by Administrator | Jul 9, 2019 | News
2019 Top Women in Healthcare Awards
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. July 9, 2019 Amendola Communications founder and CEO Jodi Amendola has been named a finalist for the PR News Top Women in Healthcare for 2019 award. The prestigious award recognizes the most innovative women in the healthcare public relations space. Amendola was singled out for her work leading and executing high-performing global communications campaigns for leaders in healthcare information technology, biotech and beyond.
Other award finalists include executives from some of the nation’s best-known healthcare organizations, including Blue Cross NC, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, and Dignity Health.
Amendola is a recognized HIT PR veteran, who has won numerous industry awards, including PR News’ Top Women in PR for 2017, PRSourceCode’s “Top PR Pro” award (multiple years) and an elite Forty-Under-40 Business Leader by the Phoenix Business Journal.
Amendola and her team have created high-impact PR and marketing campaigns for an extensive client roster that has included Intel, McKesson, Allscripts, Health Catalyst, etc. Founded in 2004, Amendola Communications has been recognized by PRSourceCode as a “Best-of-the-Best” agency nationwide for several years, and the firm has been named a top Healthcare Agency in Ragan and PR Daily’s Ace Awards.
Amendola is an active member of the National Charity League and has served on numerous leadership boards, including AzHIMSS, the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation, X2 Health Network, D.A.R.E. NJ and the Community Resource Council.
Most recently, Amendola was unanimously appointed to the board of the Help in Healing Home Foundation, a not-for-profit organization in Phoenix that offers low-cost lodging and care to patients recovering from major surgeries or awaiting transplants. Amendola Communications provides pro bono marketing and promotional PR support for the Foundation.
“I am so grateful for this honor and want to acknowledge my colleagues, clients, employees, associates and family who have supported me along the way,” said Jodi Amendola. “Being recognized by PR News is an honor that inspires me to give back. I am so proud of our agency’s mission to accelerate the market success of innovative health and healthcare technology companies, playing a vital role in improving the health of people everywhere.”
The Top Women in Healthcare Awards Luncheon will take place on July 16, 2019 at The Yale Club in New York City. The event will bring together female leaders from a wide range of healthcare organizations, all working to better the lives of patients and the broader community through their work.
Media contact:
Marcia Rhodes, Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
480.664.8412 ext. 15
by admin | Feb 6, 2019 | News
Clients’ technologies to shine brightly at largest health IT event of the year
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Feb. 6, 2019 Innovative technologies from Amendola health IT clients will be highlighted in a number of key educational sessions presented by the clients’ end users at HIMSS19, which takes place Feb. 11,15, 2019, in Orlando.
“This year marks Amendola’s 15th anniversary and the 15th consecutive year that our agency will have a presence at HIMSS,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of the award-winning healthcare and health IT marketing and public relations agency. “It’s been amazing to see how much the conference has grown in the nearly 20 years I’ve been attending and gratifying to see the tangible results that healthcare organizations are realizing from our clients’ technologies, which will be highlighted in these presentations.”
The speakers, who in a few of the sessions are joined by the technology vendors as co-presenters, will explain how they have overcome some of the biggest healthcare challenges of today by leveraging solutions from Amendola clients, including Alliance for Better Health, Arcadia.io, Ayasdi, Bernoulli, Health Catalyst, Medicomp Systems, Recondo Technology, SAP, SCIO Health Analytics, VisitPay, Vivify Health and Vocera.
Accountable Care Organizations
Predictive Analytics for Data-Driven Care Management Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization (BIDCO), a leading, value-based accountable care organization participating in five risk-based contracts, will discuss how to leverage predictive analytics to identify patients most likely to benefit from care coordination. Details: Presented by Sarika Aggarwal, MD, MHCM, Chief Medical Officer of BIDCO, and Bill Gillis, MS, Chief Information Officer; 2:30,3:30 pm Wed. Feb. 13, Room W208C. Highlights technology from Arcadia.io.
