Grey Healthcare Group Acquires Minority Interest in OptimizeRx in the US New York, NY, September 30, 2015 – WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Grey Healthcare Group (“GHG”), a leading healthcare communications services company, has acquired a minority interest in OptimizeRx Corporation (OTCQB: OPRX), a software company whose premier content-delivery platform enables pharmaceutical companies to provide on-demand patient-care services, including e-prescribing financial support in the electronic health records (EHR) at the point of care. The healthcare industry’s focus on improving health outcomes is dramatically impacting the way physicians work, as well as how pharmaceutical companies support them. Increasingly, healthcare providers are relying on EHRs for information and workflow management. Research shows healthcare providers are spending an average of 2.8 hours per day on managing their EHR1. “This shift to electronic workflow provides an opportunity for new on-demand tools to help physicians better serve their patients and meet the challenges of practicing medicine today,” said Lynn O’Connor Vos, chief executive officer of ghg. These can include identifying the most cost-effective medication or passing along coupon savings to the patient at the time of prescription. These actions increase the chance that patients will fill their prescriptions, take their medication and improve their health outcomes. ghg and OptimizeRx will build an online medium that helps manufacturers and other healthcare companies offer services at the point of care, where it can be most helpful and valuable to the patient. The partnership will co-develop new platforms to deliver vital information and education to both physicians and their patients, and help expand the EHR network. “Together ghg and OptimizeRx will drive the kind of big, bold ideas that will transform healthcare into a customer-service business. By connecting the fragmented EHR environment, we will deliver streamlined information to physicians and measurably improve the patient experience. Our partnership will provide innovative solutions to increase adherence to prescriptions – the major obstacle to achieving improved health outcomes,” said Vos. OptimizeRx currently has a network of 350+ partner EHRs, reaching over 300,000 healthcare providers with customized prescription vouchers, co-pay savings and other support programs tailored to the specific physician and patient. With 85% of physicians now e-prescribing, and 80% of office-based physicians using EHR systems, reliance on EHRs continues to rise, driven by incentives built into the Affordable Care Act and specified by meaningful-use criteria. “OptimizeRx and our EHR partners are excited to further develop technologies that automate information doctors have deemed valuable when treating their patients. ghg offers the ideal partnership to develop and deliver ‘better access to better healthcare,’ which is our mission,” said David A. Harrell, Chairman and CEO, OptimizeRx. About Grey Healthcare Group ghg (grey healthcare group) is a global healthcare communications company capable of driving every aspect of healthcare communication. Headquartered in New York, with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, ghg works with leading companies to build world-class healthcare and pharmaceutical brands among medical professionals and consumers, with a unique storytelling approach that covers print, digital and television broadcast media, medical education, sales force presentations and managed access strategies. ghg is a wholly-owned member of WPP, a global provider of advertising, branding and marketing. About OptimizeRx Corp. OptimizeRx Corp. provides unique consumer and physician platforms to help patients better afford and comply with their medicines and healthcare products, while offering pharmaceutical and healthcare companies effective ways to expand patient awareness, access and adherence to their medications. OPRX is based in Rochester, MI. For more information, please go to www.optimizerxcorp.com or www.samplemd.com. 1Source: Manhattan Research, Taking the Pulse® U.S. 2014. Health Has Gone Mainstream by Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO, ghg ghg CEO, Lynn O’Connor Vos, discusses the winning campaigns from Cannes that have set the bar for the biggest trends that will resonate into the next year and beyond. You can read the full post below and view it here. With the Lions Health creative festival in Cannes past us, the winning campaigns set the bar for the biggest trends that will resonate into the next year and beyond for marketing, particularly healthcare. Nearly 100 awards were handed out between the Health and Wellness, and Pharma categories. Powerful visuals, messaging and ideas were showcased in winning campaigns, such as the "This Girl Can" video to the campaign aimed at ending the social stigma of HIV, all the way to the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge. A few more campaigns of note include the award-winning campaign, "The Marathon Walker" and the innovative Breathe Right placement at Belmont Stakes. What’s important to note is that these campaigns didn’t just win in their respective health categories, but also took home top awards in the main Cannes Lions festival. A few trends spotted at Lions Health may offer some insight. First, storytelling continues to be at the apex of our work. Presenters Todd and Jedd Wider, Emmy, Peabody and Academy Award-winning documentary producers, offered compelling reasons why this is so with their presentation, “Cut To The Truth: Tell Stories, Change Lives.” Through their film work, they routinely employ all the elements of storytelling. They make people laugh, cry and empathize with