Synching Your Talk and Your Walk

by Steven Diebold (www.theladders.com)

Mixed messages can kill a campaign. And yet, people send disconnected messages all the time. This is part of the reason we learn not to trust them and even question their actions. Marketing messages or corporate communications are no different. What we say and do must match.

Let’s visit the definitions of congruence and continuity so we can see how these apply to marketing.

Congruence

As an abstract term, congruence means similarity between objects. It is a relation that implies a type of equivalence, but not complete equality. It can also be the quality or state of agreeing or coinciding. In psychology, congruence is a rapport within oneself, or internal and external consistency, perceived by others as sincerity or certainty.

With these definitions we can see how important the application of congruence is to an effective value proposition within a campaign. If you want to appear sincere and certain (and who doesn’t?), your value proposition and what you actually deliver must be consistent.

Make Your Case and Support It

For example, if you are creating a direct-mail campaign that has clearly identified an effective value proposition, use support statements that align with that original proposition. Though it seems obvious, sending any mixed messages can and will dilute the communication’s power. Each supporting message must synch up with the main idea. If your headline starts with one idea and your supporting statements veer off-track, you make your case weaker. The best way to think of this is to consider an attorney proving a case in a courtroom. The lawyer must explain the case with congruent emotional and logical arguments. If he brings in bad or irrelevant evidence, he's likely to lose the case. If anything is out of place in an argument, people lose trust in the presenter and start to question the case he is making.

Another example would be this article you are reading now. Every statement I make in this article needs to line up with what is promised in the headline or I start to lose focus and veer off-track from what made you read it in the first place. If I don’t deliver on it, then you just stop reading. Still with me? Good.

Continuity

In fiction, film and other media, continuity is understood to be the consistency of persons, plots, objects, places and events as seen by the reader or viewer. But how does it relate to marketing? Let’s use film and television production as an instructive example. Most productions have a script supervisor on hand who is paid solely to maintain continuity across the chaotic and typically nonlinear shoot. In a sense, this person is like the brand manager of the project. Their job takes the form of stacks of paperwork, photographs and an extremely detail-oriented memory. Their memory is often assembled into a ‘story bible,’ which usually includes scene notes and technical details, such as camera positioning and equipment settings. They also catalog images, using Polaroids or, more often today, digital cameras. All of this is done so that, despite perhaps being shot thousands of miles and several months apart, all parts of the story are told in a logical flow. If this job is done perfectly, the script supervisor, or brand manager, can often pass without notice.

Make Sure Your Details Match Up

Continuity can be a bit more challenging. Every customer touch point should be evaluated to ensure that each message and experience is aligned. If there is any breakdown in this process, you will have opened up a weakness for a competitor to use against you. Let’s go back to the example of the attorney. Without doing her homework, from timelines to evidence to what was said and when, she will be unable to prove her case. Customers are just as, if not more, skeptical as a jury — and very discerning with their dollars. If your argument is weak and poorly developed, you risk losing your case, and thereby your market share. The best way to protect against this happening is to apply continuity and congruence to your value proposition.

Build your case well and you will be rewarded.

Weekly Wisdom: November 29, 2010

7 Steps to Sustain Energy and Enthusiasm During Your Job Search

Selena Dehne, JIST Publishing

Ideally, everyone would view the job search as an exciting and invigorating opportunity. In reality, the process can be stressful, exhausting and emotionally draining, particularly when coping with rejection, financial hardships or uncertainty about the future.

It's important to realize that job searching doesn't have to be a negative experience. Richard Deems and Terri Deems, co-authors of "Make Job Loss Work for You," say people can take several small steps toward a faster, more rewarding job search.   

"Candidates who are out on the streets talking and meeting with people are those who maintain their energy and confidence," they explain. "On the other hand, those who sit back at home and merely mail out their résumés are often those who get discouraged. The feedback they get during the job search comes from receiving either no response or some form of a rejection letter. With each rejection letter, the body cringes and shrivels a little bit more."

In their book, the Deems father-and-daughter duo offers some additional tips to help job seekers boost their drive during the job search:*

Set up some kind of "office" where you can direct your job search

Make this a place where you can take calls, handle correspondence and keep track of your research and other information. A separate room (such as a spare bedroom) works best, but even a corner in the basement can help.

