Monthly Archives: March 2008

Shopping Centers in Hospitals

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The most retail sales, per square foot, take place in airports.  20 years ago, you were lucky to have an airport cafe.  Entrepreneurial organizations are now seeing the same growth potential in hospitals.

If organizations like Simply Retail have their way, our Starbucks kiosks will be the tip of the retail sales iceberg.  They are partnering with healthcare organizations to plan retail stores within their hospitals, especially new facilities.

I love the idea.  There are always people looking for time to pass, offering them a shopping experience is a win-win.  If only I could get one of my hospitals to open a Best Buy.

Super Users

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The Most Super UserThere is a role for super users to provide just in time training and to serve as moderators of user groups. However, there is a tendency for folks to believe that the super user is the person that handles anything above the most routine use of the technology. Having super users cannot reduce the expectations of the rest of the work force. Every employee must be tech savvy and leverage the tolls provided in order for us to have any hope f achieving a return on our very expensive IT investments.

What do you think?

Hospital Web Sites

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I think the folks at the Affinity marketing department have passed me up in terms of web savviness. Earlier this decade I felt that they did not “get it” when it comes to the web. I had tried to retain control over the creative portion of the web site. Then, I would go to marketing andAMG Doctor make sure I got the logo and colors right.

But, with the demands of clinical IT I have not been able to make the web a priority. It turns out our web site did not need me. The Affinity marketing folks are putting my efforts to shame.

The most popular page on our web site (and nearly all healthcare provider web sites) is the jobs page. If you don’t have an online job application you are WAY behind the times. Time to jump on the clue train.

The second most popular area are those related to the find-a-physician function and the associated physician profiles. At Affinity we are using a technology called “Webouts” that make physician profiles pop off the page. Check it out:

http://www.affinityhealth.org/page/physicianProfile.html?id=1882

I wish I had thought of that. But, I am more delighted that more and more people are seeing the web as an important aspect of nearly every organizational strategy and we are benefiting from the collective wisdom of the folks looking to leverage the web. Plus, it is really cool.