by admin | Jun 5, 2018 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 5, 2018 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing agency, is pleased to announce that it has been selected as the PR agency of record for VisitPay.
Amendola will utilize a broad range of public relations and content services to promote VisitPay’s market-leading platform for fully automated patient financial engagement.
Founded in 2010, VisitPay is the developer of a cloud-based platform used by major providers to deliver transparency, choice and control to patients managing healthcare financial transactions and outstanding balances. Through VisitPay, patients can access a complete and comprehensive accounting of their financial obligations, as well as critical health plan and healthcare information, through health system-branded portals.
For health systems, VisitPay’s proprietary analytics tailors consistent and fully compliant financing options to the unique needs of individual patients and their families, creating a simplified billing experience that drives both higher payment rates and improved patient satisfaction scores.
“VisitPay counts some of the largest and most innovative health systems as clients. We wanted a public relations agency that could capitalize on that momentum,” said Will Reilly, Vice President of Marketing at VisitPay. “Amendola’s deep experience in health IT will help us shape and lead the conversation on patient financial experience.”
Amendola will promote VisitPay through a number of public relations and content marketing programs, supported by Amendola’s top-tier media research and relations. The agency will work with VisitPay to increase brand awareness and thought leadership by delivering its core value proposition to target audiences, drawing on its deep industry knowledge and significant media relationships in health IT. Amendola will also be responsible for delivering a range of content demonstrating the thought leadership and expertise of VisitPay’s corporate and client-based leadership.
“Hospitals and health systems are challenged with uncovering the tools and strategies for bringing transparency, choice and control to the patient financial experience,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “Our collective experience in the patient-as-payer space will be instrumental in helping
About VisitPay
VisitPay is the first and only platform for Patient Financial Health. The culmination of seven years learning and development, this proprietary cloud-based platform enables health systems to dramatically increase the amount paid on patient balances because patients can finally exercise control over their financial health. VisitPay is proudly headquartered in Boise, Idaho, one of the most livable cities in the country, where it has assembled a powerful team focused on predictive analytics, user-driven software design and consumer finance. More information about the company and its solutions can be found at www.visitpay.com.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by admin | May 22, 2018 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 22, 2018 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and healthcare IT (HIT) public relations and marketing agency, announced today that it has added another accolade from the PR industry. The agency was recently recognized in the overall Healthcare Agency category in Ragan and PR Daily’s Ace Awards 2017.
The Honorable Mention award is just the latest national recognition for the agency, which provides a full range of PR and marketing services, including media and analyst relations, messaging, media training, content development and management, social media, digital and online marketing, collateral development, website design and content creation, crisis management, strategic counsel and other services.
“We have received many awards focused on specific campaigns, but we’re especially proud of this award from Ragan and PR Daily because it recognizes the agency as a whole our work, how we operate, our development of a high-performance team and culture, and the results we generate for clients,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “We’ve lived and breathed healthcare technology for nearly two decades and, as a result, have developed a team of healthcare veterans with the experience, connections and creativity to drive meaningful business results for businesses of all sizes, whether they’re early-stage startups or established public companies.”
The Ace Awards honor individuals, in-house teams and agencies in communications and marketing. Entrants represent the most talented and innovative thinkers across a variety of industries.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by admin | May 10, 2018 | News
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. May 10, 2018 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing agency, announced today that it has been selected as the agency of record for Lightbeam Health Solutions, a leader in end-to-end population health management solutions and services. Amendola will promote Lightbeam’s brand, solutions and thought leaders through its deep relationships with industry media, influencers and events.
Irving, Texas-based Lightbeam integrates data warehousing, data analytics, health information exchange and care management capabilities to deliver the most comprehensive population health management solutions in healthcare. Lightbeam’s technology provides the guidance needed to deliver the right care at the right time, while reducing costs and delivering outstanding financial results.
“Lightbeam is committed to equipping providers with the solutions needed to improve the lives of whole populations of patients across the continuum of care, while helping them to better manage the cost of that care,” said Jorge Miranda, EVP of Lightbeam Health Solutions. “We look forward to benefitting from Amendola’s strategic vision and expert execution as we continue to help healthcare organizations and ACOs make the challenging journey from volume to value.”
“Population health management is a crowded field with numerous companies struggling to achieve the sort of end-to-end solution that Lightbeam has developed,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “We are thrilled to partner with Lightbeam’s leadership several of whom we have worked with in previous companies to accelerate their ability to attract new customers and partnerships.”
About Lightbeam Health Solutions
Lightbeam Health Solutions delivers a revolutionary model for managing patient populations and associated risk. Lightbeam’s vision is to bring health data into the light through the use of analytics, and to provide the insight and capabilities healthcare clients need to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time. Lightbeam’s platform facilitates end-to-end population health management for ACOs, payers, provider groups, health systems, and other healthcare organizations aspiring to provide superior care at a lower cost. For more information, visit
www.lightbeamhealth.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Media Contact: Marcia Rhodes | mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by Philip Anast | Apr 25, 2018 | Blog
In his book, “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business,” New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg explores the neurology of habits, why habits form in human beings, and how we can change them through a systematic approach of identifying their cues, rewards and routines.
