Engaging Patients with Chronic Illness through Online Technologies

Chronic diseases are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems in the U.S. Incident rates are on the rise and will continue to grow for years to come. Under healthcare reform, new value based payment systems are targeting costs associated with chronic care. This will have an impact on volume as well as revenue for hospitals on a national scale and as a result, hospitals will have to implement new and robust initiatives using online platforms to meaningfully engage patients with chronic illness - and outcomes of that engagement.

So here's an interesting question -- should marketers play a role in patient management? One could and should argue that as new risk payment models take hold, customer relationship management may be key to retention, behavior modification and better self management of chronic illnesses.  Business outcomes will not only be impacted by customer acquisition but also by our ability to better understand what drives profitability under risk contracts.

Active Data Exhange, through its KnowledgeShare 2011, is hosting a webinar on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 1:00 pm eastern time to explore this topic.  Discussion points will cover:

• Facts about the dramatic growth in chronic disease that will occur in the coming years and projected impact on healthcare systems
• How planning, marketing and communications professionals can best be prepared to handle the surge in demand through web technology as a strategic enabler
• How Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, Florida is leveraging web technology to manage and drive patient education and community outreach programs.

I'll be joining the webinar along with Mathew Haggar, Communications Coordinator at Parrish Medical Center and Christopher Smith of Active Data Exchange.

There is no charge for participation.  Click here to learn more and to register.