Month: August 2022

By Ginger Hart
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August 30, 2022

As a people person, I love planning and attending live events. During the pandemic, I learned to appreciate the slower pace of life that comes with working from home. I was happy not traveling as much and being home with my family more. However relaxing and slower-paced that time was, I’m an impatient person and was bored quickly by continual stay-in-place requirements. There was only so much “virtual human interaction” through a monitor or via phone that I could tolerate. There is a lot to be said about true face-to-face interaction when you’re having a conversation or shaking their hand when you’re done. 

Apparently, I’m not the only one who felt that way.

So far in 2022, our hc1 team has attended six in-person events, and we still have a few more to go before the end of the year. The return of in-person events has been invaluable to several of our teams, particularly our sales team. Sending a video message is definitely a step up from an email, but it doesn’t take the place of face-to-face meetings. Being able to demo our solution with our audience in the same room is a different experience than a Zoom call. In addition, there’s the bonus of inviting a potential client out for a quick meeting afterward. Unlimited business opportunities can be generated from a casual conversation over drinks. 

According to a story in the Washington Post, face-to-face requests are 34 times more effective than those sent by email. An in-person smile and handshake go a long way to building trust. 

hc1 has also taken advantage of hosting ancillary events while at conferences. Looking at the registration list, venue, options, conference agenda, etc., we’ve been able to create special events with significant returns for everyone at the table. Whether it’s hosting a larger cocktail reception or a smaller more intimate dinner, both have proven to be a winning combination with our overall conference attendance. 

We have definitely taken advantage of potential and current clients all being in the same location. Current customers can be the best extension of your sales team. It is invaluable to be able to have 1:1 conversations with potential clients and listen as they share their pain points as well as hear about how others have used our solutions to overcome their challenges. It’s more than an hc1 sales session; the event becomes a robust roundtable discussion and opportunity for networking among peers. 

The hc1 Client Success team has also benefited from a return to in-person industry events. Having several hc1 customers in the same place at the same time enables us to connect in person and hear their struggles and successes, which is extremely important to us. Being able to do this without visiting each client individually, has given us the time to connect with more clients overall and for those clients to learn from each other.

With live events comes the return of live speaking sessions, as well. Our hc1 team has been thrilled to present to live audiences again. There was something so invigorating about seeing hc1 Lab Insights Product Manager, John Moyer, give a live presentation to a room of nearly 100 people and see the line of people waiting to ask him questions afterward. It was really cool to see people recognize him later that day and be able to have a follow-up conversation in the hallway.

The return of the exhibit hall has been another added bonus. A virtual exhibit hall can’t come close to producing the same connections. In the handful of virtual exhibit booths that hc1 has sponsored over the past few years, we’ve seen very few visits and have been limited in the interactions we were able to have. Physical booths are a great opportunity for the hc1 brand to be seen. There is something more impactful in seeing a printed booth vs. just seeing a logo on a mobile device or laptop. The interaction between physical and virtual booths can’t be compared. It’s impossible to make eye contact with or show a warm smile to someone who is just viewing a monitor. 

In my role as an event manager, it’s been wonderful meeting conference organizers face-to-face. An in-person conversation is more efficient than threads of email. It’s so great to knock out several meetings with event organizers, publications and organizations all in one place. Using a current event you’re attending to plan for the success of future events is priceless.

Thank goodness we are back in person, even in a cautious state allowing for protocols to keep attendees as safe as possible. Thousands of people all coming together in one place with the same interest is invigorating. It’s a much different and more successful setting than behind a desk in our home office environments. Let’s stay safe and healthy and keep this revitalization of in-person, live events going.

Want to connect with hc1 at an in-person event? Stop by and visit us in booth #103 at the ASCP 2022 Annual Meeting in Chicago, September 7 – 9. You can also visit www.hc1.com/events and join our events mailing list to learn about other upcoming opportunities to meet us at an upcoming conference.  