You will need a desk, chair, phone, computer, Internet access, space to file materials and information, and space to work. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does need to be comfortable and provide you with the privacy needed to direct your plan for action. When you are in this space, you are "at work."

• Maintain your normal schedule. Don't sleep late. Get dressed each morning just as if you were going to be out talking to people -- because you probably will. One successful person with whom we worked sat down at his "office" every morning at 7:30, coffee in hand, and read the local and national newspapers, just as he had for 10 years prior. His reaction: "It really helped!" 
• Participate in some kind of physical fitness program. Some people jog, walk, play golf, lift weights, dance or do other forms of exercise. The important thing is that you're doing something. Remember, exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety and enables you to think more clearly. Exercise also releases body chemicals that help keep depression away. If you're a bit overweight, the extra exercise can help reduce the pounds and simply help you feel better about yourself. 
• Watch your diet and eat right. Eat balanced, reasonably sized meals. Excessive coffee can increase tension and appetite. Excessive alcohol can dull your thinking ability (plus add weight). Excessive sweets and sugars can increase tension and irritability. 
• View your activity as fulfilling your "job requirements." Except now your job is to find a new position in another company as quickly as possible. 
• Set weekly and daily goals in terms of contacts to make and research to conduct. Keep a record of your activity. People who devote four to eight hours to their job search per day get new jobs faster than those who devote only a few hours each week. Take time on Mondays to set up these goals, and time on Friday to review your progress.
• Maintain your physical appearance. First impressions are important, and you will want to look good. For some, this may mean buying a new interviewing wardrobe. An investment in an interviewing wardrobe can often have a tremendous payback in terms of higher salary in the next position. If finances are a major concern, look for the recycled-clothing shops or job search "closets" that exist in many cities.

This Week in Healthcare IT

M&A, Financial Reports and Funding

Health & Safety Institute, an emergency response training company, has purchased smart phone application developer GoToAID for an undisclosed amount…Interactive Technology Solutions, a health care consulting firm, has acquired Peace Technology, a developer of website applications, for an undisclosed amount...Epocrates, a developer of clinical information and decision support tools, has acquired Modality, a smart phone medical reference applications publisher, for $13.8 million...German health IT company CompuGroup Medical will acquire the revenue cycle management, physician practice management and ambulatory EHR business lines of HealthPort for $18 million.

The mHealthAlliance recently received a $1 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to use mobile technology to improve health in developing countries...Prognosis Health Information Systems, a community and rural hospital software vendor, has received an unknown minority investment led by equity firm OpenViewPartners.

Contracts

JPS Health Network in Texas has selected TriZetto Group's automated administrative program…CDC selected CIBER, a global IT consulting and outsourcing company, to provide services under the CDC Information Management Services program…CMS has given an estimated $230 million contract to CSC to migrate key IT systems to a new service-oriented architecture...Highmark Medicare Services, an administrative services provider to Medicare, has selected Companion Data Services to provide IT support for a national health care reimbursement system…the Military Health System has selected Vangent, an IT consultant and systems integrator, to enhance an EHR system tool; Vangent also will help deploy health information systems for the Indian Health Service.

Texas Professional Healthcare Alliance has selected an Allscripts' EHR system, offered by Veridian Strategies; SA Health, the public health system of South Australia, selected Allscripts as a preferred vendor…Pennsylvania's two regional extension centers, PA REACH East and PA REACH West, have selected eClinicalWorks, Greenway Medical Technologies and Sage Healthcare as preferred vendors; the Ohio Health Information Partnership, a regional extension center, has selected Allscripts, eClinicalWorks, e-MDs, NextGen Healthcare Information Systems and Sage Healthcare as preferred EHR vendors; Florida-based Baptist Health Care also has selected ambulatory EHR and practice management systems from NextGen.

San Juan Regional Medical Center in New Mexico, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in Wisconsin have selected a content management system from CareTech Solutions…HHS has selected federal technology contractor Aquilent to provide services for the agency's Web communications and new-media division…Ulrich Medical Concepts has chosen patient portal software from Intuit Health…North York General Hospital in Canada has chosen clinical decision support software from Zynx Health...West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pennsylvania has selected athenahealth's Web-based revenue cycle management service.

