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Aug 21, 2006

Healthy Competition: 47 Nominations Received for New Program to Honor Exemplary Healthcare Communications

Healthy Competition: 47 companies nominated for the 2006 Insight Award for Customer Advocacy

Response to the new recognition program suggests that Customer Advocacy may be the next “hot topic” for the healthcare industry.

BOSTON, MA (August 21, 2006)–Insight Forums, LLC announced that it has received 47 entries in response to its call for nominations for the 2006 Insight Award for Customer Advocacy in healthcare communications. “We felt that there was a need for an awards program to honor companies and organizations that are making an exemplary effort to help empower their customers, employees, or the public at large to make more informed decisions about their healthcare,” says Wes Ervin, the Program Director for Insight Forums, which sponsors the annual Healthcare Communications Forum and the Financial Communications Forum. “Talk about resonate – the response has been phenomenal. People really do appreciate when healthcare providers or payors take the initiative to help them understand and use all these new and often confusing options in the healthcare market.”

“The HVTO industry has a very good grasp of the functional value of document and digital communications,” says Elizabeth Gooding, CEO of Art Plus Technology (APT), the sponsor of the Insight Awards program. “What this Insight Awards competition shows is that we also have to think of communications as ambassadors, or advocates for the recipients.”

APT issued a Call for Entries for the awards competition in May. There was no entry fee, and anyone could nominate any organization which, in their opinion, was using their communications to promote the best interests of the recipients. APT turned over the management of the program to Insight Forums. All entries have been forwarded to an independent panel of three judges who will evaluate and score all entries, based on the criteria set forth in the Call for Entries. The panel is chaired by Professor Deborah Bosley, Director of the Center for Writing, Language, and Literacy at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte. The judges will announce the winner at the Insight Awards Luncheon on September 12, at the close of this year’s Healthcare Communications Forum, which meets at The Harvard Club in Boston.

The nominations are listed below in alphabetical order:

1. Abington Memorial Hospital, for MyHealth web site

2. Aetna, for their new HealthFund Explanation of Benefits

3. AHIP, for HealthDecisions.org web site

4. American Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health and Eli Lilly, for Strength in Knowing

5. American Healthways, for its My Health IQ program

6. American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), for its suite of 8 brochures for patients on cancer related topics

7. Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, for its online database

8. Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, for its Menstrual Suppression On Line Tool.

9. BCBS of Florida, for the Personal Health Report

10. Boston University School of Public Health, for JoinTogether.org alcohol screening site

11. Cartoon Network, for encouraging children’s physical activity during National Recess Week

12. Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety, for its Patient Safety Checklist

13. Cytyc Corporation, for its Website for women (www.AboutHeavyPeriods.com)

14. Dartwouth Hitchcock Medical Center, for its Out-of-Pocket Estimator

15. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, for its Website (www.enh.org) and Portal (www.enhfirst.org)

16. Health Dialog, for its CD disk, “Speak Up: Getting the healthcare that’s right for you”

17. Health Media, for its behavioral intervention strategies

18. Health Site Guide web site, for its program of pre-evaluated Web sites

19. Health Tracks, for Healthe Tracks online record-keeping system

20. Healthia, for its healthcare comparison tool

21. Healthways, for MyHealthIQ

22. Humana, for its “Let’s Talk” mobile marketing program

23. Integrated Development Corporation, for Breast Cancer Stories web site

24. International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), for the IFPMA Clinical Trials Portal

25. Joslin Diabetes Center, for its informational website (www.Joslin.org)

26. Kaiser Family Foundation, for its Medicare and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker

27. Martin Ogawa, for RealMentalHealth.com web site

28. MEDEX Assistance, for its avian flu outreach program on the Web

29. Medica, for DVD explaining Health Savings Accounts

30. Merck, for its Spanish version of “Your Health Now”

31. Minnesota Board of Aging, for Long Term Care Choices

32. National Committee on Quality Assurance, for its physician and hospital quality standards

33. National Heart Burn Association, for its online consumer screening tool, “Name that Burn” quiz

34. Oregon Association of Area Agencies on Aging and Disabilities and the Department of Human Services, for its Network of Care Web site

35. Pennsylvania Medical Society, for My Family Wellness web site

36. Project 7th Grade, for its tool kit to help parents and children with drug prevention issues

37. Purdue University, for the consumer section of its biosecurity web site

38. Rite AID, for its Vitamin Guide and Vitamin Quick View Web site

39. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for Aligning Forces for Quality web site

40. Roche USA, for Roche Transplant web site

41. State of Minnesota and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, for an addition to RxConnect called RxPrice Compare

42. Subimo and Optima Health, for the Treatment Cost Advisor and Spanish Hospital Advisor

43. Takeda, for its sleep tools on the Rozarem Web site

44. Tlccontact Inc., for Care Pages for Long-term Care

45. University of Wisconsin-Madison Center of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research

46. US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health, for Never2Early.org

47. Wellness Community, for Group Loop

Insight Forums is offering each of the above a free pass to send a representative to attend the Healthcare Communications Forum in Boston. They should contact Wes Ervin (information below).

Media Contact:
Wes Ervin
Program Director, The Healthcare Communications Forum
561-241-3441

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Reviewed: 01/2007