Good internal reporting of Web data should document successes, illuminate failures, and serve as a key component in evaluating overall strategy. Yet for many healthcare Web marketers, the challenge of producing quality reports has proven to be extremely elusive and frustrating. In my experience, most organizations do not go much further than tracking basic Web analytics metrics like page views and visitors. It is not uncommon for me to come across a mishmash of numbers pasted onto an Excel spreadsheet, with a webmaster telling me, “I am embarrassed to be showing you this report.”
Fortunately, more and more organizations are going a step further and tracking key activities on the Web, such as newsletter subscriptions or video downloads. (More on this here). A few sophisticated outfits are actually able to link their patient data with their Web data and compute ROI. The bad news is that those who are doing the most advanced reporting are generally reticent to share. This year we had to eliminate the “Best Use of Web Analytics” from our Best-In-Class Awards because of a lack of entries.
Given the importance of internal reporting as a key input to strategic decision-making, why are so many organizations stuck at the most basic level? And for those who are doing a good job, are there any insights they can share with the rest of us?
I hope to get answers to these questions and more in our next special survey, which will focus on internal reporting of Web data. I am particularly excited about covering this topic, as there is a dearth of quality research on this topic (as it related to healthcare Web marketers). If you would like to participate and are not currently a member of the Greystone.Net research panel, join today. I look forward to receiving everyone’s input, even those who are too embarrassed to show me their reports.
We are pleased to release the conference brochure for the 14th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference, which will be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas beginning November 15-17, 2010. It took a ton of work to get the program in place, but it was also a lot of fun. Download a copy of it from our Web site. We think it is offers a wide and strong variety of educational and network opportunities.
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Greystone is pleased to announce the results of our recent survey on hospital/ health system Web budgets. We sent the survey invitation to more than 100 healthcare marketers, and received responses from 65. (please note: Greystone’s research panel is made up of hospitals or health care systems with at least one FTE dedicated to the Web, and members tend to be more “Web 2.0 savvy” than other hospitals and health systems)
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At the height of last year’s financial struggles, Greystone.Net sent out a survey to its current and former customers about their budget outlook for the coming year. We certainly struck a chord with our hospital and health system audience, who at the time were wondering if the sky truly was falling. We received a tremendous response, with more than 170 hospitals or health systems submitting a survey. The study yielded some interesting findings. The biggest revelation was that despite 40 percent of hospitals/health systems experiencing some sort of budget cut, 68 percent said funding is stable or increasing for the Web. Based on the findings, Greystone.Net cut back on some of its events that require travel. We also added a new category to our annual Best in Class awards for successful Web initiatives amidst severe budget constraints.
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Long ago, in a place far away, I was in college (yes, Virginia, they had college back then). At that time I had an interesting debate with a philosophy professor in which I argued that everything is based on hedonism, since even the followers of Kant adhere to the tenets of duty because it makes them feel good. Since the professor graded the papers, I lost the debate.
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Only a few short weeks ago, I sat in my office combing through over 125 entries for the 2009 Best In Class Awards. In our office we each painstakingly read and analyze every nomination in search of a short list of finalists for each award category — and 2009 was clearly the most difficult year for us, in terms of narrowing the field. Others in our office also comb through that same list and then we all converge in the conference room to begin our annual ritual — a litigation process to lobby for our favorites and create the consensus list of finalists.
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You’ve certainly heard the old adage about the cobbler’s children and the state of their shoes. Well, I’m afraid those of us at Greystone.Net have been so caught up in helping clients and trying to stay current in this fast moving Internet world, that we neglected our own site for too long.
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If you’ve ever seen me speak, you can tell I kind of enjoy it. Actually, talking is one of my favorite things. And when I know a little bit about what I’m talking about, it’s even more fun. :’)
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When you spend your life steeped in the Internet, days can blend together. That’s why I particularly love days when we launch a new site. Much like a proud parent, the “birth” of a new or improved Web property is a big event (Feel free to insert all the “get a life” comments you’d like right here.).
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As many of you know, I had a total right hip replacement about two weeks ago. I won’t bore you with all the details, but it isn’t the most fun I’ve ever had, but I’m looking forward to walking painfree sometime soon down the road. Right now, I seem to be progressing nicely and am a little dangerous on the walker, doing physical therapy three times a day and resting a lot.
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