Describing SHM

Members: SHM is continually growing at rates that we had only dreamed of in the early stages of this organization. For the first time in the society's history, we sold out registration to our Annual Meeting. About ten years ago, we were pleased with a meeting of only 100 attendees. It is amazing to see this company grow, and we thank our members for its continuing development. Other examples are the new Fellows of Hospital Medicine (FHM) designation that allows colleagues to recognize your dedication to the specialty. We hope that our benefits have met and exceeded your expectations because that is what we strive for at SHM.

Non members: The Society of Hospital Medicine is an organization that focuses on the fairly new specialty of hospital medicine. A hospitalist is a physician whose primary professional focus is the general medical care of hospitalized patients. Their activities include patient care, teaching research, and leadership related to hospital medicine. With the fastest rate of growth, hospitalists and SHM hope to revolutionize the health care movement.

Media: As the fastest growing specialty in the industry, the Society of Hospital Medicine consistently has new updates. We reach out to our audience in many forms of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Members, specifically, have the benefit of enjoying publications such as the Journal of Hospital Medicine and the Hospitalists. In addition, the organization is very open-minded to Web 2.0 and is always excited to try new things. We are constantly trying to build our network and share our brand with you in any form of communication.

Competition: What sets the Society of Hospital Medicine apart is the fact that we are the largest organization that is solely dedicated to hospital medicine. Out target market is not necessarily those who are experienced in a wide range of fields; it is those who are dedicated to the commitment of round-the-clock inpatient care. We have expanded our services to other medical practitioners other than physicians, building a strong network across the hospital medicine community.

Part 2

When describing SHM I don’t think there is a huge need to tweak what I would say to a member vs. a non-member. I feel that everything that SHM stands for doesn’t change with who you are talking to in this case. I might not add as much detail to a member because they would probably have more background knowledge of SHM and many of the events and services we offer than someone who is a new member or a non-member. I think that the thing about SHM is that there is a real consistency among the society which is easy to make what you say constant. Now on the other hand, when I would describe SHM to the media I would most definitely choose what I say more wisely and promote the highlights of SHM to the fullest. I think that the media is very tricky with what you say and how you say it and can easily taint your reputation in a few words. I think that when it comes to competition I would describe SHM like I would to a member or a non-member. I feel that when it comes to hospital medicine even with our competition everyone is trying to move in the same direction. SHM again is consistent and motivated to a main goal to improve patient care. In many other industries talking to your competition is usually a more candid and bigger deal than in this field.

#1 Benefit of SHM Brand

I think the best part of SHM's brand is the mentality and culture of the society. It is an important element in the management of roles and work here. In a place where opinions are valued and appreciated rather than disregarded due to a hierarchy is refreshing, and it is definitely what keeps the company moving at an efficient pace. This aspect definitely reflects the amount and quality of services and products that we can offer to our customer. The fresh designs of our promotions and the young energy of our team creates a perspective that is not prevalent in the health care and medical industries. It is another attribute that sets us apart externally while providing benefits internally.

Part 1

The most beneficial part of SHM’s brand would be the education and movement of hospitalists. In my opinion the one area where hospital medicine is lacking is the education. I feel that with SHM’s brand growing so will the movement as well as the name will grow more rapidly. It is important to keep SHM’s brand strong and the more it is recognized the faster people will understand what a hospitalist is and why they are so important to have within a hospital. At the same time SHM’s brand is beneficial because it stands out from many other societies that are its competitors. It is the only society for strictly hospitalists, and it is important for the brand recognition so that when people hear the world hospitalist-they will automatically think SHM.

Hope You Enjoyed the Long Weekend

Hi Everyone!!!

Hope that you had a great weekend and found time to relax, enjoy the beach, see family...all that good stuff. Welcome to the summer!

I also wanted to say thanks for blogging despite a question last week. We all enjoy reading your posts, but they're especially enjoyable when they are "off the cuff".

