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MedsphereBusiness ChallengeMesphere began working with Schwartz Communications in 2008 to raise awareness about its Open Source electronics health record (EHR), OpenVista. The solution based on the VA’s VISTA system, offers comparable, if not better, clinical outcomes with a price that is 80% lower than the industry proprietary software behemoths. Although VISTA is known by nearly everyone in HCIT, Medsphere’s commercialization had less than 5% recognition with targeted customer CEOs.Schwartz PR StrategySchwartz created an on-going media relations campaign for Medsphere, focusing on national business, industry trade and regional outlets. Online media, bloggers, and social media were also used to increase awareness about OpenVista. Schwartz positioned the company’s executives as thought leaders around the topics of ARRA and meaningful use. The team worked to develop an online return on investment (ROI) calculator that would estimate the amount of stimulus funding available, as compared to the cost of Medsphere’s EHR. This served as a talking point with reporters. Schwartz created podcast and client testimonials addressing the ROI calculator as well. Schwartz also organized a government relations program to involve Medsphere in the national health debate. Results - Placements in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Advance for Health Information Professionals and ModernHealthcare.com
- Multiple meetings with powerful individuals on the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Senate Finance Committee (SFC)
- Yielded a significant ROI by increasing the budget allocated to specific government agencies with the expected purpose of purchasing Open-Source technology for $47 million
- The Schwartz team created a social media campaign around HIMSS, which was picked up by bloggers and attendees
- The ROI calculator resulted in 600+ unique CEO-level visits to the calculator’s website and 9 scheduled meetings
- The ROI calculator reduced the sales cycle for the EHR to a three-to-six month minimum
- “It tripled our qualified pipeline of hospitals considering OpenVista” – Rick Jung, COO, Medsphere
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