Overwhelmed. Anxious. Confused. Concerned. Conflicted.

And now you are asking me to sign up to attend your online weight loss seminar? Join your online cancer support group? Become a Facebook fan? Follow you on Twitter? Listen to your new podcast on staying healthy? Watch your latest video on risk factors for diabetes? Read your enewsletter loaded with tips for managing my cholesterol? You wonder why I am ignoring you if you are only trying to help me.

How about sending me information about the health issue that is my highest priority? And giving me tools to help me make decisions about which treatment to choose? 

Engagement looks very different when viewed through the eyes of the consumer. It is essential for healthcare organizations to gain the consumer’s perspective about ways to engage them before investing their limited resources (money & people) in portals, social media and mobile initiatives.

Although your company can benefit from reading the latest industry research to understand trends and participation in these emerging technologies, your set of customers are very different than the general populations surveyed. Your customers have a unique demographic, set of health needs and technology comfort.  You must understand their evolving needs before determining the steps to engage them.

In this series, I will lead you down different paths to see how innovative organizations are engaging their target consumers in their health.