Getting back to our theme of the month - branding, I've got two last questions for you to respond to:

1) What is the most beneficial part of SHM's brand, in your opinion?
2) How would you describe SHM to members vs. non-members vs. media vs. competition

Looking forward to your thoughts (would suggest separating into two posts).

Talk Soon

Todd

TGILongWeekend

Good call, Emily.

I agree with what you said about work. Remember the first Monday Morning meeting on the first day of work? We just sat there and looked at each other with a completely terrified face. Now... this coming Tuesday Nadia isn't going to be here, and I'm totally prepared to gather everything for the e-mail report card. I feel like all three of us have come such a long way in the past eight weeks.

This Memorial Day weekend, my newly engaged cousin and her financee are flying in from California and we're going bridesmaid shopping! I'm excited because I've never been part of a bridal party, let alone be the maid of honor. So that should be interesting. Then after that, I'm headed for Washington, D.C. (Jealous, Natasha? :)) to see my other cousin who lives there. Love that city.

ENJOY this beautiful weekend and pray it doesn't rain!! (I really don't want to be stuck on the MegaBus in traffic...)

This weekend

So my roomies are gone, they flew off to Miami (because they actually have money lol) and the apartment is quiet. It's kind of weird with them gone, our apt is LOUD. For the next three or four days, I wlll be creating a series of illustrations to add to my portfolio. and watching documentaries. I have been very inspired for these last tow weeks, but have not gotten a chance to flesh them out. So today, I'm going to Dick Blick art supplies, buyig gold pens and Prismacolor markers, and it's on. I might bring one of them to the Monday Morning Meeting. I have definitely found my niche within design, and that is illustration. Also, I will be hanging out with the fam to catch up with them, I never really see them! Me and my ma had a fight, so I gotta make amends. It's easy to say "I'm Sorry", and much harder to hold a grudge. I will def. be going to "Angels & Demons", the sequel to the "DaVinci Code". I am so interested! The most intruiging part of the the movies is the underlying motif of symbology. Symbology is so interesting, I was just watching a documentary on the Freemasons, in which symbology is tied deeply into the culture and what singlehandedly conceals most of their affairs. Also going to el Vez mexican rstrnt tonight! Have a great weekend everyone.

Bloggin'

I noticed there was really no blog subject this week, so why not make one for today..

What are everyone's Memorial Day plans?? For me I was suppose to run in this triathlon in Sea Isle, New Jersey..but due to some toe injuries I can't but i'm volunteering anways, and 25 people on my team are in it so i'm excited. Then my brother and some of his friends got a house right where i'll be so i'm going to meet up with them for a night or two to hang out on the beach =0). I'm excited to sleep as well, I feel like I have been missing out A LOT in that catergory. Other than that i'll be around so if anyone is going to be down the shore give me a call!

Work wise.. I'm excited to be where we are. I was talking to one of my friends the other day and they were saying how they finally have the routine down at work and know what they need to do by the end of the week. I agree with that and realized that I have learned so much in a short amount of time. I think that we're all not "fine tuned" just yet but well on our way, and it was a nice realization.

Brand Management

What Emily and Reshma said are definitely key points in getting our name out there. I just read the HM09 blog, and something Brian Bossard wrote really stuck with me: people no longer see hospital medicine as "the little engine that could," but rather as "the elephant that stood up." It's great to see that the specialty is making such an impact in the healthcare industry. That definitely helps the society and the brand behind it.

I think that sometimes the culture of SHM gets lost in translation, but that's the part that I found most attractive about the organization when I came here. Through a lot of the print media and advertising, I can get the feel for it. However, I think of the website as the main source that people go to for reference. On a brighter note, I think that SHM being active in Web 2.0 and all the social media we take part in really helps out the brand. Many companies are unaware of being connected via the Internet and it's great to be in a place that is not only aware of it, but stays on top of it. Keep up the good work. Overall, I think that SHM has grown at a pace that everyone hopes for but few acheive. So congratulations. :)

