability when listings turn out to be dated and wrong.

Google’s Adwords Redesign Beats Space Elevators and Robot Cars

April 3rd 2016

Sure, Google is full of exciting projects – but how about using design to fix ‘the money door’ which drives literally all of its current profits? Wouldn’t that be at least as exciting as designing concepts for markets that don’t yet exist? If your design work follows the money or user frustration – then, at Google, all roads leads to Adwords.

Hitch Your Wagon Elsewhere: Donald Trump Simply Isn’t the Epitome of Content Marketing

March 12th 2016

Hey Marketing pundits. Don’t take the easy bait and claim that Donald Trump is a content marketing genius. There’s little evidence of this. The things that have driven his GOP rise are more structural than marketing tactics.Claims that his rise is a master work in your discipline, is as opportunistic and vapid as The Donald himself.

Are The Boston Globe and WBUR just making-up primary poll results now?

February 27th 2016

This week two Boston news organizations drew starkly different headlines from the same research. Is this a case of team out reporting the other – or of creating a story rather than reporting it?

The Antitrust Check on Supersized Healthcare Systems May Speed Global Expansion

February 3rd 2016

Hospital systems have a strong incentive to consolidate to gain scale, allowing them to more efficiently serve patients and to have stronger bargaining positions with payers. But the antitrust laws which may limit US growth, won’t satisfy systems’ hunger for scale. They seem likely to accelerate their global growth in to new markets and regulatory jurisdictions.

The Market Basket strike: valuing people builds a brand

January 28th 2016

In this video from the Delight Conference, I pull out some stops to tell the story of Market Basket which has become one of New England’s most storied brands and a frequently cited case study in public relations, negotiation and designing for delight.

Economic stress in the US may already have an epidemic health impact

January 20th 2016

New research from the National Academy of Science shows that over the last decade mortality rates have increased for middle-aged white American’s – accounting for as many as 500,000 new deaths caused by self-poisoning, liver disease and suicide. The researchers and I connect this to increased stress from economic decline and reduced life prospects among middle and lower earning families.

GE move chould shift Boston from innovation cradle to capital

January 15th 2016

Boston’s about to become a company town. Though GE’s relocation to Boston brings a modest 800 new jobs (vs. 5,000 that GE business units already employ in Massachusetts) it will fill a HUGE gap in Boston’s business community — and be a new conduit for how Boston people seek to connect to the world.