OCTOBER 14, 2008

Phoenix—After 18 months of research and development, McMurry is ready to unveil a new online product called WebEdge, which allows hospitals to quickly launch leading-edge branded websites without significant upfront investment or ongoing development costs.

“Most hospital sites look different, yet they possess very similar functionality and therefore have comparable underlying code requirements,” says President, Content Marketing Fred Petrovsky. “Why is it then that most hospitals develop their sites from scratch through a lengthy, painstaking and expensive process, when they could be sharing code through a common platform that still affords for visual distinction from one site to another?”

WebEdge enables hospitals to launch their sites, start to finish, in six weeks, rather than a more common six months. Instead of investing $50,000 to $500,000 to develop a new site, WebEdge costs just $5,000, followed by affordable monthly licensing fees similar to the financial model of application service providers, which charge for the use of online software.

“Clients are always saying that they ‘needed a new site launched yesterday.’ Up until now, ‘yesterday’ wasn’t possible,” adds Chad Rose, VP/Sales & Product Development. “Most people dread having to tackle creating a new site because it takes a tremendous amount of time and money. WebEdge changes this dated paradigm and makes site development and deployment a breeze.”

The WebEdge suite offers a library of design templates and unlimited color and branding options to give each hospital the look and feel it desires. There are also a wide variety of plug-in modules, so each hospital can choose what specifically is offered on its site.

For instance, one hospital may want to incorporate the Discovery Health resource library with its 7,500 articles and 100 text, video and interactive health tools, while another may want the Quick News module that inserts health news feeds into a site’s news section. Another may want all that plus Online Bill Pay that allows patients to transact online and the Physician Patient Drive module that provides prominent physician bios and video messaging.

Another important feature of WebEdge addresses the reality that most sites and the technology behind them become dated over time. Through a managed hosted solution, the modules—and consequently a hospital’s site—are continually improved and updated, keeping a hospital’s online presence fresh and adding significant cost-saving longevity.

WebEdge is search engine optimized to help ensure most pages on a hospital’s site are properly indexed by search engines like Google. As a managed hosted solution, it is also automatically backed up every 24 hours and has 24/7 automated network monitoring by expert systems and network administrators.

The product is also built with a Web-based management tool system, so hospital users can manage content updates through a Web browser, which means changes can be made to pages throughout a site anytime, anywhere and without the cost of outsourcing.

“Hospital marketers will be empowered to control their site with clicks, cuts and pastes. It’s remarkably simple and easy,” said Fred Mersbach, Senior Vice President/McMurry Interactive. “When you see a hospital site that isn’t timely and relevant, that’s usually a sign of too many barriers preventing easy updates. You shouldn’t be held hostage by your site or Web services provider. The right tools and partners make life easier and more efficient.”

The design and strategy of WebEdge also promise to bring hospital sites from Web 1.0 brochure-ware into the dynamic, exciting Web 2.0 world that invites traffic, engages consumers and offers conveniences that make doing business a better experience.

“Consumers expect more from a site than just being able to read information; they expect to be empowered and enjoy their online interaction,” says Rose. “WebEdge will give consumers what they want right up front, such as registering for classes, researching physicians, researching medical conditions and general health information, preregistering to save time and paperwork, paying bills, donating and buying gifts for patients.”

About McMurry
McMurry (mcmurry.com), with three offices in Arizona and New York, offers a complete line of marketing communications services to a variety of clientele, including GlaxoSmithKline, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., Amtrak, CBS, Aon, CVS Caremark, Waste Management, USAA, 24 Hour Fitness and Thomson Reuters, as well as resources to more than 10,000 corporate professionals. The company has specialized practices in healthcare, finance and insurance. It is among the largest independent marketing communications companies in the U.S. and is recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute and Society for Human Resource Management as one of the top five “Best Small Companies to Work For” in the U.S.

 

Katie Haney, Strategic Communications Specialist

P: 602-395-5850
E: KATIE.HANEY@MCMURRY.COM