THE PM360 TRAILBLAZER AWARDS 2010
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR WINNER

HEALTHY ADVICE NETWORKS

Frankly, Healthy Advice Networks doesn’t need another award. Not only do they have plenty of awards already, they even broke the record for the number of awards won by a single company at the 2009 National Health Information Awards, with 43. That’s one for every three employees. But we really had no choice, because the company has latched onto one of the most powerful marketing ideas we know of—transforming doctors’ offices into sites of continuous, real-time, customizable health information programming— compellingly presented on 27- to 32-inch LCD flat screens. And this is only part of the story, as the company’s patient education mission extends to a wide range of brochures, anatomical flip-charts, ads, and videos. With over 53,000 physician participants in the U.S., Healthy Advice Networks is obviously in a powerful position to provide value for stakeholders.

Starting in July 2009, the company really started to innovate. First it took a major step beyond patient education with the introduction of PracticeWire, a broadband health information streaming office technology directed at physicians and other HCPs. It features breaking medical/research news from over 40 peer-reviewed journals, government health updates, medical business and drug news, as well as office bulletins and local pollen counts. Full stories for PracticeWire headlines are at HAPractice.com. The beauty of PracticeWire is that it allows healthcare professionals—who are typically in motion, working with their hands, seeing patients and collaborating—to absorb the information needed to stay abreast of their profession while doing other things.

That’s not all. In January, Healthy Advice Networks launched both Healthy Advice Magazine and their consumer website www.HealthyAdvice.com—richly designed and produced touch-points that offer cross-channel reinforcement of in-office messaging. In March they introduced opt-in mobile messaging for patients. One cutting-edge feature: Healthy Advice ads, brochures, and wall-mounted charts and displays now have codes that enable patients to download enriched information to their mobile devices by pointing and clicking.

By placing their information portals in doctors’ offices amid the buzz of health-centered discussion and ongoing treatment decisions, and by customizing marketing through these portals at the office level, tracking responses with unprecedented precision (for instance, prescriptions per office), and expanding this into a multi-channel information web reaching beyond the office, Healthy Advice Networks has created unbeatable value for its sponsors. On average, sponsors see prescription increases of 10% to 12% per year after joining the network.

Recognizing their leadership role of providing actionable health information, Healthy Advice Networks used their position at the sweet spot of healthcare education to also provide value to the community they serve—for example, free airtime and creative development for Haiti relief efforts, H1N1 prevention, children’s cough/cold medicine safety, the March of Dimes, National Fibromyalgia Association, and several others. They also delivered messaging about the value of preventive screening in offices with Healthy Advice programs, resulting in statistically significant increases in vital cancer screenings.

In view of all this, you might think Healthy Advice employees complain about being overworked. On the contrary, they love what they do and it shows. The company’s HR department reports it has been over eight years since an employee left the company simply because they found a better opportunity or wanted a different job. They seem to think they’ve got a good thing. So do our judges. “This company has the passion and philosophy that will keep it innovative and successful,” said one. We’re happy to name Healthy Advice Networks our 2010 Supplier of the Year. —Bruce Lacey

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2010 BRAND MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

2010 INITIATIVES OF THE YEAR WINNERS

2010 PM360 TRAILBLAZER AWARDS PANEL OF JUDGES