Brand Improvement

I completely agree with you Reshma, I’ve never heard of SHM before Coop and I feel like I’m always explaining SHM to my friends because they are unfamiliar with the company, and even what a hospitalist is. I think in order to improve SHM’s brand one thing that can be done is to actually go to hospitals and schools to educate more people on what hospitalists are and what they do. I think that by this education more people will understand what a hospitalist is and with that, SHMs brand will become more known because we will be behind the growth and movement of hospitalist. Along with this I think that in time this will happen with the help of Ken, but with more sponsors the brand will grow even more rapidly. I’ve talked to George about some presentations he is going to work on and actually go around the area and give to local hospitals. I think that right now SHM has a strong brand for those who know about it, and it will continue growing as more become aware. I hope one day a child says I want to be a hospitalist when I grow up, not just a doctor.

Improving SHM as a Brand

Whenever I am asked, "Oh you're on co-op? Where at??”. I respond "Society of Hospital Medicine". They reply "What is that?". This happens with my friends that are studying in the medical field. I have only encountered one person that has just heard of SHM. Even I at first had no idea what SHM was until I started working for this society. Although this makes SHM sound unique and special in a way, it would be great if SHM was more recognized! Therefore, the one way I would improve the SHM brand is advertise it more. The SHM brand, I'm sure, is very well recognized amongst the hospitalist field; however, other medical professions might not be aware of this organization. Therefore, I feel that it would be great for SHM to broadcast itself more to different areas of medicine. This would be a great way to gain overall recognition and it could also benefit SHM due to an increased chance of collaborating with other organizations to help improve the quality of healthcare. One example of how SHM can broaden the recognition of its brand is to target organizations, associations, journals, magazines, or any other types of relevant groups or media about certain medical specialties (besides hospital medicine) such as podiatry, orthopedics, endocrinology, gerontology, rheumatology, etc. Whatever medical field it might be, SHM can aim to get itself in there somehow! This is the only way I can think of changing SHM :)

SHM, the Brand

What defines SHM the most as a brand, is that they are a part of a movement. We are bombarded with billions of brands in a primarily service oriented economy. What makes SHM unique, is their active role in changing and improving the healthcare industry, not simply becoming an addition to what already exists. I admire the morally fundamental values that SHM revolves around : quality care, service and communication. The SHM experience is much more than walking away with t-shirt, hat and a web address. SHM provides support, which resonates much more than merely a product. SHM's imprint in the healthcare community will have a lasting impact years on years to come. SHM is and will remain a pioneer in the hospitalist movement.

Brands, Part 2

Hi Everyone...

HM09 is almost here...thanks again for everything each of you did to help to make this the amazing meeting that it will be. We couldn't have done it without you.

Continuing on our theme - brands...

Last week, you took time to share your opinions of whether or not SHM is a brand. I agree with each of you - our society is indeed is a brand.

With that in mind...here's your question to ponder this week...

"What would you do to improve SHM's Brand?"

Try not to burn the house down while we're gone this week :->

Todd

What makes SHM a brand..

Wikipedia defines a brand as “A brand is a collection of experiences and associations connected with a service, a person or any other entity.” So far during my time here at SHM the experiences and associations that I personally have toward SHM tell me that what makes SHM a brand is how I can turn to my fellow MA’s and say the same things everyday about our experiences and what not only we think and view the company as, but what the public, our members, and coworkers associate with SHM as well. Now what really makes SHM a brand? Chicago for example is an experience in which over 2,000 doctors will associate hospital medicine, continuing education, and the service in which SHM has just provided to them. This will stay with them for a long time after the meeting is over. This is our brand- our staff, what we provide, and how we provide it to our clients.

This week's blog

Blog Thinking..