Product Development and Marketing

Ceridian Exchange Systems and eHealth will participate in a winning bid to implement the Florida Health Choices online health insurance exchange...BridgeFront, an online education firm, will partner with Oregon's regional extension center OCHIN/O-HITEC to develop online courses about "meaningful use" standards…the Emergency Nurses Association and McKesson have formed the ED Benchmarks Collaborative, a database allowing hospitals to identify ED trends and compare performance.

IBM and ActiveHealth Management, a subsidiary of Aetna, will partner to provide cloud-based care management services to health care providers in Puerto Rico...TriZetto Group has entered into a strategic partnership with clinical analytics developer MEDai to enhance its care management and value-based applications for members...3M Health Information Systems, a health care software and consulting company, is partnering with IQMax, a health care mobile technology services provider, to develop mobile applications for physician use.

Personnel

Anil Jain -- senior IT executive and managing director of e-Research at the Cleveland Clinic -- has been named CMO of Explorys, a cloud computing software provider…Michael Kamerick -- director of academic research and IT systems at the University of California-San Francisco -- has been named senior director of health systems solutions of Recombinant Data, a health care data warehousing and clinical intelligence services provider…Rick Dean -- former director of North American sales for Microsoft's Health Solutions Group -- has been named vice president of provider sales of Humedica, a clinical informatics company...Karl Wolcott, a sales and marketing executive, has been named vice president of sales and marketing for health IT company iTech Medical.

Brenda Jenkins -- a senior program administrator at Quality Partners of Rhode Island, a health care quality improvement company -- has been selected as a member of the Health IT Competency Task Force under the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT...The Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of the CIO has named Stan Lowe as IT ombudsman at the Veterans Benefits Administration, Chuck Hume as IT ombudsman at the Veterans Health Administration and Jackie Patillo as IT ombudsman at VA headquarters.
Kevin Hutchinson, president and CEO of e-prescribing and care communication services provider Prematics, has been named to the board of directors at health care interoperability services provider dbMotion...Physicians Interactive Holdings, a provider of clinical decision support tools, has named Brett Miller, former chief marketing officer of online trading network FX Solutions, as president of PIH's mobile division, Skyscape; Sandeep Shah, chief innovation officer, as chief content officer; and Marlene Galante, a marketing professional, as general manager of academic centers, associations and centers of professional excellence.


Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/11/19/health-it-business-news-roundup-for-the-week-of-november-19-2010.aspx#ixzz16DTVmuzQ

Weekly Wisdom: November 22, 2010

Whatever you do, have an answer to the question: why have you been out of work so long? Whatever you say, don't answer, 'Looking for a job.'
by Tanjia M. Coleman of theladders.com

When interviewing candidates who have been out of work for extended periods of time, a human resources manager will almost always ask this question: “Why have you been out of work so long?”

Just as often, they find the candidate on the other side of the desk baffled by the question and ill-prepared to respond. They look like they’re on trial, sitting in the witness stand during cross-examination, worried that the jury and onlookers will make the correlation that silence equals some form of guilt. At the very least, we must assume you are not prepared for the day’s events. It’s the same whether you are doing a phone screen or in-person interview with a hiring manager. Job seekers, listen up: If nothing else, please have a response to this question — “Why have you been out of work so long?” Here are some viable responses:

• I decided to start a business
• I am an officer of XYZ organization
• I took some college courses to stay current in my career
• I am currently researching XYZ subject (ensure that it has business relevance)
• I volunteer at a local mission
• I started a networking organization to help those out of work
• I decided to coach a season of my child’s baseball league

Also consider something more specific such as a human resources manager who might volunteer with an organization that helps others get their resumes up to par, and assist other job seekers with interviewing skills. If you work in finance or accounting you might help folks at your local church prepare their income taxes, work out a problem with back taxes or establish a family budget.

Whatever you do, say something to demonstrate you know enough about the hiring process to have expected this question. Whatever you say, don’t answer, “Looking for a job.” That’s the wrong answer.

When asked this question if your only response is that, “I’ve been looking for a job,” and it’s been one to two years and you still have not found one although your only focus has been on finding a job, this leaves the hiring manager wondering, well, what is wrong with this candidate? Armed with this type of response, you can be almost certain that they will not select you as their new employee.
Wherever you are in your career, there’s an opportunity to utilize your skills regardless of whether or not you are getting paid. Hiring managers look on such activity as creative, innovative, philanthropic and energetic. If you can answer that you have taken your expertise and applied it to the betterment of others who might be in a rough predicament, it not only humanizes you to the hiring manager but shows that you are not solely focused on yourself or money. Now, who doesn’t want this type of employee on their team?