personal stories. The key takeaway was that just telling a story is not enough. Capturing audiences requires giving the stories you tell heart and emotional drama that builds lasting impressions. Cognitive neuroscientist Itiel Dror, Ph.D. provided the scientific underpinning for this successful approach during his presentation, "Nailing Jelly To A Tree & Other Wild Goose Chases." Dr. Dror explained that three things need to happen with marketing and brand communications in order to change behavior: The consumer must be able to encode the branding/marketing in their brain and remember it The communication must reach the part of their brain that influences decision making The message must give the consumer a memorable experience that goes beyond the rational message Cognitive connection, not just communication with consumers should be our goal. A second reason is the pervasive trend toward purpose-driven branding and marketing. A growing trend for some time seems to be finding the sweet spot for successfully balancing product sales with brand enhancement. Look no further than the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for PR award for undeniable proof that companies are seeing the value of integrating true and meaningful causes to better connect with consumers. Procter & Gamble was rewarded for sending a very definitive statement about its brand through its “#Likeagirl: Turning An Insult Into A Confidence Movement” campaign. A third important trend observed in Cannes is the increasingly sophisticated use of social media in the marketing mix. As with the previous two trends, this too is all about better connecting brands with consumers. One presenter said she vets any potential social media communication or ad with one question: Would I share this? If the answer is no, back to the drawing board. She went on to say that those receiving an emphatic yes must fall squarely into one of four categories: communications that are emotional, shocking, cool or funny. As health continues its migration from disease management to healthcare to wellness and wellbeing, we will only see the demand for meaningful marketing communications grow. And, according to the Widers, healthcare lends itself seamlessly to dramatic storytelling. Perhaps more so than any other industry. After all, they said, health is the most basic and human of our shared experiences. It is easy for each of us to relate to all manner of health issues. The Cannes experience, I think, gives us health marketing communications professionals sense that we are headed in the right direction. Our strategic thinking is becoming much more audience (patient)-centric. We are shaping and sharing memorable, dramatic stories and we are increasingly moving well beyond information pushing. Back to the Future: house calls by Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO, ghg ghg CEO, Lynn O’Connor Vos, shares her thoughts on the future of healthcare & the importance of house calls. You can read the full post below and view it here. I recently came across two similar articles that offer a powerful glimpse of where the practice of healthcare is likely headed. Interestingly, neither is about a hot cutting-edge technology, a new mobile app or the latest wearable. In fact, both discuss how going back in time may be the way forward. The topic: doctor house calls. Only a few generations ago, a healthy chunk of patients saw the doctor in their own home -- 40% in 1930, by one estimate. By 1980, the doctor carrying a black bag and knocking on front doors had virtually disappeared. But, according to the articles, that highly personalized service, which was once status quo, may be on the rebound. And that’s welcome news. Because for all of the gadgets that let us take charge of our health, there is still nothing that can fully replace an unhurried, one-on-one conversation with your doctor. That’s especially true when you or a loved one is battling a serious health problem, such as diabetes, cancer, congestive heart failure, or end-stage liver disease. Those conditions are not addressed through one-and-done prescriptions or surgeries. Once diagnosed, they require daily treatment, usually for the rest of your life. Most of us know how that change in lifestyle generally leads to stress, depression and fatigue – for both patients and caregivers. Working in partnership with Aspire Health, BlueCross of Tennessee is providing an extra layer of support to its members with advanced illnesses through the “House Calls” program. “House Calls” sends specially trained Aspire clinicians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, dieticians, even chaplains, to members’ homes. Aspire physicians and nurses are available 24/7. These health professionals, of course, provide relief from symptoms and pain of serious illness. But they also help members navigate the healthcare system, think through complex treatment choices, and face the difficult emotions brought on by their disease. Holistic, high touch and highly successful, the program is earning high satisfaction ratings and reducing hospitalizations by up to 72%. That’s remarkable. Ernest Brown, a doctor in Washington, DC, is taking this concept several steps further. His practice is 100% house calls. Unlike most other physicians in the area, he is not affiliated with an office or hospital. He does not accept Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. And, believe it or not, does not charge until his patients get better. No appointments or travel. Healthcare on their schedule. No longer just feeling like a claim number. Payment only after a successful treatment. His approach offers several advantages to patients over the current delivery model- not to mention great customer service. Dr. Brown