So Monday morning I checked the blog question for the week. I had no idea what to write about because all I do is come to work, leave, eat, and sleep; not much activity going on lately. However, I do have an interesting class on Wednesdays called “Health Matters in Drama”. Basically in this class, we read old plays that involve ethical dilemmas in healthcare. One of the more recent plays I have read for this class involved doctors back then and they appeared as being ridiculously careless about their patients, as well as cunning in certain ethical situations. Also, they got by their profession through phrasing diseases or conditions in fancy Latin terms, pretending to have the required knowledge for treatment. They seemed to gloat very often and choose the patients to that they wanted to treat.
I thought about this and automatically compared it to healthcare today and especially, the goals of my department. The Quality Initiatives department focuses on patient quality and ways to improve healthcare through various implementations such as projects, organizing events, etc. We truly care about the patient and we think about their vulnerable position as an ill individual. It’s sad to think back at how doctors practiced their profession. But now that I look at how the healthcare field has changed, with its advancements, ethical problem recognitions, and other interventions to improve patient quality, it provides me with comfort. In today’s medicine practices, if I had a close one in the hospital, I can rely on the hospital to provide my friend/relative with the best possible care with quality. Well, I can rely more on the hospital at this time rather than back then!

SHM- A Brand

SHM has its own little symbol representing its brand. However, there is much more behind it. The overall goal of SHM is what makes its brand. This is what SHM stands for. SHM stands for hospitalists, patient care quality improvement, collaborations, hard-working employees, success, and perseverance. These are the constituents of SHM that help brand the company, leading us to success.
We have shown obvious success through the outcome of the SHM annual meeting in Chicago. We have obviously earned recognition and respect in order to become completely booked for our annual meeting. Although less people attended out annual meeting last year, we have come a long way and earned the respect and interest of more attendees for us to be so successful this year. What truly makes a brand is a group of hard working individuals sharing and working towards a common goal. There does not necessarily have to be success; however, there must be integrity and pride embedded within, for the organization.

SHM As A Brand

In my opinion, people believe in SHM because it is an organization which understands and values its customers. In turn, they become loyal to the organization and overall brand of the company. SHM is a part of a movement that thousands of doctors and medical practitioners are involved in, and being recognized is important to them. The level of personalization and dedication that our company strives for is amazing. Firsthand, I have seen great response rates and honest commitments to the company - and it all reflects in the way our members perceive us. Knowledge is power when it comes to branding, and I think SHM is doing a great job in bringing awareness to itself. Of course there is always room for improvement, and I think that SHM could portray their brand image in better ways. Natasha and I were just talking about the branding on HM.org. There are definitely ways that the company could be portrayed in a more attractive - and accurate, actually - way. SHM is in a high-growth phase and enthusiastic environment. Something that reflected that would really capture attention. Generally, though, the work and awareness towards branding is a great proactive step that SHM takes, and I am learning a lot throughout this process... especially by doing the branding project. I am so glad I am in an environment that I am treated as an equal employee and have the opportunity to be treated as a real consultant. (Looking forward to going over the contract, Todd.)

The Revolution of Social Media

Last night, my MKTG 301 class attended a PR event at Drexel called Breaking Boundaries: The Revolution of Social Media. There were 5 panelists, who ranged from consultants to bloggers to small business owners. It was interesting to see how they had slightly different opinions about certain topics or unanimously agreed on others. Overall, each offered many things to the audience.

First, they discussed the presence of social media and how society has chosen to adapt to it. A key point every panelist emphasized was that social media is here to stay, whether people are ready to accept that or not. Regardless of whether you or your organization is responding to the online community, they are talking; and it’s better to know what they are saying than to turn a blind eye. In fact, the panelists used many examples of how social media has hurt large corporations which had poor or delayed responses – or worse: none at all. For smaller companies, it is sometimes easier to respond to negative or unpredictable publicity issues. An example for SHM is the rate of response to HM09 selling out. Once we acknowledged the surplus of incoming registrations, Todd rallied us up and conducted a department meeting immediately – opposed to large corporations who tend to have a harder time adjusting to unforeseen changes.

A portion of the time was spent discussing the different between social media and traditional media. The latter often requires heavy research and several edits before it is approved. Not to say that social media doesn’t require either, but it is consumer-driven and largely opinion-based. The most important thing about venturing into the world of social media is to know who and where your audience is. Then focus on the content directed towards them. Many people assume that the Internet is so accessible, and thus placement isn’t important. Wrong!

