by admin | Nov 21, 2019 | News
Agency earns top honors for its “unicorn” campaign positioning client Health Catalyst for a successful initial public offering
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Nov. 21, 2019 Amendola Communications continues its award-winning momentum with today’s announcement that it earned the “Campaign of the Year” honors in the Business Intelligence Group’s (BIG) 2019 Public Relations and Marketing Excellence Awards for its “unicorn” public relations and content campaign for client Health Catalyst. (A “unicorn” is a privately held company valued at more than $1 billion.) The organization, one of the public relations (PR) and marketing agencies for healthcare and health IT which recently celebrated its Sweet 16 anniversary, received this honor after recently taking two Gold Awards and an Honorable Mention in the 2019 MarCom Awards.
The Health Catalyst campaign, “Revealing a Unicorn: Health Catalyst Joins the $1 Billion Club,” was created to help the client broaden the traditional scope of its PR and content program. Rather than being 100 percent focused on urging more health systems to consider adopting the company’s Late-Binding Enterprise Data Warehouse and shortening the sales cycle, the program expanded to helping Health Catalyst acquire an infusion of working capital through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The entry details how Amendola launched a multi-pronged PR and content strategy. Amendola began setting up interviews between company officials and reporters/editors that cover the investor sector. At the same time, it continued and expanded Health Catalyst’s award-winning customer success stories program, pitched interviews with company executives who could educate healthcare leaders on general healthcare trends and timely topics, developed and pitched press releases and set up meetings with key general and healthcare-specific analyst groups. These efforts enable Amendola to snare 19 interview opportunities, produce 18 press releases, create six customer success stories and deliver three byline articles. Amendola also wrote and submitted seven speaker abstracts and six award entries in six months, all of which helped lead to a successful IPO in July 2019.
“When we began with Health Catalyst they were just a small start-up with a great idea, so earning an award for a PR and content program that helped them reach “unicorn’ status is particularly gratifying,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “Yet there’s also some irony in the fact that the program we developed for them is anything but a unicorn. It’s actually typical of the level of quality and dedication we give to every account, helping them address their PR and marketing needs and grow their businesses. I am proud of our entire team and the great work they do every day, so it’s nice to see some of that work recognized and rewarded by BIG.”
The BIG Public Relations and Marketing Excellence Awards was launched in 2014 to reward public relations agencies, departments and people whose work delivered exceptional performance and innovative approaches. They are designed to reward and recognize those individuals and organizations who largely go unrecognized for helping to build great brands and products of world-class organizations.
About Amendola Communications
Amendola is an award-winning national public relations, marketing communications, social media and content marketing firm. Named one of the best information technology (IT) PR firms in the nation four times by PRSourceCode, Amendola represents some of the best-known brands and
groundbreaking startups in the healthcare and HIT industries. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros delivers strategic guidance and effective solutions to help organizations boost their reputation and drive market share. For more information about the PR industry’s “A-Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow Amendola on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
Ph: 480.664.8412 ext. 15
by admin | Oct 22, 2019 | News
Healthcare agency to elevate awareness programs for “care traffic control” and the orchestration of clinical logistics automation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 22, 2019 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing firm, announced that TAGNOS has hired the agency to provide strategic PR and content marketing services.
TAGNOS, located in Aliso Viejo, Calif., develops leading clinical logistics automation for hospitals and clinics. TAGNOS’ software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform is designed to orchestrate hospital workflows by infusing AI and machine learning into the practice of medicine to improve the patient experience, reduce wait times, improve staff efficiency and optimize supply and equipment utilization.
Amendola Communications CEO Jodi Amendola said: “TAGNOS offers a unique and proven clinical logistics automation solution that can be used in hospital and medical systems nationwide, with the potential to expand in other outpatient and emergency settings. We are looking forward to helping them expand their industry awareness and lead generation capabilities through valuable, strategic PR and marketing communications.”
Specific to operating rooms (ORs), the patented TAGNOS OR workflow solution aggregates and analyzes data from radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on patient wristbands, as well as information from hospital systems, to provide real-time insights into patient journeys through the surgical suite. According to TAGNOS, with its OR solution, hospital systems can realize a reduction of more than 12% in OR turnover times.
For emergency departments (EDs), TAGNOS ED workflow solution uses a machine-learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven application and location data to smooth unpredictable settings by making sense of patients and data, providing unified workflows, and improving team communication.
The solution is also used for hospital and medical center enterprise-wide asset tracking, allowing clinical personnel and staff to find needed equipment without unnecessary footsteps. Insights are communicated via the TAGNOS app to OR/ED teams’ handheld devices, eliminating the need for other time-consuming activities such as telephone calls, computer logins or physically tracking down team members.
“We were drawn to Amendola’s expertise in healthcare and health IT as well as their insider perspective based on the team’s work with major health systems,” said Neeraj Bhavani, CEO and founder of TAGNOS. “Amendola’s media and analyst relationships as well as their industry accolades for their strategic approach to PR and marketing are already bringing us results. Our relationship will enhance TAGNOS’ ability to spread the word about our proven solutions for orchestrating healthcare delivery.”
