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Words of the Day

“The health care community has long been committed to improving patient safety, and significant progress has been made through new technology, research and education.” – Author Edward Hill
 

iPad Perfect Rx For Health Care Industry

The health care and medical industries continue to adapt to evolving technologies, and some interesting stats are coming out that have relevance to communicators and marketers beyond the mobile health industry. 
 
According to the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) – one in four doctors plan to purchase a tablet PC or iPad for their practice in 2011 because of the ease of use and mobility. Nearly 70 percent of surveyed HIMSS members will do this.
 
Other interesting tidbits:

• 72% of physicians carry smartphones
• 95% of the doctors use their devices to download medical information
• One in four office practices have adopted e-prescription technology (many EHRs have e-prescribing modules)

 
With these stats, WordSmith imagines that an iPad or tablet will soon be in every hospital and every doc’s office. Medical, health care and mobile apps are all the rage, too, doing everything from EMR and EHR functions to medical billing and diagnostics.
 

Surveys On Decline, Social Media Rising?

Proctor & Gamble Co., one of the world’s biggest research buyers, expects surveys to dramatically decline in the next decade fueled by the strength of social media.
 
The top research executive of P&G, with its $350 million in annual market-research outlays, hinted at this with statements to Advertising Age during and after a panel discussion on “How Market Research Must Change” at the Advertising Research Foundation`s Re:Think 2011 conference in New York recently.
 
The industry should get away from “believing a method, particularly survey research, will be the solution to anything,” she said. “We need to be methodology agnostic.”
 
Social-media listening isn`t only replacing some survey research but also making it harder to do by changing consumer behavior and expectations, Lewis said in an interview after the panel. “The more people see two-way engagement and being able to interact with people all over the world, I think the less they want to be involved in structured research,” she said. “If I have something to say to that company now, there are lots of ways to say it.”
 
She said P&G will continue to do survey research for years, even though she expects it to become less important.
 

Golden Mic

Each week, WordSmith will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t.  Stay tuned … and step-up to the mic!
 
The WordSmith News Bureau is based at Deane Smith Media Innovations, a full-service PR, marketing and advertising agency.  Got PR?  Need marketing strategy? Ad consulting?  Message Wordsmithing?  Creative & online initiatives? Reach the WordSmith at wordsmith@deanesmithmedia.com.