Building a Quality-Driven Narrow SNF Network CareMount ACO, a physician-owned multispecialty medical group participating as a Medicare Next Generation ACO in the Hudson Valley, will explain how it leveraged a population health platform to aggregate data needed to develop a narrow Preferred Provider Network of skilled nursing facilities, home health and other ancillary providers. Details: Presented by Peter Kelly, MBA, Executive Director of CareMount ACO, and Richard Morel, MD, MMM, FCAP, Deputy Chief Medical Officer; 11:30 am,12:30 pm Wed. Feb. 13, Room W315A. Highlights technology from Arcadia.io.
AI and Machine Learning
Cloud Analytics: A Fast Lane to Enable Real-World Evidence Mercy, one of the largest Catholic health systems in the country, is powering data-driven healthcare with artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics to benchmark best practices across its 44 acute care and specialty hospitals. As a result, Mercy is uncovering cost savings, improving patient outcomes, and creating new revenue streams to monetize data. Details: Presented by Curtis Dudley, VP of Performance Solutions, Mercy; 9:45,10:15 am Mon. Feb. 11, Rosen Centre Executive Ballroom I. Highlights technology from SAP.
Driving Physician Engagement and Patient Outcomes with Artificial Intelligence Vituity, a multispecialty partnership of physicians, improved population health and enhanced patient experience by developing AI-driven real-time clinical decision support tools. Details: Presented by Dipti Patel-Misra, PhD, MBA, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Vituity, and Joshua H. Tamayo-Sarver, MD, PhD, FACEP, BCCI, CPHIMS, Vice President, Informatics; 10 11 am Thurs. Feb. 14, Room W207C. Highlights technology from Health Catalyst.
How AI Enabled a Community Hospital to Tackle Clinical Variation and Reduce Length-of-Stay Flagler Hospital saved an average of $1,350 per case, reduced the average length of stay by two days, and decreased readmissions by seven times eliminating nearly $850,000 in costs by tapping into powerful, unsupervised AI technology. Details: Presented by Michael Sanders, FAAFP, MD, CMIO, Flagler Hospital; 11:40 am 12 pm Mon. Feb. 11, Rosen Centre Junior Ballroom F. Part of the HIMSS19 Machine Learning & AI for Healthcare pre-conference symposium. Highlights technology from Ayasdi.
Machine Learning to Predict Risk and Enhance Efficiency A regional health system in New York applied machine learning to multiple data sources to create a risk model that identifies high- and low-risk patients to reduce 30-day readmissions. Details: Presented by Simer Sodhi, Director of Data Management and Analytics, Westchester Medical Center; 10:45 11:05 am Mon. Feb. 11, Rosen Centre Junior Ballroom F. Part of the HIMSS19 Machine Learning & AI for Healthcare pre-conference symposium. Highlights technology from Health Catalyst.
Inpatient Monitoring
A Business and Clinical Case for Continuous Surveillance Virtua Memorial Hospital leveraged continuous capnography monitoring in a medical-surgical unit to detect adverse clinical events while also mitigating artifacts related to patient movement, suspect measurements and other medical device-generated alarm signals. Details: Presented by Leah Baron, MD, former Chief of the Department of Anesthesiology at Virtua Memorial Hospital, and John Zaleski, PhD, CPHIMS, CAP, Chief Analytics Officer, Bernoulli; 10 11 am Thurs. Feb. 14, Room W206A. Highlights technology from Bernoulli.
Improving Sepsis Care with Data Analytics Allina Health developed and implemented a comprehensive, data-driven approach for early identification and reduced variation in sepsis care. Details: Presented by Mischa Adams, MSN, RN, CCRN, Clinical Standard Coordinator, Allina Health, and Sarah Jenson, MS, Analytics Director, Health Catalyst/Allina Health; 1 2 pm Thurs. Feb. 14, Room W206A. Highlights technology from Health Catalyst.
