Director's Blog
Health Marketing Musings
from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
Congratulations and thanks are due to Dimitry Kruglyak from the Medical Blog Network (http://www.healthvoices.com/), who organized and recently hosted the first Healthcare Blogging Summit in Washington, DC as part of Consumer Health World. I was honored to speak at the Summit and share the dais with many accomplished innovators and leaders in the world of health-related blogging. A number of participants and attendees have written about the Summit and you can find their feedback here: http://www.technorati.com/search/healthcare+blogging+summit
My main takeaway from the Summit is that we are still very much in the earliest stages of the new media (and social media) revolution in healthcare. As we move past the innovators and early adopters to the early and late majorities, new media will absolutely change how health information is produced, exchanged, packaged, and consumed. Although public health in particular is often a leading laggard in the adoption of innovative communication and marketing strategies, new media presents a golden opportunity to skip straight to the cutting edge.
For those of us working in governmental health communication and marketing at all levels, a fundamental challenge we all face is how to balance the old with the new. Should we maintain the status-quo (e.g., campaigns, media relations, outreach) or invest in new strategies and approaches that are more personalized to and empowering for our intended audiences? In times of limited resources, how much should we invest in the new and untested versus the safe and moderately effective?
How we answer these questions will determine the future of health communication and marketing practice and, by extension, the future of healthcare and public health. In future blog entries, I will share my thoughts on this fundamental challenge. In the meantime, I am most interested in hearing your thoughts by email or blog posting. Thanks and happy new year to you all!
Posted by: Jay at 12:00 PM on Thursday, December 28, 2006
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Jay,
Innovation adoption certainly consumes resources; but when it is not a priority of leadership, others step up to meet (and exceed) the need. Slow post office? Private services will not only deliver faster, but will track the packages. Low fuel-economy domestic vehicles? Nimble hybrids appear from foreign markets. Broadcast media cluttered and noisy? Social media emerge and enable rapid information exchange. I don't know what the right budget balance is, but many successful firms maintain Research and Development or Strategy and Innovation teams to study and to act on new and emerging technologies, as well as to foster leaps in imagination. There will certainly be missteps on the path, but anxiety should enhance, not slow our quest to be on cutting edge of health promotion - or someone else will do it while we wait at the crossroads for the light to turn.
John P. Anderton Ph.D., M.P.A.
Acting Associate Director for Communications Science
National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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