Another piece of advice the members of the panel offered for successful public relations pertained to blogs. The bloggers stressed the importance of online ethics. Many corporations have been caught astroturfing, which is defined as “falsely creating the impression of independent, popular support by means of an orchestrated and disguised public relations exercise” (by Wikipedia). What consumers really want is a genuine, authentic voice speaking to them. Kind of like a “for the people, by the people” deal.

Gloria Bell of Red Stapler Consulting discussed ROI, which she refers to as Return of Influence. A major portion of social media is completely immeasurable, yet the relationships that social media creates offer you insight to the influence you have created. Everyone on the panel agreed that this online phenomenon is completely based on the relationships you create and build upon with one another. Engagement is the key to success, so updating regularly was highlighted.

For those who don’t know about it, check out this blog: http://www.conversationagent.com/. The author, Valeria Maltoni, offers tons of insight on marketing and provides great resources.

I hope all of this was somewhat useful because I definitely learned a lot, especially things that I can apply right away.

P.S. Twitter was the big channel they referred to.

Deja Vu?..

So earlier today I was sitting at the front desk for 15 minutes covering for Alison. I was going to blog because I thought of something the day before that made me want to blog, and I began to write it but then Alison came back and I didn't get to finish. I was going to write how every day, I make the same walk home, and encounter a handful of homeless people, along with numerous business men/women. The homeless people, business men, and myself walk on the same sidewalk, and cross the same crosswalk. It made me think, why is it that there is such a gap between rich and poor. I always consider myself a poor college kid - but rich when it comes to my friends from home because I actually have a job. However, on my walk home, I am going to assume that I am rich to the homeless and poor to the homeless. It really just makes me think of how huge the gap is, and how some people spend hundreds on dinner, while others search through trash cans. Strange. Anyway, when I checked my school email - I received an email about a non-profit organization "Back on My Feet". To my surprise I actually heard of them because my dad is a big time runner and ran in one of their races. They wanted volunteers to get up in the morning on Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat to run with the homeless and inspire them. Being that I can finally fun in a week :), I took up on this opportunity and emailed them immediately. I just thought it was so deja vu that I was writing about this topic earlier today - and then I received an email about trying to help the homeless. Well that is all, if anyone is interested in getting up early with me - I'd love to have some running partners; just don't make fun of how slow I am, I haven't been able to run in 5 months haha :)

Elevator Speech

My name is Victoria Lam, and I am a Marketing Assistant at the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM). Like the specialty and organization itself, many of the things I do at SHM are newer concepts and ideas. Here, I am generally responsible for Web 2.0, statistical information, and exhibit planning. Web 2.0 consists of Google analytics, Facebook and YouTube. With technology growing at an exponential rate, it’s amazing that I get to learn how to manage these online accounts firsthand through a real organization. The statistics that I work with mainly pertain to tracking email traffic and updating/tracking Facebook. The brand new exhibit activation plans guide our staff members who travel across the country to exhibit at conferences and meetings. The plans consist of the meeting overview, objectives, talking points, and comparisons of last year’s results. Hopefully with this work, I can help effectively create more awareness and growth for this organization.

Monday

"Say lawrence when you go into work on a monday and your not feeling too good does anyone ever say to you sounds like a case of the monday's?"

This is completely random but every Monday I think about this quote.. partly because I love the movie office space and also because I feel like here at SHM Monday is the day that goes by the quickest! It's probably obvious because of the Monday Morning Meeting, but still I think of this quote and how it can be hard to fall back into your weekly routine after a weekend. I also think about office space a lot because it's my first time in "Corporate America" and I hear a lot of my friends saying that movie describes their coop perfectly, whereas that isn't even close to representing SHM. I like line up a lot, and am starting to realize why we do it even more and one reason is to fight off the Monday's!! I have five more minutes of my work day today and I feel like I looked at the clock and it was 11am and now its almost 4:30pm. I love that about my days here and i'm sure many will agree with me. I think I don't blog enough because i'm always so busy, but here I am on a Monday typing away. I like how we can also make time for what we want (right Todd?) and i'm happy that i'm leaving here today with no Monday's, I can see a window from where I sit, and I don't have to worry about anyone taking my stapler. (Hopefully everyone has seen office space or that might not make sense, if you havent you should go watch now.)