Patient Experience
Restore Human Connections with Collaboration and Technology The University of Chicago Medicine designed effective approaches to improve the human experience, collaborating with clinical and information and technology leaders to drive positive human connections and transformative change in healthcare. Details: Presented by Sue Murphy, RN, Chief Experience Officer, University of Chicago Medicine, and Diane M. Rogers, CPXP, ACC President, Contagious Change, LLC; 11:30 am 12:30 pm Wed. Feb. 13, Room W204A. Highlights technology from Vocera.
Population Health and Chronic Condition Management
Enhancing Patient Care with Physician-Driven Documentation Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s ongoing clinical documentation improvement initiative enables efficient, structured documentation, but also allows the organization to harness patient data to create real-time clinical dashboards for more effective care for patients with chronic disease. Details: Presented by Vinay Vaidya, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and Michael Shishov, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology; 1:30 2:30 pm Tues. Feb. 12, Room W311A. Highlights technology from Medicomp Systems.
Cracking the Code to Better Quality and Financial Outcomes Rush Health describes how it used advanced analytics to improve the way it manages risk, resulting in improved patient care and enhanced revenue. Details: Presented by James Grana, PhD, Chief Analytics Officer, Rush Health, and Bala Hota, MD, Chief Analytics Officer, Rush University Medical Center; 1:30 2:30 pm Tues. Feb. 12, Room W206A. Highlights technology from SCIO Health Analytics.
Remote Monitoring Shows Significant Pop Health Benefits University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Ontario Telemedicine Network utilized remote patient monitoring to improve patient engagement and outcomes for chronic disease management. Details: Presented by Andrew Watson, Vice President, Clinical Information Technology Transformation, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Laurie Poole, Vice President, Clinical Innovation, Ontario Telemedicine Network; 10:30 11:30 am Tues. Feb. 12, Room W315B. Highlights technology from Vivify Health.
Patient-Centered Referral Workflow Automation Steward Health Care Network automated referral workflows improve efficiency, care coordination and patient satisfaction. Details: Presented by Heather Trafton, PA-C, MBA, Senior Vice President of National MSO Operations, Steward Health Care Network, and Kristin Ottariano, MS, Director of Medicaid Operation; 2:30 3:30 pm Thurs. Feb. 14, Room W206A. Highlights technology from Arcadia.io.
Doing Well by Doing Good: Finding the ROI Social Care Programs This invitation-only roundtable focuses on the outcomes and ROI of treating social needs. The session will focus on identifying disconnects in the current system, and the opportunities for innovations in technology and collaboration to play an important role in the solutions. Details: 3 4 pm Tues. Feb. 12, Hyatt Regency, Room Hyatt Rock Springs II. Highlights key thought leaders from Alliance for Better Health.
Revenue Cycle Management
How Web Bots Freed $20 Million from a Billing Bottleneck Avera Health improved cash flow by $20 million dollars in its first year, while reducing aged A/R accounts by almost half, after automating claim status follow-up with healthcare insurance companies using AI technology. Details: Mary Wickersham, MHA, Vice President, Central Business Office Services, Avera Health, and Ryan Ayres, Vice President, Product Management, Recondo Technology; 4:15 5:15 pm Tues. Feb. 12, Room W308A. Highlights technology from Recondo Technology.
The Patient Behind the Bill: Creating a More Satisfying Financial Journey St. Luke’s Health System in Boise fundamentally re-imagined the patient financial journey, creating a personalized experience that offers patients transparency, choice and control over billing obligations while turning bad debt into consistent payments. Details: Presented by Michael Rawdan, Senior Director, Revenue Cycle & Patient Experience, St. Luke’s Health System; 11:00 11:35 am Mon. Feb. 11, Rosen Centre Grand Ballroom D. Part of the HIMSS19 pre-conference Revenue Cycle Solutions Summit. Highlights technology from VisitPay.