believes the increased patient interaction allows him to practice better medicine. By seeing where and how the patient lives, he gets a more complete picture, and can provide a better continuum of care. That understanding also lets him identify and prevent habits that could lead to further health issues. He also believes his approach reduces emergency room visits and the number of specialist referrals, all along while cutting costs. A recent American Geriatrics Society study backs up his theory. A group of 750 Elderly patients participating in a house call program cost, on average, $8,500 less to treat than another group on a normal health plan. The house call group also had 9% fewer hospitalizations, 10% fewer emergency department visits and saw specialists 23% less frequently than the control group. With the over 65 population expected to nearly double to 84 million people by 2050, the need for more healthcare hand-holding will undoubtedly grow. Increasing rates of heart disease, cancer and other chronic illness will only add to that demand. Those of us working to improve communication and understanding in healthcare should take a hard look at what Dr. Brown, BlueCross Tennessee and others are up to. Their old school doctoring may well be the new wave of personalized healthcare- sooner than we may think. We would also do well to study the Amazon formula for success. A commitment to consumer-focused shopping made efficient and enjoyable through smart technology has literally revolutionized the way we shop. I believe healthcare is ripe for a similar transformation. In a time where the amount of personal health technology solutions is growing exponentially, how long can it really take before home is where the health is? Cognitive Computing: Revolution's in the Air by Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO, ghg ghg CEO, Lynn O'Connor Vos, delves into the IBM World of Watson and the revolutionary ramifications the technology holds for global healthcare in her newest Huffington Post blog. You can read the full post below. The first intelligible words spoken over the telephone in March 1876 are reported to be, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." So perhaps it's only fitting new technology that may be as revolutionary for global healthcare shares that surname. This genuine possibility was strongly demonstrated at the IBM World of Watson conference I recently attended in New York. And it is not surprising that information and communications are at the center of this intriguing advancement. Watson is the IBM supercomputer most of us know about because it destroyed human champion contestants on Jeopardy. Cognitive computing is what made that possible. Watson is designed to mirror human learning processes. Moving beyond the first fast-tabulation computer phase and the If/Then era of computing, cognitive computing allows Watson to digest both structured and unstructured data. That means it can take in data from all sorts of sources - say, from electronic patient records to published research on a particular type of small cell cancer to tweets. And Watson can read millions of unstructured documents in seconds. That's a critical step forward because the pool of data from those sources will continue to grow exponentially. According to IBM, the increasing prevalence of personal fitness trackers, connected medical devices, implantables and other devices that collect real-time information will generate more than 1 million gigabytes of health-related data in each person's lifetime. Next, Watson organizes that data to make it easier to work with. Trained by human experts, it then learns how to interpret that organized content to quickly expose patterns, connections and insights. Over time, Watson is able to master bodies of information and apply it to improve decision-making. The ramifications for healthcare should be pretty obvious. Pinpointing patients best suited for clinical trials. Prevention protocols for individuals that are genetically predisposed for glaucoma or heart disease. Speeding new drug development and improving the chances of success. Cracking the code on why patients stop taking their medication. Improved understanding of how a disease impacts a specific ethnic population. The list is long. It's also not too far fetched to think that Watson-aided humans could become de facto allied health professionals. In essence, Watson is Dr. Watson. Without having to schedule an appointment. Or old magazines in a waiting room. At your fingertips. Armed with rapid access to answers about and proven treatment for any medical condition -- distilled down from billions and billions of real-world data points by Watson -- why wouldn't it be possible for individuals to finally take charge of their health care? "The Power of the Purse" study recently confirmed that women are the Chief Medical Officers (CMO) of their families - but CMOs that feel ill equipped to make medical decisions. Why can't Watson solve that challenging conundrum with its insights, real-time feedback and instant recommendations? And why won't access to all of this highly vetted and analyzed health information, state-of-the-art research and treatment patterns from the world's medical centers of excellence improve communications between patients and health professionals? Several companies are already creating "Powered by Watson" apps to provide intelligent coaching systems centered on pre- and post-operative care. Others are building apps that allow mobile device access to highly personalized, dynamic care management for people with diabetes and other chronic diseases. More are sure to follow. Stay tuned. There's revolution in the air. And communications is the cure. Visit http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/health/ for more information about IBM Watson Health ghg Australia Wins The Healthshare Audience Award On May 28, in Cologne, Germany, ghg Australia’s “Dr. G. Oogle” campaign won the Audience award at the Healthshare Awards. The HealthShare Award was established in 2012 and is the first award to honor innovative social media communication in the health sector. The Audience award is chosen by vote, by the 1,000,000+ users of DocCheck, one of the largest membership portals for medical professionals in Europe. These users choose the winner of the Audience Award HealthShare “Crowd Cup.” ghg Australia created Dr. G. Oogle to illustrate how imprecise the Internet can be for health information and the importance of working with an expert healthcare communication agency. All six videos can be viewed on ghg Australia’s website and provide creative (but inaccurate) healthcare advice for common conditions, including Psoriasis (Poor eye isis) and Urinary Tract Infections (discovered by Russian Plumber, Yuri Nari Tracticov). The creative team includes Martin Greguric, writer, and Nicholas Brown, art director. The campaign also received a finalist certificate in the self-promotions category and won a Global Award for “Humor” at New York Festivals’ 2014 Global Awards. You can visit The Healthshare Award for more information on this award. ghg (Grey Healthcare Group) acquires minority interest in PARx Solutions Leading healthcare agency invests in prior authorization company focused on improving health outcomes May 19, 2015 New York, New York – ghg (Grey Healthcare Group), a leading healthcare communication services agency, today announced it has acquired a minority interest in PARx Solutions, Inc. (PARx), an innovative organization which specializes in expediting the prior authorization process for pharmacies, physicians and patients. PARx’s full service approach facilitates a higher number of successfully submitted prior authorizations, resulting in more prescriptions being filled, greater adherence, and, ultimately, better patient outcomes. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The number of prescriptions requiring prior authorization is growing rapidly, and the intensity and variability of prior authorization requirements is making successful submission of forms difficult. According to industry research, only about 30 percent of prior authorizations actually result in the initial physician-prescribed choice of therapy. This represents a significant barrier to care as patients denied prescriptions at the pharmacy due to prior authorization failure are less likely to get that prescription filled at all. PARx uses a combination of proprietary software, automation and a personalized approach to streamline challenging and time-consuming paperwork for prescribers to ensure successful submissions of prior authorizations. This makes the experience easier for the physician and pharmacy, and helps patients receive the medications that they need. “The focus in healthcare is on ensuring good health outcomes and improving the patient experience. At ghg, we work to help our clients find ways to support those goals. Failed prior authorizations can be a significant barrier to patient care and satisfaction. PARx brings a fresh approach to the process, one that proactively removes barriers and paves the way for a better customer experience,” said Lynn O’Connor Vos, chief executive officer of ghg. “We are always looking for innovative partners, like PARx, that will measurably improve the patient experience, and we look forward to bringing PARx services to our clients.” PARx’s Prior Authorization Support System (PASS) is designed to support physicians and pharmacies as they manage prescription prior authorization requirements through a web-based portal. PARx’s clinical staff work one-on-one with physician offices and pharmacies to streamline processes and improve prior authorization success rates. Through data collection and analysis, PARx continuously ensures that physicians provide accurate and appropriate information to payers to increase the likelihood of a positive outcome. “We are excited to be joining forces with ghg. Aside from its standing as a premier creative agency, ghg has a deep understanding of the healthcare industry, including the importance of effective workflows to ensure patients can access the medications they need. The prior authorization process and its inherent challenges present a significant opportunity to streamline a critical part of health care delivery, and we believe that ghg’s expertise and resources will strengthen and accelerate PARx’s ability to improve patient care through the delivery of high quality services to physicians and pharmacies. We look forward to leading the way on that opportunity” said Mike Evanisko, chairman at PARx. She’s the Chief Medical Officer – By Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO, ghg How important is communications to the rapidly evolving practice of healthcare around the world? Look no further than the results of a recent multimarket survey of 9,200 respondents in the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan and Brazil titled “The Power of the Purse: Engaging Women Decision Makers for Healthy Outcomes.” Conducted by The Center for Talent Innovation and co-sponsored by WPP, I recently had the pleasure of serving with industry leaders on this important primary research initiative. The study’s key findings make clear that women are now overwhelmingly the healthcare decision makers for both themselves, their families and their friends. They are setting healthcare agendas, making treatment decisions, selecting healthcare coverage and providers. Regardless of marital status or whether they have children, 