@patricia-redsicker

I work in a related field and am trying to learn how to best utilize social media for exposure.

Warren

@patricia-redsicker

I’m co-founder of a company named, HealthCare On Call.

We’re a Texas-based company focused on bringing convenient and affordable healthcare solutions within reach of the American consumer.

Our flagship product is a telemedicine solution. The telemedicine industry is a high-tech, rapidly-evolving industry, and HealthCare On Call aims to be at its forefront through our trademark combination of cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned customer service.

We provide our members with 24/7 access to its proprietary nationwide network of U.S. licensed physicians for telephone and secure e-mail medical consultations.

Physicians provide specific answers to medical questions and advice regarding non-emergency, routine medical conditions.

Physicians discuss symptoms, recommend treatment options, diagnose many common conditions and prescribe medication when appropriate.

We also provide our members with discount benefits such as vision, dental, and hearing discounts.

Check out our facebook page for more info.

P.S. I’m doing some work on it, so please excuse the way it looks.

@warrenveach – interesting solution – never heard of telemedicine before. But it sounds like telephone consultations with physicians – kinda like WebMD except you’re talking to a real doctor? How does it work with health insurance?

Just visited your Facebook page – was a bit tough to find the Wall though

@patricia-redsicker

Sorry about the wall, I’m redoing our facebook page and trying new layouts, so I’ll look into fixing that. That’s one of the reasons I’m on this forum, to learn from the pros about marketing through social media.

Most of our marketing has been through word of mouth up to this point.

To answer your question, yes, U.S. licensed physicians take every call. There aren’t any non-licensed people with access to your history, questions or comments.

When a member enrolls, they go to a HIPPA compliant and secure site where they can enter their personal health history. Much like when a patient visits the Dr. office and the receptionist hands them a clipboard to fill in, so when they call to speak to a Dr, he has their background.

If the call is concerning a simple ailment (flu, allergies, etc), the Dr can take action on it.

However, if the Dr feels additional info is needed (bloodwork, etc) he can refer them to one of our participating labs (where they receive a steep discount) and the lab can load the results right into their online records.

At the same time, we can share the test results with the patient’s primary physician if they have one. That way all Drs working with the patient know what is going on.

All lab/imaging can be turned into the Insurance company, and shared with the primary, just as they usually would.

If it is after hours and the Dr office is closed, it is a great alternative to going to an ER or doc-in-a-box for minor ailments.

It can also be used when someone is out of town and wants to talk to a Dr, or possibly get a prescription refilled.

The AMA says the vast majority of Dr office and ER visits are not needed and could be avoided if there was an alternative, and that’s where HealthCare On Call comes in.

If you think of all the time invested in making an appointment, waiting for the appointment to come around, travel time to the Dr, waiting in the Dr’s office, and the time off work when all you need is to speak to the Dr, it can be a tremendous time/money saver, for both the employee and the employer.

We have teamed up with a number of Insurance brokers who offer it as a benefit to people that can’t get insurance, or can’t afford it. Also, because many employers have scaled back on insurance benefits, an employer can offer it as a voluntary benefit to their employees.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any more questions.

@rachelagheyisi – Wow! It seems you and I have quite a few similar interests. 

My undergraduate degree is in Economics even though I ended up in the Financial Services industry for almost 15 years. That background honed my research and analytical skills. 

As for collaborating on a white paper project – I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the year! Exciting proposal!! Are you on Skype? My skype handle is patriciared31870. Send me an invite and a date/time frame to chat. Second week of January would be great!

Happy, happy New Year Rachael – so glad we connected here

Patricia

Btw, @warrenveach Andrea Vahl the Facebook Club leader is an expert Facebook Strategist – she co-authored the book ‘Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies’. I’ll bet she’d be pleased as punch to give you a few pointers for your Facebook Wall. Give it a try

@patricia-redsicker – Hey Patricia.  How about that — Economics as a link!

I’m glad you’re open to the collaborative  white paper idea.  Unfortunately, my calendar is tight through much of January.  Among other things, including updating my website (long overdue),  I’m trying to complete two reports with a colleague.  We are a bit behind schedule, so we’re going to have to commit more time to ensure the reports go out ASAP.

But, while I’m otherwise engaged, I will be thinking of possible white paper topics.  You can do the same so that when we do get together for a chat, we can share our ideas.  Should we be thinking healthcare-related only???

I don’t use Skype, but I’m sure we can find another mutually convenient chat platform.