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About TAGNOS
TAGNOS is the clinical logistics automation solution healthcare teams use to orchestrate the functional aspects of care delivery. Our company offers a wide range of products and services designed to support OR and ED patient flow as well as asset and supply management. TAGNOS is the only company with an AI application that uses machine learning combined with real-time data capturing capabilities to provide a system that continually updates and adjusts its operational intelligence to provide sustained improvement. Our system is configurable with custom notification and escalation workflows and flexible communication options including iOS or Android app, SMS or integration with existing mobile platforms. By transforming raw data into actionable intelligence, TAGNOS helps hospitals and health systems Orchestrate Excellence. For more information visit tagnos.com, or follow on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Media contact:
Chris Currington
Amendola Communications
314.799.1987
ccurrington@acmarketingpr.com
by Stacy State | Oct 2, 2019 | Blog
We all have strengths and whether we admit it or not, we all have weaknesses. For one, I can’t seem to make a grilled cheese sandwich without burning at least one side. Lucky for me, there are people that not only cook grilled cheese to perfection, but they’ve done so well they’ve opened entire businesses to support this one simple menu item.
Outsourcing we all do it, nearly every day. I, for one, often “outsource” my cooking whether it be to family members or to nearby restaurants.
According to Dictionary.com, outsourcing is a verb meaning to purchase (goods) or subcontract (services) from an outside supplier or source. Unfortunately, the word “outsourcing” often sparks a negative connotation. In reality, it’s simply working with others to provide goods or services to enable one to focus on their own strengths.
The Benefits of an Agency
In 2017, the entire outsourcing market was worth $89 billion and has only grown since with both large and small companies outsourcing various components of their business. Frequently, companies choose to outsource all or pieces of their marketing and public relations efforts.
Some reasons companies may choose a marketing and PR agency include:
- It can be difficult to find the best talent, at a reasonable price. Hiring an agency that specializes in your field can afford you multiple experts at a lower cost.
- Faster Turnaround. With domain knowledge and available tools, a team of experts can produce results faster.
- Tools and Technology. An agency has access to the latest marketing and public relations tools and technology required to execute flawless campaigns with robust reporting.
- Staying Focused. This is especially true of smaller companies or high-growth companies. If information technology is your specialty, let your teams focus on internal development and support while outsourcing tasks that supplement your company objectives while allowing your team to stay focused on their initiatives.
- Last, but not least it is often more financially viable to outsource all or pieces of marketing and public relations rather than staff an entire team. Depending on a company’s size and growth trajectory, an internal marketing and PR team may consist of 1-2 or as many as 20+ internal employees.
Leaders must remember that it’s not an “all or nothing” scenario. If you have internal teams to handle most of the marketing and PR efforts, but you need the other 20%-40% managed externally, most agencies can fit your specific needs into a customized plan.
How to Decide
Even as a highly regarded marketing and public relations agency, we recognize that outsourcing these critical business needs is not for everyone. In a recent Forbes article, Jodi Amendola of Amendola Communications discusses the four criteria and questions to ask before choosing an “outsourced” marketing and PR agency.
The four most important questions include:
- Do you have clearly defined goals that you want your agency to achieve?
- Do you have someone that can act as your corporate liaison?
- Is your company’s culture accepting of new ideas and concepts?
- Are you okay with not being completely in control?
The last two are of particular importance. Whether you have an internal marketing staff already or will be relying solely on an agency, the culture of the company and willingness to accept an outside agency as part of your team is the key to success. The more you accept an agency as part of your team the easier it is for your employees and the agency to align with the business objectives and achieve goals.
In the most successful relationships, companies perceive their marketing and PR firms as an extension of their own teams. As with the existing marketing associates, agencies must also be held accountable for achieving defined goals and measured on their successes.
In summary, every company has its strengths and weaknesses. Josh Kaufmann, a famous business and entrepreneurship author, once said, “For everything we don’t like to do, there’s someone out there who’s really good, wants to do it and will enjoy it.” If you can find one of those, you’re ahead of the game.
by admin | Jul 30, 2019 | News
Healthcare and Health IT full service agency Amendola Communications shares insights on preventing and mitigating a crisis, ending a publicity dry spell and proving that PR and marketing work
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 30, 2019 PR and marketing aren’t for the faint of heart. If we’re not trying to talk a reporter into writing about our company, we’re pleading with them not to write something that was spilled in an interview. One minute we’re confidently explaining how marketing will enable sales, only to find ourselves tongue-tied when asked exactly how to measure those efforts.
Fear not, PR and marketing pros: you can do this! Amendola, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing agency, offers one of the most informative blogs available for taking on our profession’s most persistent problems. Check out some of our top posts this summer that give insight on crisis management, getting more pitches accepted, and yes measuring all of our stellar results.
