News

US-based DOOH health network spreads the message in Europe

November 20, 2013

Last week in Hamburg, Germany, Health Media Network COO Larry Newman was the featured keynote speaker at the BroadSign Executive Forum: Healthcare, a European best-practices summit for digital point-of-care advertising executives, hosted by HMN partner BroadSign International LLC. The Forum focused on how digital signage and digital media are transforming the healthcare landscape in the U.S., according to an announcement from the companies.

The invitation-only event brought together a group of European networks in the health care and point-of-care verticals to exchange best practices and thinking about how HMN's content and technology partnership with BroadSign are engaging, motivating and activating patients to more proactively affect the doctor-patient relationship, the announcement said.

According to the announcement, Newman said in his keynote that "this approach is effectively closing the gap between patients and their physicians. We've created a successful formula of layering on services, leveraging locations and maximizing the power of the prescribing doctor. This can be seen most prominently in physician waiting rooms, where patients (ultimately consumers) spend a good amount of time."

HMN's POC programming features 25 condition-specific networks and is IP addressable with the ability to segment each screen/office with different content. Each doctor's office has the ability to customize messages for staff and patients.

"We saw the BroadSign Executive Forum: Healthcare as a way to bring extensive expertise to a select group of European forerunners," BroadSign Vice President of Sales Skip Beloff said in the announcement. "HMN is one of our most innovative partners in the vertical and presented attendees with information they can immediately apply to their business."

As the trend toward direct-to-consumer marketing continues to grow in Europe, Newman's remarks emphasized the contrast between the state of the industry in the U.S. and the potential for growth in Europe.

The announcement said Newman also challenged his audience to ask "Why the lag?" between Europe and U.S. in marketing to doctors and in having a greater presence at the point-of-care delivery site. Throughout the day-long summit, the six companies participating wrangled with issues such as:

• Higher rates of acceptance of digital channels by American health professionals and how to boost acceptance rates in local markets
• General regulations toward in-store (office advertising) in Europe
• Varying patency laws from country to country overseas
• Greater efficiency in advertising spending in the U.S.
• Ways European networks can enable greater communications and content presentation at the POC.

Newman closed by urging the group to consider the global opportunity for the digital advertising industry. "We buy the same screens, play in the same technology space, have the same customers, share the same challenges ... Can we begin to act as a global industry?"

Learn more about digital signage in health care.