“My time is spent fighting insurance companies and doing paperwork instead of caring for patients.”

My father was a family medicine doctor for more than 40 years. Running a single-doctor practice, he wore many hats. Not only did he need to be a healthcare expert, he was also a small-business owner, accountant, HR director and IT person—roles he was never trained for. All while facing the challenges of practicing medicine: malpractice insurance costs, low reimbursements, government regulations and the uncertainty of healthcare reform.

So I shouldn’t have been surprised by what I heard from doctors who left private practice to work in urgent care. Read full post...

Paul Stecca, Creative Director

Wilmington, DE – AB&C, a full-service marketing communications agency, announces the promotion of Paul Stecca to the position of Creative Director. Stecca will oversee creative product for online advertising campaigns. Focusing on online banner ads, he will serve as an intermediary between the client services and creative teams, hire new team members, and remain abreast of online advertising trends and changes, including Flash and the future of HTML5 animation programs.

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Traditional focus groups are great, but this just wasn't one of those places.

I know you don’t need me to tell you, but I’m going to anyway. The Internet is amazing.

Let me take a step back. One of our clients came to us a few months ago asking us to do a focus group on new webpage layouts for their online payment flow. Very quickly we realized we didn’t have a whole lot of time to design, build, test and report on these payment flows, so we were forced to branch out from the traditional group-behind-the-one-way-mirror routine and see what other options were available. Now, don’t get me wrong — traditional focus groups are great and have their place, but this just wasn’t one of those places.

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Wilmington, DE – AB&C is hosting its annual art show opening reception on Thursday, December 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. This year’s show will feature original artwork created by AB&C employees Emory Au and Lou Brandsdorfer and friend of the agency Ed Przelomski. Come admire the art, listen to the live band, enjoy some hors d’oeuvres and have a drink or two.

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Maria Stearns, Healthcare Team Director

AB&C has been and will continue to be a regular contributor in 2013 to the Ragan’s Health Care Communication News blog, a daily news website that focuses on healthcare social media, marketing, health communications, pharma and physicians. We’re honored to contribute our client stories and expertise to this go-to online resource for the latest in healthcare. Maria Stearns wrote our current post, Hospital communicators: Nix the jargon, in which she implores marketers to push past the expected hospital descriptors to get to the source of what really differentiates hospitals.

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Wilmington, DE– AB&C, a full service marketing communications firm, recently added two new healthcare systems to its client roster. North Shore Physicians Group (MA) and West Virginia University Healthcare are engaging with the agency to conduct recruitment marketing campaigns.

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92% of physicians surveyed said they prefer to be alerted to job openings through email.

AB&C recently teamed with MDLinx to conduct a survey of 500 general practitioners, medical specialists and surgical specialists at different stages of their careers. Our research revealed similarities and surprises regarding their professional priorities and the best ways to reach them.

First, “show me the money”—financial rewards—still ranked as their number-one priority, followed by autonomy/independence, respect, reputation, camaraderie and, unexpectedly last, recognition.Read full post...

How do marketers make patients “brand” loyal to their PCP?

The days of doctors making house calls may be making a full circle as the new focus for insurance companies is promoting the importance of the primary care physician. In a world where people change doctors like they change their socks, how do marketers make patients “brand” loyal to their PCP?Read full post...

Wilmington, DE – AB&C, a full service marketing communications firm, received five gold awards and one silver award this October from the Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association. The JASPER Awards honor the region’s brightest performers in Advertising, Public Relations and Design.

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Sarah Forney, Assistant Account Executive/ Production Artist

Our Bloomsburg office welcomed assistant account executive/production artist Sarah Forney to the healthcare recruitment marketing team earlier this month. A rare commodity in our world, she brings a unique set of skills that bridges the gap between account services and creative. Sarah graduated from Pennsylvania College of Technology with a bachelor of science in graphic design. We — and our clients — are sure to benefit from her can-do attitude and energetic spirit!

Official Payments Corporation

Official Payments Corp. (OPC), a leading provider of electronic payment solutions, has named AB&C its agency of record. AB&C has been doing project work with OPC for several years and will now handle the company’s digital media campaigns, public relations initiatives and blog writing. We’re happy to be taking our relationship to the next level!

More of your social media for small businesses questions answered.

Someone posted a negative comment on my business’ social media page. Should I delete it?

No. Deleting negative comments does more harm than good. Instead, think about the most common customer complaints towards your business and develop a general response to each. If a negative post appears, take the appropriate general response and tailor it to specifically address the complaint. Additionally, get the conversation offline. Read full post...

Social media has become a powerful marketing tool.

So you think you’re ready to take the plunge. No, not marriage, kids or swimming with those Polar Bear guys. We’re talking about social media here. Like those other plunges, you might not quite be sure what you’re getting yourself into.

There’s no denying it: Social media has become a powerful marketing tool. Read full post...

Join us at the Hilton Wilmington/Christiana on Sunday, September 30 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.

Newark – The Christiana Hilton hosts the inaugural Delaware Humane Association “Yappy Hour Doggie Paddle Swim” at the Hilton Wilmington/Christiana on Sunday, September 30 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.

Dogs of all ages, shapes and sizes are welcome to participate. The doggie swim takes place in the Hilton’s outdoor pool. Afternoon festivities include a best swimsuit contest (dogs only), raffle contests, and activities for canines and their humans. The Hilton’s award-winning culinary team will prepare and butler wholesome and delicious dog hors d’oeuvres.

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Maria Stearns, Healthcare Team Director

AB&C Healthcare Team Director Maria Stearns and our client Nikki Yeager of MedStar Montgomery Medical Center will be speaking at an IGNITE! session at the annual conference of the Society for Healthcare Marketing and Strategic Development (SHSMD) in Philly this month. Their fast-paced presentation — limited to 10 minutes and 20 slides — will center on landing page best practices and will feature examples of landing pages used in campaigns for MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. Maria and Nikki step up to the dais on Wednesday, Sept. 19, so wish them luck!

For more information about the SHSMD 2012 Annual Conference,
visit the SHSMD conference website.