Top 10 Job Interview Myths

From FORTUNE Magazine, by Anne Fisher

Myth #10: The interviewer is prepared.

"The person you're meeting with is probably overworked and stressed about having to hire someone," Couper says. "So make it easy for him or her. Answer that catchall request, 'Tell me about yourself", by talking about why you're a great fit for this job. If it's obvious they haven't read your resume, recap it briefly, and then tie it to the job you want." Tell them what they really need to know, so they don't have to come up with more questions.

Myth #9: Most interviewers have been trained to conduct thorough job interviews.

While human resources professionals do get extensive training in job interviewing techniques, the average line manager is winging it. "To make up for vague questions, be specific even if they don't ask," Couper suggests. "Be ready with two or three examples of particular skills and experiences that highlight why they should hire you."

Myth #8: It's only polite to accept an interviewer's offer of refreshment.

"They usually try to be courteous and offer you a drink, but they don't really want to bother with it," says Couper. "Unless the beverage in question is right there and won't take more than a second to get, just say, no, thank you."

Couper once interviewed a job candidate who said she would love a cup of tea, which, he recalls, "meant I spent half the allotted interview time looking for a tea bag, heating water, and so on. It was irritating."

Another good reason, Couper says, to decline caffeine is that "if the interview is a lengthy one, you don't want to need a restroom halfway through the conversation."

Myth #7: Interviewers expect you to hand over references' contact information right away.

Hold off until you're specifically asked, Couper advises, and even then, you can delay a bit by offering to send the information in an email in a day or two. There are at least two good reasons for not rushing it, Couper says. First, "you sometimes don't know until the end of the interview who would be the best references for this particular job," he notes. "If you get a sense that the interviewer cares most about, for instance, teamwork, you want to choose someone who can attest to your skills in that area. A reference who can only talk about some other aspect of your work is not going to help."

Second, and no less important, "you want a little time to prep your references, by gently coaching them on what you'd like them to say, before the employer calls them."

Myth #6: There's a right answer to every question an interviewer asks.

"Sometimes how you approach your answer is far more important than the answer itself," Couper says. If you're presented with a hypothetical problem and asked how you would resolve it, try to think of a comparable situation from the past and tell what you did about it.

Talkback: Has anything surprised you during a job interview? Leave a comment at the bottom of this story.

Myth #5: You should always keep your answers short.

Here's where doing lots of research before an interview really pays off. "The more you've learned about the company and the job beforehand, the better able you are to tell why you are the right hire," Couper says.

Don't be afraid to talk at length about it, partly because it will spare the interviewer having to come up with another question for you (see Myth #1 above) and partly because "in a good interview, you should be talking about two-thirds of the time."

Myth #4: If you've got great qualifications, your appearance doesn't matter.

Reams of research on this topic have proven that physical attractiveness plays a big part in hiring decisions. "Anyone who says otherwise is lying," Couper says. "People care about your looks, so make the absolute most of what you've got." Even if you're not drop-dead gorgeous, it's impossible to overestimate the importance of looking "healthy, energetic, and confident."

Myth #3: When asked where you see yourself in five years, you should show tremendous ambition.

The five-year question is a common one, and it's uncommonly tricky. "Interviewers want you to be a go-getter, but they also worry that you'll get restless if you don't move up fast enough. So you want to say something that covers all bases, like, 'I'd be happy to stay in this job as long as I'm still learning things and making a valuable contribution,'" says Couper.

You might also consider turning the question around and asking, "Where do you see me in five years?" Says Couper, "Sometimes the answer to that -- like, 'Well, we'd expect you to keep doing the same thing we hired you to do' -- is a good way to spot a dead-end job."

Myth #2: If the company invites you to an interview, that means the job is still open.

Alas, no. In fact, the job may never have existed in the first place: "Some companies use 'interviews' to do market research on the cheap. They ask you about your current or recent duties, your pay scale, and so on, to get information for comparison purposes." Another possibility, Couper says, is that "they may already have a strong internal candidate in mind for the job but just want to see if they come across someone better."