Establishing new habits can become automatic, so that we don’t even think about them.
Duhigg employs multiple case studies to convey how habits are teachable to individuals, organizations and businesses, and societies, illustrating their profound impact. In one example, he takes us through the NFL coaching career of Tony Dungy and how he instilled certain habits in his players to help them react to cues in game situations without having to overthink their actions. The ultimate result was a Super Bowl championship in Indianapolis.
Another one centers on Paul O Neill, former treasury secretary in the second Bush administration and earlier, the President of Alcoa. O Neill’s emphasis on safety in his plants, much to the initial chagrin of fellow executives and board members, helped quadruple Alcoa revenues while instilling worker habits that empowered them to offer ideas for other improvements and best practices. The results were a happier workforce, and crucial business alignment between rank-and-file workers and management.
Such demonstrated success informs my thinking around best practices. While we have talented staff members who bring their own unique experiences and skillsets to Amendola Communications, it is important that we coalesce around certain “habits,” or best practices, to ensure consistent client service, delivery and results.
Best practices around account management/client service, content development, social and media relations help our agency be prodigious client stewards with the goals of fulfilling our PR program work and building long-term client relationships. Equally important is a workforce that understands its role, feels empowered to do its best, and delivers great results. In future blog posts, I’ll explore best practices around client planning and client communication.
by Matt Schlossberg | Mar 21, 2018 | Blog
Before social media, cross-platform campaigns and general business trends toward greater economy and efficiency of services, public relations and marketing though often collaborators were two distinct disciplines. Despite a kind of “kissing cousins” relationship, each had its own mission and purpose.
In today’s world, however, public relations and marketing are connected in ways that are both complex and granular. How effectively these well-blended professions work together is key to positively and creatively positioning your business for success.
Two Faces or a Vase?
It used to be that marketing handled advertising and PR handled earned media. Both jobs required that they make the business look good. That’s still true today kind of. It depends on how you look at it, and even then it can be hard to explain.
Let’s start with a visual the Rubin’s vase. This is a rather famous optical illusion that is usually depicted as a simple black-and-white image that can be interpreted differently depending on who is looking at it. One person looking at the image may see the shape of a vase, while another might glimpse two faces in profile facing each other. The person who sees the face can eventually see the vase, and the person who sees the face can see the two profiles, but neither person can they maintain both images concurrently.
This is what PR and marketing used to look like. Marketing helped move the company’s product (two faces), while PR sold the “vase” in the form of the company’s brand and reputation.
Today, those distinctions are not as stark. Businesses are expecting their PR and marketing teams to find a way to see two faces and a vase at the same time. Like never before, PR and marketing need each other to help a business succeed.
A Distinction without a Difference?
OK, so the average business executive may not really care about whether PR and marketing represent a single entity or distinct areas (after all, they care about results, which as we know, always fall freely from the magical Results Tree). It’s OK we’re used to it.
But you should care. More than anyone else in the company, the PR and marketing teams orbit in close and consistent proximity to your customers. Understanding how they best work together can make or break a business. If they are not on the same page, your company will not be on the same page with the customer.
You do the math.
The Content Example
One of the reasons why PR and marketing are “colliding” is that in today’s environment content is king. Byline articles, blog posts, tweets, status updates, e-mail blasts. It seems that every new piece of content is “old” by the time the final stamp of approval is given.
Campaigns highly customized to the business or even a specific initiative within the enterprise maximize your business’s core messages. But they also act in a way to bring a measure of control, discipline and meaning to the tsunami of content most businesses need to produce to stay relevant in hyper-competitive industries.
The success of these campaigns often hinges on how well marketing and PR work together.
With any initiative, the Golden Rule is “early and often.” This means that your PR and marketing pros need to engage early and often in order for the client to enjoy the end result (capitalizing on the success of a campaign or initiative).
PR and marketing teams feed on data both internal (from sales, product developers, c-suite executives) and external (customers and market shifts within the industry). That data will ultimately define the functional aspects of a campaign (the best vehicles and channels to reach prospective customers) and the emotional resonance (how the precise positioning of a message impacts a customer and their willingness to buy from and stay loyal to the business).
Final Thoughts
When I start with a new client, one of my first goals is to get to know the marketing team and what they are working on. I also ask to engage with the sales team. What are customers connecting with? How do they interact with the company? And I don’t accept stock answers. I drill down. Sometimes, a turn of phrase or just the right word can be the different between a lost sale and a signature on the dotted line.
Years ago, I might not have thought to do this. Today, I understand that the data I acquire from them will inform the shape of my PR campaign. I also understand that my PR campaign will affect everything on their side from sales presentations and the keywords and phrases used in a brochure to social media campaigns and the priorities on the content calendar.
Marketing and PR, while still very much distinct, are travelling toward the same goal and often taking the exact same road. There are the occasional places where the two diverge, but understanding those subtle differences is where true collaboration and the success of your business lies.