How to break a pitching losing streak
You don’t have to be a crack marketer to get that a product based on a market want is more likely to succeed than one that isn’t. On the public relations side, however, there’s a tendency to pitch stories we want a journalist to cover instead of the other way around. No wonder then our pitches go unanswered or directed to e-Siberia: the reporter’s junk inbox. So how do we devise pitches that uncannily match a journalist’s interests and beat? In this informative post, Amendola’s managing director shares his tips for pitches that do exactly that. Read the full post here.
Nix media interview nervousness
We’ve seen it happen time and again. Someone who seems perfectly at ease whenever we encounter them becomes a different person altogether in a media interview. Suddenly, their confidence is replaced with an uncontrollable urge to ramble on and on in a fruitless search of a point any point. Unfortunately, that’s one of your few spokespeople. What to do? Start by watching this very short video from one of Amendola’s media training gurus. Even applying just a few of her tips can make a quick difference. Check out the video post here.
Create a better crisis response plan
You’ve spent considerable time putting together a crisis management plan that, hopefully, covers all the bases. But something important feels like it’s missing something that could derail even the best laid plan if you can’t remember it. Here’s what it is: more of a focus on what to do before and after the crisis. One of the most important prior to a crisis having enough goodwill on hand to survive it. Read all of the essential components here.
Make sure your marketing and PR measures up
If you can’t measure it, it didn’t happen, according to a frequently repeated maxim in our profession. Trouble is, when you try to figure out how to measure your own campaigns, you often wonder if you’re doing it right. There seem to be so many different opinions out there on the topic, and so much confusing lexicon. Until this blog post from an Amendola expert on PR and marketing metrics. We should all keep this terrific list on hand that details the top metrics that prove the impact of marketing and PR. Access the full list here.
What’s in a blog? In the Amendola blog, quite a bit! We cover all aspects of public relations and marketing, tackling difficult subjects with tried and tested strategies. A go-to source for communications professionals, the blog publishes on a weekly basis and features subject matter experts in every aspect of publicizing and marketing healthcare and health IT companies.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes, Amendola Communications / mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by admin | Jul 23, 2019 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 23, 2019 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing agency, has announced it has been selected as the public relations and media relations partner for HMS, a leading healthcare technology company that helps healthcare organizations reduce costs and improve health outcomes.
Amendola will utilize a broad range of integrated PR, media relations and content development services to drive greater industry awareness of HMS’ innovative technology, analytics and engagement solutions that save public and commercial payers, as well as employers and at-risk healthcare providers, billions of dollars annually while helping consumers lead healthier lives. Chiefly, Amendola will be driving brand awareness of the HMS’ population health management solutions through earned thought leadership content, media outreach campaigns, conference speaking opportunities, as well as strategic PR counsel and planning.
“We need a savvy and skilled partner to hit the ground running as we expand our fast-growing population health management suite as well as our industry leading coordination of benefits and payment integrity solutions,” said HMS Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Maria Perrin. “Amendola’s decades-long healthcare and health technology expertise and experience is impressive, but what excites us the most is the proven results they’ve delivered for clients across a wide range of trade, national and local media, as well as through social platforms. Amendola is a perfect partner to help us generate the type of awareness and growth we’re pursuing in the highly competitive healthcare market.”
“HMS is an established health tech leader with an impressive track record of saving billions of dollars for their customers, while helping to improve health outcomes for consumers,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “That’s why we are excited to partner with them as they expand their footprint in the growing population health management market segment with solutions that are both unique and drive real results.”
Founded in 1974, HMS is based in Irving, Texas, with more than 2,500 employees in 25-plus offices across the country. HMS’ customer base includes more than 40 state Medicaid programs and more than 325 health plans, including 23 of the top 25 health plans nationally based on membership. Customers also include more than 150 private employers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Veterans Affairs, pharmacy benefit managers and risk-bearing provider organizations, including independent practice associations, hospital systems, ACOs and specialty care organizations. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of HMS Holdings Corp., traded on NASDAQ (ticker: HMSY), and certified by HITRUST.
Amendola will promote HMS through numerous PR and content development programs, supported by Amendola’s top-tier industry and media relations. The agency will work with HMS to deliver to federal, state and commercial payers and risk-bearing provider organizations a broad range of targeted content, drawing on Amendola’s deep industry knowledge and diverse media relationships in healthcare, business and consumer media. Amendola also will be responsible for driving coverage of HMS’ leaders and highlighting how analytics can identify, stratify and guide members and patients toward healthier and adherent behaviors and away from adverse events, emergency department utilization and hospitalizations.
About HMS
HMS advances the healthcare system by helping healthcare organizations reduce costs and improve health outcomes. Through our industry-leading technology, analytics and engagement solutions, we save billions of dollars annually while helping consumers lead healthier lives. HMS provides a broad range of coordination of benefits, payment integrity, care management and consumer engagement solutions that help move the healthcare system forward.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