So, how about we tentatively say first week in February? If that’s not OK, please suggest other dates that will work for you in February. 

I send you heart-felt wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2012. 

Hi @patricia-redsicker  – I took the last couple of days off the forum to quiet my mind for the new year/week. 

From the feeds that have been showing up in my inbox, it appears members of this and the other 2 networking clubs have been super busy with all manner of topics. WOW! 

It’s going to be hard keeping track of the variety and volume of queries/suggestions.  I’ve been a club member for less than a week and it’s already looking like a LOT of “stuff”.  I hope people don’t start to feel overwhelmed and burnt out too soon. 

I’m glad you & I can get started on our white paper in Feb.  A few ideas are already percolating as I browse other matters. I’ll save your email and write toward the end of January so we can firm up logistics.

My website update was motivated by my desire to be more proactive in using that platform for lead gen — as opposed to its being primarily a “store front”.  Once I embraced that thought, it occurred to me that I might need to restructure/streamline, look for a new host, etc — and so it grew into a “project”. I’m enjoying the process — I just need to not overdo the research; rather get something out and continue to tweak subsequently. I’ll see how that goes.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Rachel

Hey @warrenveach. It certainly sounds like a fascinating environment. I’ve already Liked your Facebook page so I look forward to seeing your updates. 

And I will visit your website as well for more information. I’ll touch base with you again soon, when I have more questions. Thanks for taking the time to explain in so much detail how the business works.

Talk to you soon

The main thing would be content marketing. I think this would be an area that health services could really use to engage people in social media. I used to write a lot but struggle to find time now.

@casmccullough @patricia-redsicker

Yes, Cas, do you have a blog? As you can tell from the interaction between Patricia and myself, we have an interest in content developed for use (informational/educational/prospecting, etc) in the healthcare sector.  Alternative/allied healthcare certainly sounds interesting.

Perhaps, you can use this forum to brainstorm on topics/writing schedule. I’m willing to contribute my 2-cents.  So, do share and kick off the dialog.

Hey @casmccullough – I’m not familiar with these ‘labor and delivery dresses’ that you speak of. I’d be interested in reading more on that subject. Please point me in the right direction or simply let me know when you’ve written the article.

Question for you: What do you think are the biggest challenges in the birthing system here in the US?

cc: @rachelagheyisi

@patricia-redsicker Well, I’d better get writing then. As far as the US birth are system goes, I recommend Ricki Lake’s doco “the business of being born”. It explains a lot of the core problems. We have them here too but not quite to the same extent. @rachelagheyisi thank you! Mumatopia has a loyal local and birth community following.

Hi @czeital – what is NHS? Does your work involve social media for healthcare? Thanks.

@patricia-redsicker Hi Patricia, my name is Francesca and I handle the Social Media for an Allergy Practice (Allergy, Asthma and Immunology). Not only strictly regulated environment but somehow challenging when it comes to being … catchy, upbeat and fun and grasp the audience for those 3 seconds that the headline crosses its eyes.

Hi @floridallergy ! Nice to meet you. I’d love to see some of your content. What’s your website/blog? 

I am sure there are similar challenges. There’s a tweet chat #smnsh which is worth checking out if you are interested in comparing. I am quite new to SM myself so big voyage of discovery. The NHS Institute’s focus is communicating with staff in the NHS re: various improvement products and programmes ( kind of similar to what IHI do I guess) so the issues are different. Having said that we have a patient engagement team who have used SM and are keen on exploring so we’ll see how things develop. We are just reviewing our whole strategy / policy etc.

Whatever happens in my view it’s not going away and so will need to find a way to embrace and make it work for us and patients.

@patricia-redsicker our website has been modernized! Phase 1 of restructuring was to give it a complete makeover, including a blog. Phase 2 is under session as we speak and it will include Social Media feeder, Press & Media Room, e-mag … very exciting. Would love to receive feedback.As per SM & healthcare there’s a lot of missed opportunity in the field of misinformation. At least in our field (allergies and asthma) you can find news every day, in most cases titles for the need to be catchy, are misleading. And people relay on free media and the web to get informed and self diagnosed. Our job is very simple: provide the most simple and accurate content. this is at least my experience in the last 6 months.

Hey @floridallergy – How exciting that must be for you! I’d love to take a look. Would you please send me the link? Thanks so much

@patricia-redsicker hi. I’ve just joined the social media examiner forum.