AB&C is kicking off the new year with a bright new group of interns. Each season we select interns to work in departments appropriate to their career paths. Guided by their mentors, they participate in real agency projects. (We all fetch our own coffee at AB&C.)

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Think about your physician leaders as your hospital’s quarterback.

Like most American men, I’m a huge football fan. Specifically, my allegiance is to the Philadelphia Eagles (you can now officially feel sorry for me). This year has been rough, as we’ve seen draft picks underperform, free agents take large contracts and contribute very little and, after all was said and done, our coach get fired and shown the door. This got me thinking: Hospitals and health systems are not that different than a professional football team. Let me explain how.Read full post...

As all hospital content creators know, there is no shortage of stories to tell.

Everyone blogs—kids, cats, Starbucks, even an accused criminal. But in the world of hospital communications, blogging is not nearly as prevalent. In fact, fewer than four percent of hospitals have them—185 to be exact, according to the Mayo Clinic’s Health Care Social Media List.

It’s a little surprising that more hospitals haven’t embraced the blog as a way to share their stories. A blog offers a controlled communications channel that engages and drives measurable web traffic. It showcases the organization’s personality and mission. I would challenge any PR or marketing pro to come up with a tactic that does all that—in 300 words or less!

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Don’t empty the mailbox (electronic or otherwise) and never stop thinking about what areas of business you’d like to understand better.

I suspect many other people in business face in the same dilemma I face nearly every workday. My inbox is filled with opportunities to participate in classes, seminars, conferences, webinars and more.

Each of these is led by world-renowned experts, proven professionals in their field and industry-recognized leaders. Like me, you may find it very gratifying that these highly respected individuals want to share their latest thinking with you.Read full post...

A mix ’n’ match approach allows you to mimic costly reporting tools, stay on budget and still find meaningful data.

At some point, your boss or client has probably asked for a social media report. Unfortunately, there is no quick way to create one. Like many other communications efforts, the evaluation stage is the first to fall victim to the mortal enemies of a PR team—tight deadlines and even tighter budgets. In an ideal world, you would always assess your progress. Regrettably, the demands of managing hospital communications usually spell sayonara to any thoughts of reporting.

But don’t let dwindling hours and a tiny budget stop you. With a little self-coaching and practice, you can craft social media reports for your hospital or service line without using up all your time or allowance.

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Does your message stand out?

To win over top physician candidates, you have to stay ahead of the pack. Sounds simple enough. But before you begin your recruitment push, make sure you’ve got the goods to attract them — and not just great pay and benefits.

Is your organization a model of medical efficiency and quality patient care? If so, is it due to decision-making from above?

Or are physicians taking the lead?Read full post...

Happy Holidays from all your friends at AB&C.

The holidays are a time for sharing, and we wanted to reflect that sentiment through our holiday card.

AB&C paid a visit to a fifth-grade classroom at the East Side Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware. We spent a morning with the students and asked them to draw a picture of whatever the holiday season meant for them. The only catch was that they had to somehow incorporate the “+” from our logo. So with a gleam in their eyes and fresh markers and crayons in hand, the students got to work. We picked our six favorite works of art to adorn the covers of our holiday cards.Read full post...

Billboard for Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium

Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium is committed to doing just that. With four locations in southern Delaware, Parsell goes beyond providing expected funeral services to create a respectful and meaningful tribute as unique as the life being honored.

Because of its commitment to going above and beyond, Parsell has hosted some memorable personalized funeral services.Read full post...

Physicians can easily find a ton of options.

Let’s face it: Physicians looking for a new position can easily find a ton of options. They make a couple of calls, check a couple of websites, and bam — a shiny new career opportunity. The challenge is, how do you get them to select your shiny new career opportunity?

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the benefits of a strong employment brand:Read full post...

“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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