Media Contact: Marcia Rhodes, Amendola, mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by Lisa Chernikoff | Apr 11, 2018 | Blog
We’ve all heard of analysis paralysis the state of over-analyzing or over-thinking a situation so much that a decision is never made and the outcome is impacted. Recently I’ve been witnessing a curious yet similar phenomenon at healthcare IT companies across the country and the analysis paralysis is all about “strategy.” As in overall corporate strategy and direction.
In short, these companies are all about strategic planning, but in the end they seem to come out of it having virtually no strategic plans. They’re all about all-day strategy meetings which result in no strategy but rather more questions that prompt more all-day meetings and shockingly, yet still no strategy.
From the outside looking in, this cycle is an endless hamster wheel that leaves team members feeling tired rather than energized, frustrated rather than empowered, and most troublingly, so terrified that their actions won’t follow the still-to-be-approved (or never-to-be-approved) strategy that they simply don’t act. This inaction can be minor or major as it builds up over time but it’s always detrimental.
Back to basics to get results
Their “strategic focus,” while well-intentioned, sets companies on the wrong path in the short and long-term, especially in regards to PR which should have a constant, ongoing cadence to create momentum and maximize results.
While company strategies can be complicated and have a profound impact on PR efforts, many aspects of PR strategy are quite uncomplicated. In fact, there are core tenets which are quite basic and fundamental to any sound PR plan. There are the pillars that cannot be disputed so they need not be delayed regardless of executive indecision.
Whether your strategy is set or you’re one of many stuck on the endless hamster wheel, these four actions are key to success. They are mission-critical, and safely fit into any PR strategy for 2018 and beyond:
1. Write and distribute press releases
It sounds like a no-brainer but for many companies it’s not because they live in fear of being “off brand” or “misaligned.” They live in fear of putting out too many press releases yet not enough press releases. Those fears are unwarranted though since your company is doing good work. Why shouldn’t it be shared? Did you develop a new product? Let’s write a release. Did you sign a new customer? Let’s write a release. Is your CEO speaking at an industry event? Let’s write a release.
Writing a press release is one of the simplest ways to communicate what’s happening and why it matters. Distributing those press releases positions your company as a key player and thought leader in the ongoing industry dialogue. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated and as long as you’re not regularly putting out more than 2-4 press releases per month, you’re not overdoing it. So, just do it.
2. Highlight your customer’s success stories
Once again, it sounds like a no-brainer. You have customers. They like your products. They like your team. They have achieved impressive results that they’re willing to share. Let them be your advocates. Capture their stories in writing. Put them in front of reporters who are eager to hear from both executives and end-users at provider organizations. It’s as simple as that. Just like with press releases, these customer success stories illustrate that your company is doing good work and that’s what makes more customers want to work with you, which of course is one of the biggest end goals of any strategy. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated. As long as your customers are singing your praises, hand over the microphone and let them sing.
3. Emphasize your expertise
In addition to highlighting your clients, highlight your company’s thought leaders. After all, they are also doing good work (you may see a pattern here). They have knowledge to share. They have ideas to contribute. They are the faces of your company and you need some faces even if you don’t have a final strategy. This action can mean authoring bylined articles or blogs on their behalf or pitching them as experts for media interviews. By positioning your executives and SMEs as thought leaders and joining the industry conversation, you’re helping to make your company a go-to source for future media opportunities. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated and it would really be a shame for their knowledge to go to waste.
4. Educate your sales team about PR efforts
Regardless of strategy indecision, your sales team needs to close deals. There is nothing off-strategy about building your business. Media placements from your PR efforts are one of the most powerful but underutilized tools in your sales team toolkits. Obviously, sales prospects are not interested in the same information as the media. In fact, they may be turned off by being sent a press release about a new client that just signed on. However, they may be very interested in press coverage from well-regarded industry publications that profile your company news, thought leadership, and customer success stories. That is not only informative but also adds credibility and implies that you want to keep them in the know.
Similarly, if one of your client case studies is featured in a third-party publication, that’s a prime opportunity to reach out, share the article and offer a reference call with the client quoted. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated and if you’re earning media placements it is certainly a shame not to use them to their fullest potential.