94 percent make decisions for themselves and 59 percent make healthcare decisions for others 94 percent of working moms of children under age 18 make decisions for others Meet the new boss. Women are the new “Chief Medical Officers (CMO)” and they take this role very seriously. Fully 73 percent of respondents indicated that it is very important to them to be knowledgeable about keeping themselves and their loved ones healthy. And yet, it is a role that a healthy majority of women feel ill equipped to do. Nearly 60 percent say they are lacking confidence in their decision making. Why? The study results strongly suggest that they are starved for healthcare knowledge. They don’t know what information – mostly accessed online -- to believe or trust. In addition, they are starved for trust in their insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies. This challenging CMO dichotomy adds up to huge opportunity across the healthcare arena -- medical schools, payers, pharmaceutical companies, nursing, product marketers, executive leadership, talent managers, etc. For improving healthcare outcomes. For improving the bottom line. IF their “famines” can be properly addressed. For starters, that means healthcare professionals and organizations need to change their current thinking. Women view health more broadly than the usual definition of freedom from illness. Nearly 80 percent of the CMOs in the study defined health as “having spiritual and emotional wellbeing.” Almost the same sample also cited “being physically fit and well rested.” The CMO perspective needs to be baked into marketing, clinical trial design, boardroom decision making and more. But most important, the study indicates healthcare providers and organizations must change their behaviors in order to build trust that can lead to empowered CMO engagement. Women were asked what behaviors they found most satisfying from these entities. At the heart of every answer is improved, two-way dialogue and clear messaging that are sensitive to the female perspective. The “Power of the Purse” study offers an insightful blueprint for successful CMO engagement at the highest levels of healthcare organizations, throughout the marketplace and at the point of care. We marketing communications professionals have a golden opportunity to translate these findings into meaningful messaging and tools – and prove further that communications is the cure. By working with all sectors, we can play a significant role in properly preparing women to be effective, even revolutionary, healthcare advocates. Visit the Center for Talent Innovation to read the study report. ghg, CEO, Lynn O’Connor Vos Featured in PharmaVOICE In the article, Augmented Reality: An Overlap Between the Virtual and the Real World, Lynn is quoted on how augmented reality has the power to drive significant change in healthcare. “Augmented reality can not only help save lives, it can also help healthcare organizations make their existing processes more precise and efficient, by reducing overhead, facilitating smoother management, and reducing the change of human error.” “Imagine the possibilities—an app that helps a patient with chronic allergies pre-emptively identify high levels of allergens every morning. Or imagine arriving to your doctor’s appointment with your check-in complete, files pulled, and the nurse ready to take your vitals, all triggered by your car entering the parking lot. Augmented reality has the potential to put timely, relevant information in front of patients and healthcare professionals when they need it. And that can disrupt healthcare for the better.” This article and the full issue are available online. Healthcare Marketing to Generation X – Helping the “Self-Reliant” Find Something to Depend Upon Erin Byrne, Executive VP, Managing Partner and Chief Client Officer at ghg is featured in the recent eMarketer report - Healthcare Marketing to Generation X – Helping the “Self-Reliant” Find Something to Depend Upon. (Excerpts from the full report) This report provides an overview of Gen Xers’ attitudes toward the healthcare and health insurance industries, and their uses of both traditional and digital channels when researching and shopping for health solutions. Finally, it identifies tactics for successfully engaging these consumers with healthcare marketing. Despite this breakout, marketers agree that digital channels are necessary for reaching Gen X. “Print and broadcast still have a role to build awareness, but for this generation digital marketing is critical to driving behavior change and critical to driving action,” said ghg Healxx Digital’s Byrne. “If you have a dollar to spend with this generation, you would spend it in digital first.” Members of this generation are prolific and thorough searchers, turning first to Google and other search engines for all types of health and medical inquiries. “Search marketing is absolutely critical with this generation,” said ghg Healxx Digital’s Byrne. “They are much more likely to type a disease or a symptom or brand name into a search engine as opposed to trying to go to a website. They let what Google returns be their consideration set for where to get additional information.” To see all of Erin’s quotes and the full report, please contact info@ghgroup.com. An Important New White Paper From Our Partners at OptimizeRx With almost 80% of doctors now ePrescribing, OptimizeRx’s new e-Coupon White Paper shows the value and impact of integrating patient support services, including vouchers and co-pay coupons, and patient education directly into EHR and ePrescribing platforms to increase prescribing and fill rates for your brands and improve patient outcomes. View OptimizeRx’s e-Coupon White Paper ghg Expands Barriers of Innovation