If you get an interview through a networking contact, he adds, "an employer may interview you simply as a courtesy to the person who referred you, if that is someone they don't want to disappoint."

Even if the job opening is phony, it's still worth going, he says: "Sometimes they discover you're a good fit for a different opening that really does exist. You never know where an interview might lead."

And the #1 myth about job interviewing: The most qualified person gets the job.

In at least one crucial respect, a job interview is like a date: Chemistry counts.

"A candidate who is less qualified, but has the right personality for the organization and hits it off with the interviewer, will almost always get hired over a candidate who merely looks good on paper," Couper says.

What can you do if you suspect you're not knocking an interviewer's socks off?

"At the end of the discussion, you'll probably be asked if you have any questions," Couper says. "If you sense the person has reservations about your style, ask what the ideal candidate for this job would be like." Then think fast. Can you talk a bit about how you fit that profile? "Addressing any concerns the interviewer might have, beyond your formal qualifications, is your chance to seal the deal," Couper says.

Featured Healthcare IT News!

Verizon to assist health info exchange

November 17, 2010 | Mike Miliard, Managing Editor

 

BASKING RIDGE, NJ – As it seeks to increase electronic health data sharing, Verizon will begin in January to issue free medical identity credentials to 2.3 million U.S. physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

The first-of-its kind step will help healthcare professionals meet federal requirements put forth in the HITECH Act that call for the use of strong identity credentials when accessing and sharing patient information electronically beginning in mid-2011.

With these strong identity credentials, U.S. providers will be able to receive digital health information via the Verizon Medical Data Exchange, using a secure, private inbox accessed from a new Web-based physician portal, the Healthcare Provider Portal. These multi-factored credentials will be designed to meet the Level 3 authentication requirements created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal agency that works with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards. 

In addition, these credentials will be able to be used to universally access healthcare IT applications and platforms, such as electronic medical records, e-prescribing services and health information exchanges, including the Verizon Health Information Exchange, which serves as a central repository for patient information and upon request pulls a patient's history from disparate sources.

Currently, there is no universal means of issuing multi-factored credentials to U.S. healthcare professionals for use in accessing any healthcare system, database or application.

"For years, the U.S. has been talking about the concept of digitally sharing health information and we are now on the cusp of making this a reality," said Peter Tippett, vice president, innovation and technology at Verizon Business. "Verizon is lowering the barriers to compliance and adoption by providing healthcare professionals with a universal means to access virtually any system, anytime, anywhere. We believe this is a significant step forward for health IT."

The Verizon Medical Data Exchange – a fully interoperable and open standards-based platform – enables physicians nationwide to overcome traditional barriers to e-health adoption, including compliance, usability and the investment required to change existing IT systems or purchase new equipment or software. The platform enables a range of providers – from large health systems to rural hospitals to small physician practices – to securely and privately receive and send digital records, such as dictated physician notes, X-rays, medical images and lab results, by linking disparate IT systems and applications. 

The Verizon Medical Data Exchange is designed to meet meaningful-use requirements for health data sharing established under the 2009 HITECH Act. These requirements are a set of interoperability standards, implementation specifications and certification programs intended to certify electronic health record technology to enable clinicians to better coordinate care and reduce administrative costs.

"Verizon's issuance of medical identity credentials to U.S. healthcare professionals promises to help solve many of the information technology challenges faced by providers and facilitate the secure exchange of health information among credentialed healthcare professionals," said Joseph Ternullo, associate director of the Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners Healthcare in Boston. "Verizon is creating a clear path toward meeting federal requirements for the use of strong identity credentials."