It’s time to get off the hamster wheel and get on with the real work that makes a difference.
by Jodi Amendola | Mar 14, 2018 | Blog
Some people network the traditional way. They attend networking events, dinners, and happy hours. Or they join membership organizations, serve on boards, etc.
The planned socials are not really my thing, though. Rather, I have built much of our public relations agency’s success on being open to engaging others, at just about any time, place or event. That’s a lesson I learned from my mom and dad!
They always pushed me to talk to everyone. I can still hear my Dad say: “Go talk to him. You never know where it will lead!” and “Go say “hi” to her. You never know who she knows.”
Not surprisingly, my parents were right and today it’s a philosophy I live by: network with everyone. You just never know! I have built my business on the unintentional events and truly believe that one experience leads to the next.
Here’s a great example. I recently received a LinkedIn note from someone looking for a national healthcare/pharma PR agency; her CEO had suggested she meet with me. Of course, it felt great hearing that the CEO remembered me and our high quality work especially since it had to be at least 12 years ago that he engaged us.
A meeting was scheduled. We barely got into the office when the lady said, “I can’t believe how you and Michael met. What a funny story!” To be honest, I had totally forgotten but when she gave me some details, it jogged my memory and wow, it was a good story!
Michael and I met at a car wash. Yes, a car wash!! It was a Friday afternoon and we were both waiting for our cars to be done. My mom, who was with me, engaged Michael in conversation. When she learned he was in healthcare she proceeded to sell him on my services!
There are not too many people in the healthcare/healthcare IT/pharma public relations space in Arizona, and Michael was impressed that I knew the lingo. We exchanged cards and met the following week at Starbuck’s. We did some project work for them and then lost touch … until now.
Here’s another example. Jim R. was a neighbor of mine. We were chatting at a pool party and became family friends. He was an entrepreneur and encouraged me to start my own business. I had been thinking about doing just that, and Jim’s encouragement gave me the extra push I needed. He also became a client and remains a good friend today.
And one more example one of my favorites–about how I met Gregg C. in the taxi line at the Dallas airport. In town for the HIMSS convention, along with tens of thousands of others, the line stretched on forever. Finally, the man managing it all yelled out, “Anyone else going to the convention center?”
Gregg and I got into the same taxi (pre-Uber days, of course!), and soon fell into conversation all the way into the city. It turned out Gregg was a top exec at Intel, and also from Arizona. At the time, I worked for a different healthcare IT PR agency, and Gregg said that Intel might need some specialized healthcare PR. He introduced me to a colleague, Chris, and the rest is history Intel’s Internet healthcare division became one of the agency’s clients.
But it gets better. I invited Chris to an event. She brought her colleague, Kate. I remained friends with Kate long after the engagement with Intel ended. In fact, years later when I launched my own PR agency, I reached out to Kate, and hired her to start our marketing department. Now, 14 years later, Kate is a vital part of Amendola, still leading our marketing efforts and so much more!
Networking has continued to build Amendola Communications. It was about eight years ago that I got a call from Jim G. He looked me up because I led his company’s PR efforts decades before. We not only re-connected but became great friends, attending HIT meetings and network events together, and cross-referring business leads.
Jim referred me to so many great HIT influencers that today, I rarely participate in RFPs. I don’t need to. Between my many years in the business, networking with editors, clients, and others, business leads just come in.
Of course, it is also a testament to my team and the agency that we have so many repeat clients: Doug, a four- time Amendola client; Jay, a three- time Amendola client; Brett, a three-time Amendola client; Steve, a two-time Amendola client; Michele, a two-time Amendola client; Laura, a two-time Amendola client. And the list goes on and on.
Mom and Dad were right. You just never know what that one connection will lead to! Why not connect with us today? At the very least, you’ll have a free, no-obligation consultation with the healthcare IT industry’s leading public relations agency. Shoot me an email at jamendola@acmarketingpr.com. I can’t wait to hear from you!