May's Theme - Branding

Hi Everyone...

Welcome to May!

Thanks to everyone for everything you've done to help us get ready for HM09. We're in really good shape for the final push, thanks in part to each of you.

May also is a pivot point for the blog. We're going to shift out of the personal, and get to know you, type questions we've asked and start to dive into specific themes for the month and talk about more specific topics.

So...this month's theme is branding. The topic seems appropriate given everything that's going on within the office. Neat part is that the questions we'll be posing throughout the month were written by Meredith Myers, a former MA, as her post one week on this blog when we asked everyone to come up with a theme and 4 questions on the theme to pose to a future class of MA's.

Here are your assignments this week...

1) Convince me that you think about, and work on this blog more than just Friday PM in order to get your post in before deadline...how you do that is up to you.

2) Answer this question...

"What Makes SHM A Brand"


That's it for now - hope everyone has a good week.

Todd

elevator

I provide a new look on things, and come with knowledge of today. Eager to learn, I help out in any way I can, not only learning but bettering the marketing and membership department so that we can reach everyday goals within SHM. Society of Hospital Medicine not only promotes quality care for hospitalized patients, but support to its members. In the midst of one of the fastest growing industries, hospitalists are entering into a peak. I feel I have an advantage because I am coming into hospital medicine at a time where the growth whereas I am growing myself. I help out with the membership here at SHM as well as the marketing. I work within IMIS our database updating information as well as tagging members in chapters. I work on the SHM website updating important information to our members. I am getting into more market intelligence and the future of SHM. I hope to point the company in the right direction towards new goals through data mining which will eventually benefit SHM and hospitalists!

Elevator Speech

I am Natasha Torrence, currently the graphic design assistant at The Society of Hospital Medicine. Society of Hospital Medicine is a non-profit organization that emphasizes the implementation of hospitalist care in the medical practice. My primary responsibility is creating print graphics for all of SHM's events and programs. Some examples of print pieces are brochures, advertisements, mail collateral, signage and so on. I work almost exclusively with the Marketing Department. The department provides me with a specific direction along with textual content, and from that, I manifest the elements in visual form. At times, I am granted creative licensce in which I determine the overall aesthetic for a design piece.

Elevator Speech

Here it is..

Hi, I’m Reshma Patel , the quality initiatives assistant at Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM). I elaborate on the Quality Initiatives department’s activity by analyzing important aspects. I do analyses on information for implementation guide downloads to determine how successful the guides are. I also create surveys for those who download our implementation guides to assess their quality and the readers’ satisfaction. Through these ways, I am assessing the quality of our quality initiatives department, like a “check and balances” sort of thing. I also distribute updates of the department through monthly newsletters for the SHM staff. Additionally, I provide our hospitalist physicians with research needed for the upcoming resource rooms of our website. I recently finished gathering research on complicated skin and skin structure infections. And finally, I will be coordinating with department members on quality initiative projects in the near future such as: BOOST, Glycemic Control, and Pharmacoeconomics.

Elevator Speech

Yes, I have been working on this for a few days and did not put off the blog until Friday! However, I still do not think it is very good, and plan on changing it in the near future! :)

My name is Samantha and I am a marketing assistant at a non-profit organization, Society of Hospital Medicine. We work primarily with hospitalists, and we strive to improve the quality of care for patients in hospitals. I assist in day to day activities that go into marketing our company and events, and creating a respectable brand name for SHM and the departments. At SHM, our focus is in research, education, and advocacy while also promoting the ever growing field of hospitalists. We recently sold out our Annual Meeting, for the first time in history, therefore proving that we are one of the most premiere organizations in today’s healthcare.