This Week in Healthcare IT

M&A, Financial Reports and Funding

Merge Healthcare, a medical imaging software vendor, has acquired the laboratory information systems assets of Fletcher-Flora Health Care Systems for an undisclosed sum; Merge also posted Q3 2010 revenue of $45.2 million, up from $16.9 million in revenue in Q3 2009; Merge also completed the exchange offer of its 11.75% senior secured notes due 2015.
Health IT services provider MedLink has acquired the assets of EHR and practice management software provider MedAppz for an undisclosed sum…ConJoin Group, an IT and business-processing outsourcing company, has acquired PHNS, a provider of outsourced health IT services, for $250 million…Blackstone Technology Group, an IT firm, will acquire Quinnian Health, a  telemedicine startup, for an undisclosed sum...CardioNet, a vendor of wireless heart monitoring technology, will acquire Biotel, a vendor of wireless event recorder devices, for $11 million.
Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions reported a Q3 2010 profit of $1.4 million on $242.2 million in revenue, down from a $12.9 million profit on $164.9 million in revenue in Q3 2009...Shareable Ink, a provider of digital pen and paper health care applications, has closed a $4.5 million Series A Preferred financing round with health care investors including Founder Collective, Heritage Group, The Martin Companies, Nashville Capital Network and Chip Linehan of New Enterprise Associates…DICOM Grid, a health IT platform operator, has raised $7.5 million in a round of financing through investment firms Canaan Partners Healthcare, CHL Medical Partners and Chronic Health Capital…The mHealth Alliance announced a two-year, $1 million aggregate donation from Hewlett-Packard.

Contracts

Mercy Memorial Hospital System in Michigan has selected Allscripts as its health IT provider…the U.S. Army has granted Diversinet a five-year contract to support expansion of the Army's mCare telehealth outreach program…Community Memorial Health System in California has selected clinical and documentation software from PatientKeeper…University of Utah Health Care has selected patient transfer technology from TeleTracking…OhioHealth has selected a telestroke application from REACH Call.
Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona has selected InterSystems' integration and development platform… Sage North America's Sage Healthcare Division practice management and EHR systems were selected by Children's Heart Center in Nevada, Green Clinic in Louisiana, Nebraska Spine Center, Nevada Imaging Center, Saint Louis ConnectCare and Oncology Specialties in Alabama…CDC has chosen Accenture for a 10-year Information Management Services contract requiring a range of IT services for the agency's global public health initiatives.
The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, a not-for-profit medical group in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has selected Nuance Communications' clinical decision support technology…Virginia Commonwealth University Health System's Department of Pathology Laboratories has selected integrated health record systems from 4medica...MED Trends has selected communications and IT company Harris for a follow-on contract to continue developing patient registries for the Veterans Health Administration.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has selected a mental health EHR system from DSS…HealthPoint Medical Group in Florida has chosen an EHR system from McKesson…the Texas Hospital Association has designated American Medical Alert as a preferred provider of call center services…Minnesota-based Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare has selected context management and clinical workflow applications from Carefx and Indigo Identityware...Houston-based Methodist Hospital System  has selected patient experience software from MEDSEEK.

Product Development and Marketing

Telecommunications company Telus and Microsoft have launched an online platform aimed at providing Canadians with access to and management of their electronic health information…CardioNet and MedApps will partner to advance their products in the mobile wireless medical market...CodeRyte will bring its coding technology to Advanced Data Systems and its radiology clients.
Epocrates has partnered with Covisint to allow eligible professionals to access the DocSite PQRI registry…VRI, a provider of in-home health monitoring programs, has partnered with telehealth company Robert Bosch Healthcare to jointly offer services… Swisslog will integrate its pharmacy automation systems with drug distributor Cardinal Health...Health insurer Cigna is making its cost service estimate software available through the clearinghouses of Availity, NaviNet, Passport Health and RealMed.

Personnel

Robert Goodman -- former board chair, CEO and president of medical communications company Informed Medical Communications -- has been named president of DiagnosisONE, a clinical decision support and analytics company…Paul Reynard -- former vice president of sales operations and marketing for ArjoHuntleigh, a health IT company -- has been named senior vice president of sales and service for RF Technologies.
Interbit Data, a health care software provider, promoted three management team members to executive positions: Edward Norton has been named senior vice president and COO; Oscar Beninati has been named vice president of sales and marketing; and Brian Main has been named vice president of technology...Health IT company Informatics Corporation of America has named John Tempesco -- former vice president of client services and marketing at ICA -- chief marketing officer; Brian Higdon -- former president of software company Paskr -- vice president of client services and marketing; and Sandra Lillie -- former vice president of strategic accounts at TeraMedica Healthcare Technology -- vice president of sales and business development.
Victor Dorodny, a health IT physician-executive, has been named CMO and global practice leader at US Tele-Medicine, a telehealth services provider...Gai Elhanan, a computer science professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has been named CMIO of Halfpenny Technologies, a provider of clinical data exchange software...Jeffery Surges, former president of sales at Allscripts, has been named CEO of Merge Healthcare.


Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/11/12/health-it-business-news-roundup-for-the-week-of-november-12-2010.aspx#ixzz15ZyfJaq0

Linkedin Optimization, Part 6

Weekly Wisdom: November 15, 2010

The Letter to Write When You Don't Get the Job

by Lisa Vaas of theladders.com

Don't get mad; get gracious.  A follow-up letter after you don't get the job is so rare, you will stand out and it may lead to future recommendations or another job.

 

Julie Bauke calls it the “big boy/big girl letter.”

It’s the gracious letter sent by the candidate who got passed over in the final hiring decision, thanking the hiring manager for the interview, perhaps asking that they keep the candidate in mind for future openings, or even requesting feedback regarding what the candidate could have done better or communicated more effectively.

Another apt term would be “the snowball in hell letter,” given their scarcity. When she was in human resources, Bauke received a measly five of them over the course of 16 years.

If you can muster the professionalism and grace to thank the people who interviewed you, rather than cursing them out, you could transform yourself from a reject into a pearl. Bauke has been a career strategist for 13 years and is now president of Congruity Career Consulting, but she still remembers the thought that popped into her head every time she got a gracious letter: Did I make the right decision?

We talked to hiring professionals and job seekers who plucked success from the ashes of rejection. Read on for their input on why you should write such a letter, what it might contain and the positive results that can come from having written them.

What to Write

Whom to Send It to. Normal thank-you letters are addressed to everyone who interviewed you. The big-boy/girl letter, however, only goes to the decision maker and/or the HR representative you dealt with, according to Jane Trevaskis, a certified professional coach. “If the [rejection] letter you received is signed by the HR person … thank both of them,” she said. “If it is signed by the hiring manager, you need to send a thank-you note only to that person.”

What to Say. Thank them for considering you for the opportunity, Trevaskis said. Tell them what impressed you about the company or the department you were being considered for. Let them know you would like to keep in touch and would like to be considered for future openings.

Sandra Lamb, a career, lifestyle and etiquette expert and the author of several books on the topic of writing, advises clients to keep the letter brief and very positive. State that you were disappointed, but congratulate the hiring person(s) on having made a selection, and then wish them well.

In a final, short paragraph, Lamb advises that clients reiterate a positive point from their interview that reflected well on the interviewer and, again, state that they’d like to be considered for future openings.

Sample Letter

Lamb provided the following sample of the letter she coaches her clients to send upon receiving the “we aren’t hiring you” notification:

Dear Bob:
I would be lying if I said I'm anything but keenly disappointed that I wasn't your final choice for the position of [job title]. But knowing how professionally and thoroughly each candidate was interviewed, and having made it to the "final [number of candidates on short list]," I'm also honored to have been on that short list. I appreciate that your job of selection was very, very difficult.
It was a pleasure getting to meet you and seeing how well your team works together. [Customize the following: You are a rare and skilled manager. I particularly like your style of relating to your team, and sincerely hope that sometime in the future we get an opportunity to work together. (I agree that my skills are a great fit for your team.)]
I wish you and your team great success. Thank you again for all your efforts on my behalf. I will look forward to seeing you at one of the area association meetings.
Best regards,

The Fruits of Graciousness

One of Lamb’s clients, the IT group leader for a national bank, got a call from a hiring person who received his letter following a rejection. The manager said he was disappointed that he couldn't have hired both of the final candidates, then referred Lamb’s client to another position in another company, for which he was hired.

Another of Lamb’s clients, a regional manager for a telephone company, employed the same tactic and wound up being hired by another department in the same company. He was later told that his letter was an influencing factor in getting the referral.

Alternatives to the “Grown-Up Letter”

Calling can be a good alternative to sending a letter. Several years ago, Holly Meadows Baird applied for a commercial interior design position at Gresham Smith and Partners, a large architectural firm in Nashville, Tenn. After several rounds of conversations and interviews, she didn’t get the job. When the head of the department called to tell her that they had selected someone else, he quipped that she was their second choice, “if that made me feel any better,” Baird said.

