By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
At Hammock, we take our work seriously. We also are serious about our hammocks. A high-quality hammock is our going-away gift for our colleagues whom we have worked with for a long time.
While our company is named for our founder and CEO, Rex Hammock, we have long had an affinity for the symbol of relaxation, and the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the suggestion of a hammock in our logo.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
One development that has emerged from the pandemic has been the shift from in-person care to virtual care, including telehealth appointments via voice, chat or video. This change was rapid, and telehealth usage is expected to increase. But has marketing around this development kept pace?
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
Baseball is back. This week, Major League Baseball announced a shortened 60-game season. Players report for training next week.
So what, if anything, does baseball have to do with healthcare?
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
One of the most radical changes to the healthcare system that have transpired since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and will surely continue, has been the rapid shift to virtual health.
Prior to COVID-19, virtual care and telemedicine weren’t widely used. According to the American Medical Association, only 28% of doctors reported using telemedicine in 2019. A consumer study conducted in November 2019 found that only 12% of U.S. adults had ever used a telemedicine app, and about 14% of U.S. adults reported that they had never heard of telemedicine apps or websites. Despite that, about two-thirds reported that they were comfortable with the idea of virtual care, saying that convenience and costs were major factors in doing so.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
Green shoots, or new sales activities for many healthcare companies, are appearing on the ground over the last 60 days (since the start of the pandemic) without much new growth.
But traditional sales activities may not resume anytime soon. Lunches, seminars, conferences, boardroom presentations and travel will eventually happen again, but many groups are starting to think about what a new normal (or the next normal, as a friend shared with me this weekend) looks like.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
One of the big issues in healthcare “getting back to a new normal” is the resumption of elective procedures. On March 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a recommendation to postpone most elective procedures. In effect, the spigot for a hospital’s revenue has been turned off for two months.
From an economic point of view, elective procedures are the lifeblood of a healthcare system’s revenue stream and profitability, and the loss of elective procedures is gashing hospitals’ margins.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
In uncertain times, you work in a certain way.
So said Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin on a Zoom chat from his empty office earlier this week. Corbin’s two NCAA baseball national championships with Vanderbilt could pigeonhole him as a school and sports legend, but anyone who has heard him speak knows his leadership style and wisdom transcend sports.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
Our company chat thread is the one consistent “place,” outside our couple-of-times-a-week Zoom meetings, where we spend our time together during quarantine. When I asked for input on that thread about this week’s Healthcare Idea Email, I got a bunch of great articles from my colleagues. Those pieces, combined with some client discussions this week, had a common denominator:
It’s about time.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
On Sunday, March 29, President Trump extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April. Two days later, he warned of a “painful two weeks ahead.” The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise rapidly, and our healthcare system and nation are heading into a critical few weeks where the death toll is estimated to soar.
We’re in awe of the frontline healthcare workers who are making sacrifices to care for the critically ill, especially as there continue to be shortages of personal protective equipment and ventilators that are needed to treat the most acute cases. We see you, and we thank you.
By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
Practicing kindness and channeling empathy for your fellow man is always a good idea. It’s also a best practice for effective marketing—a truth that is never more evident than when tragedy strikes. In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 3, four tornadoes roared through Middle Tennessee, causing extensive damage in Nashville, Mount Juliet, Cookeville, and other surrounding communities. Many of our neighbors and friends lost homes or businesses. Worst of all, there were 24 lives lost in an instant (and that number may rise as search efforts continue).