 

By Lorri Markum
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August 19, 2022

A male family member of mine recently underwent a heart catheterization procedure at a reputable hospital. The surgeon, a well-regarded specialist in the field, inserted two stents to reverse 95% and 80% blockages in two respective arteries. Post-procedure he was cleared to return home. Though feeling completely better varies between each patient, he wasn’t feeling any better after a week, two weeks or a month post-procedure. This began a journey through the labyrinth of miscommunication between health systems, between providers and health system departments, between providers and ultimately between provider and patient.

Sadly, this isn’t an uncommon scenario. Health systems have been struggling to achieve better access to data and enhanced communication between departments, providers and patients for many years, and the problem is increasing. According to an article published by Fierce Healthcare, only 4 in 10 health systems can successfully share data with other health systems. With the number of health service options available to individuals in the United States, one can receive basic health care services at a local CVS, Walgreens, Meijer, local med centers and preferred providers and community hospitals. But what about the patient’s records? Information about what a person has been treated for and medications prescribed? It’s all scattered in various locations that don’t always connect or communicate with one another, ending up as holes in a patient profile for overall assessment.

As a month turned into six weeks and more, our loved one continued to have shortness of breath and exhaustion. Blood tests, EKGs, CT and MRI were all done, and no information was shared with him from his provider. We had to call and chase down answers and results being shifted from one department to another because records were not easily accessible between locations. Ultimately, we were left to seek additional care from a new health system and heart specialist.

The new provider requested the notes and images from his recent heart catheterization procedure and follow-ups. After contacting the original provider, we were assured that those documents, records and images would be sent to the new provider via a digital portal available for providers to send patient information to one another. After a fruitless period of three weeks and several calls from the new provider, as well as ourselves, to the original health system to find out why the patient records had not been received after we had been told they had been sent, the new provider was left with no option but to conduct a second round of tests, CT scan, MRI and another heart catheterization procedure.

When the surgeon came to consult after the second heart cath, I asked why his office never received records and images from the first health system. The new surgeon expressed frustration over the constant struggle in the sharing of patient information between health systems and even within their health system. Without solicitation, the surgeon went on to say that he and other providers face this daily in their work and that it is an ultimate detriment to patients.

So, what’s stalling health system data-sharing? A recent article by Becker’s Hospital Review posed the same question in a thorough Q&A format with the CIO of University of Utah Health, Donna Roach. She said interoperability is the key. 

Patient data is already being captured and stored; it’s sitting and waiting to be unlocked and shared to provide highly beneficial information that can save lives and initiate a higher level of patient care. The data is also valuable from a cost perspective. When providers lack full access to patient data, tests may be unnecessarily repeated, resulting in excessive costs to health systems, patients and payers.

The information is housed in data hubs stored within health systems and should be easily accessible. In many healthcare organizations and clinical labs, patients, providers and staff wait for the trickle-down of information and results as the data is untangled from the system. This situation costs valuable time and causes duress to patients waiting to know the next steps in their care. Healthcare shouldn’t be a burden to the patient. Patients shouldn’t have to be the ones to chase information down because health system departments don’t have access to the right tools to communicate with one another. 

Our loved one is now doing well. The follow-up care he receives after the second procedure is beneficial in regaining his overall wellness. 

I’m proud that hc1 is working to help health systems and labs achieve better workflows, improve communications between departments, and unlock patient data, enabling better quality healthcare for all. You can learn more about what we are working toward at www.hc1.com/platform

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Lorri Markum is the marketing manager for hc1 Insights and has over two decades of corporate and nonprofit marketing leadership experience. Lorri specializes in B2B marketing and is SEO Certified. A graduate of Ball State University with a degree in psychology, digital communications and storytelling. For the past 25 years, Lorri has been a professional commercial photographer and photojournalist in the music industry. Before joining hc1 she served as the marketing manager for a nonprofit healthcare organization, serving 40 counties throughout Indiana.