A day or so later, Baird called him back to tell him how much she appreciated the opportunity for the interviews and asked if they could set up a time to discuss what she could do to make herself a better candidate for his company in the future. He offered her insight on what his priorities were in hiring, suggested several books to read and provided constructive criticism of areas that she could strengthen in her resume and portfolio.
Four months later, another position opened up, and they called to see if she would be interested in interviewing. “The job landed in my lap,” Baird said, and she believes it's because she took the time “to use the rejection as a means to grow, and [because I] specifically asked what I could do to make myself a better fit for the company in the future.”

Gracious Letters as Networking Opportunities

Myles Falvella is taking a similar approach, hoping it will pay off in consulting gigs. The marketing executive is looking for a full-time job, but has been consulting in the meantime. When he doesn’t get a position after interviewing, he sends a note with the standard "thank you/keep me in mind," but he also tacks on a potential consulting service he can provide.

Falvella makes a pitch for suggested consulting work based on needs revealed during the job interview. So far, he’s used his “failed” interviews to identify potential work at a sales mapping application developer and a social media/PR opportunity.
“If I don't get the job,” he said, “I do hope to get some business from the effort.”

TMG HOT JOB ALERTS!

Linkedin Optimization, Part 5

This Week in Healthcare IT

M&A, Financial Reports and Funding

McKesson will acquire oncology management provider U.S. Oncology for approximately $2.16 billion…Huron Consulting Group has acquired Click Commerce, a vendor of Web portals for academic medical centers, for an undisclosed sum.
athenahealth reported a Q3 2010 profit of $3.8 million on $63.1 million in revenue…Cerner reported a Q3 2010 profit of $60.9 million on $462.7 million in revenue, up from a $48.4 million profit on $409.4 million in revenue in Q3 2009...CareFusion, a vendor of infection control management software, reported a Q1 2011 profit of $38 million on $908 million in revenue...Hospital information systems provider Computer Programs and Systems reported a Q3 2010 profit of $4.9 million on $40.9 million in revenue...Mediware Information Systems, a provider of health care-related management software, reported a Q1 2011 profit of $1.1 million on $12.5 million in revenue.

Contracts

Holy Cross Hospital in New Mexico has selected EHR and medical billing services from athenahealth…the San Francisco Department of Public Health has selected eClinicalWorks' EHR and practice management systems…HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley has chosen REACH3's customer relationship management software…Eastern Maine Medical Center has deployed the iMedConsent application from Dialog Medical…ACT Health Management Services has chosen NextGen Healthcare Information Systems' ambulatory EHR and practice management systems...the Medical Society of Delaware has chosen RelayHealth's physician practice management services.
The Georgia Health IT Regional Extension Center has named eClinicalWorks, e-MDs, Greenway Medical Technologies, Medical Informatics Engineering and NextGen as preferred EHR vendors…Fairview Health Services, a not-for-profit health system in Minnesota, has selected a human resource management suite from Lawson Human Capital Management System…Hospital Auxilio Mutuo in Puerto Rico has chosen a hospital information system from McKesson; the Medical Society of Delaware has selected McKesson's RelayHealth unit's PHR and clinical messaging systems…Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect, Nashville's health information exchange, will use a data exchange platform from CareAlign.

Product Development and Marketing

Software developer Status Solutions and wireless health and safety monitoring system provider AFrame Digital have partnered to expand remote patient monitoring systems…Health insurer Cigna has chosen Usablenet to let users of Cigna's website search for medical facilities and find prescription information…iSoftStone IT will introduce Microsoft HealthVault technology to the Chinese market...NextGen will offer InstaMed's health care payments platform for health care providers.

Personnel

Mark Guinan -- chief procurement officer for Johnson & Johnson -- has been named senior vice president and CFO of Hill-Rom, a medical technologies manufacturer…Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, has joined the partnership board of mHealth Alliance, a provider of wireless health care systems for underserved communities.
The Missouri Health Information Organization, which is developing a statewide health information exchange, has named Sandra Johnson -- interim dean and professor emerita of law and health care ethics of Saint Louis University School of Law -- as chair of the board of directors; David Weiss -- senior vice president and CIO of BJC Healthcare -- as vice chair; Tracy Godfrey -- a family physician at Family Health Center -- as treasurer; and Steve Roling -- president and CEO of Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City -- as secretary.


Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/11/5/health-it-business-news-roundup-for-the-week-of-november-5-2010.aspx#ixzz14udHhzEv

Linkedin Optimization, Part 4