Nation’s First Healthcare “Genius Bar” Engages Ochsner Patients with Technology
[SHSMD14 Podcast Series] Healthcare Success’ Kylie Ladd chats with Elizabeth Joint, the new marketing manager at Ochsner Health System (Louisiana). They spoke during the 2014 SHSMD Connections event in San Diego.
Ochsner Health System, southeast Louisiana's largest non-profit, academic, multi-specialty, healthcare delivery system, is also one of the nation’s “most wired” organizations. A unique “O Bar,” located at Ochsner’s Center for Primary Care and Wellness, introduces a health information “genius bar’ concept.
This patient-engaging idea was part of the conversation between Marketing Manager Elizabeth Joint and Healthcare Success’ Kylie Ladd at SHSMD14.
Highlights from this conversation:
Q: What do you expect to be your biggest marketing challenge in your new position as marketing manager at Ochsner Health?
A: Ochsner Health recently built a new primary care building where they have clinic space for over 50 primary care physicians. [An important task] will be getting the word out about the new building and the tech-savvy and user-friendly amenities.
Q: How many people are in the Ochsner marketing department?
A: It’s between 20 and 30 people, which includes all of marketing and communications and a photography team.
Q: Is Ochsner Health System looking to expand its presence?
A: Ochsner is health system with 13 hospitals and over 40 health centers in southeast Louisiana. We have just had an affiliation with a local hospital on the north shore and just acquired a hospital in the River Parishes area.
Q: Patient Engagement is a big topic at this conference. What do you foresee for Ochsner?
A: In the realm of primary care, Ochsner is doing a lot of things with regard to the new building. One example is “Ochsner’s O Bar” using interactive health technology to help patients find health and lifestyle apps that can help them improve their lifestyle and/or diet or support whatever their doctor has recommended for them.
More about the patient-engaging O Bar concept…
The O Bar shares physician-recommended health apps at its state-of-the-art iPad bar. Patients with diabetes, high cholesterol or who need help quitting smoking can test the best apps to manage their health and wellness.
Oschner's O Bar Engages Patients with Interactive Health
The installation also presents interactive health technology that works via a smartphone or online app, such as blood glucose monitors and scales that email daily results directly to your physician and a wireless blood pressure cuff that can plug into your phone
The O Bar—complete with flat screens and iPads—is staffed by a technology specialist who can assist in the choice of the right product or app, as well as providing setup guidance and support.
RELATED PODCASTS: additional podcasts in this series and previous Healthcare Success marketing leadership conversations are available on this page and on our iTunes Podcast channel.
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Kylie Ladd— Kylie manages the social media presence for several clients, constantly finding new ways to engage with community members and looking out for emerging trends. She has worked for several media companies including NBC Nightly News, Warner Music Group, and Gorkana Group. Kylie graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and New Media.