with Inaugural Health Outcomes Code‑A‑Thon New York, N.Y., October 6, 2014 – From September 20th to September 21st, ghg/NY, together with WG Consulting, hosted its first Health Outcomes Code‑A‑Thon as part of the Health Spoken Here series. The contest supported the formation of new ideas and prototypes that improve health outcome measures as they relate to the ACA and the larger U.S. healthcare system. Nine teams came together to present their ideas, all ranging from mental health awareness to the optimization of ACO and IDN networks. The expert panel of judges consisted of Managing Partners Lynn O’Connor Vos, Erin Byrne, John Dietz, and Ben Ingersoll. Guest judges in attendance were Ritesh Patel, Chief Digital Officer, Ogilvy Commonhealth Worldwide; Adam Griff, Healthcare Innovator and Entrepreneur, Health 2.0 NYC/MedStartr; and Thomas Tsang, Executive Director, Business Development and Strategy, Merck. After careful deliberation, the judges determined the top three winners: Team Bright Day (First Place): Bright Day focused on a depression app that utilized Facebook to put a personalized aspect on depression and how it may affect the target audience’s immediate world of friends and family. The app allows users to identify friends or family that may be exhibiting signs of depression and connect with them through messaging. The app, using Facebook interests, can then suggest activities to do using outside APIs from Groupon, Yelp, Ticketmaster, etc. Team Treatease (Second Place): Treatease presented an app focused on providing counseling for long term, post-care at an addiction treatment center to help reduce the need for readmissions. The app links counselors and patients for continuous care throughout the patient’s life. Team Knife to 5K (Third Place): Knife to 5K presented an app focused on reducing hospital readmissions post-hip arthroplasty and reducing the cost of physical therapy in the longer term recovery of patients by expediting treatment. The app provides “virtual physical therapy” and also helps to track patients’ recovery progress back to healthcare professionals. The end goal is getting a person back to running 5ks after surgery. For additional pictures and highlights from the event, visit our social media pages: Facebook: GreyHealthcare Twitter: twitter.com/GreyHealth Instagram: instagram.com/greyhealth ghg’s EVP, Director of User Experience John Canevari to Judge 2014 Global Awards John Canevari, ghg’s EVP and Director of User Experience, has been announced as a judge on the Executive Jury—a panel of top creative leaders from medical, pharmaceutical, and healthcare communication companies—for the 2014 Global Awards. Canevari and the Executive Jury will be responsible for judging the shortlist of winners and selecting the award winning campaigns honoring this year’s World’s Best Healthcare and Wellness Advertising. Now in its 20th year, the Global Awards is one of the world’s largest and most recognized healthcare communications awards, showcasing creativity and innovation in 150 category entries, spanning regional, national, and continental boundaries. The 2014 awards ceremony will take place in November in New York City and Sydney, Australia. For more information, please visit http://www.theglobalawards.com. Ben Ingersoll Appointed Chief Creative Officer of Grey Healthcare Group New York, N.Y., August 11, 2014 – ghg (grey healthcare group) announced the appointment of Ben Ingersoll as Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer. In this role, Ben joins fellow Managing Partners, Chief Engagement Officer Erin Byrne, and Brand Strategy Director John Dietz, in leading the New York agency. “Ben brings with him extensive experience spanning nearly every therapeutic area, including diabetes and rare diseases,” notes Lynn O’Conner Vos, Chief Executive Officer of ghg. “We are pleased to add Ben to our team to drive creative excellence across ghg worldwide.” Ben brings passion for creative ideas, great design and talent development to ghg. In his role, he will be responsible for all US creative operations, including copy, art, editorial and studio. He also will oversee collaboration among the agency’s global creative directors in London and Sydney to unify ghg’s creative point of view. “ghg is a leader in the field, a company known for pushing the boundaries of communications and tech—I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team,” notes Ben. “My goal is simple: to make ghg the hottest creative shop in healthcare, the go-to destination for clients and a magnet for the best creative talent.” Prior to joining ghg, Ben served as Partner and Creative Director for Cline Davis & Mann New York where he was responsible for several global healthcare brands across multiple therapeutic areas. Grey Healthcare Group Launches Health Spoken Here™ Series to Address Key Issues Affecting Health in the U.S. New York, N.Y., May 30, 2014 – This week, ghg (Grey Healthcare Group) officially launched the Health Spoken Here™ series, a thought leadership series geared to discussing key issues impacting health in the U.S. ghg and market access consultancy WG Consulting partnered to host a much anticipated panel discussion - Realities of the Affordable Care Act: Can Value Be Legislated? The panel, moderated by J.D. Kleinke, Health Care Business Strategist, brought together key influencers across the healthcare spectrum: Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO, ghg; Lindsay Farrell, President and CEO, Open Door Family Medical Centers; Laurel Pickering, President and CEO, Northeast Business Group on Health; Bill Meury, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Forest Laboratories; and Dr. Nancy McGee, Managing Director, Manatt Health Solutions. Among the many goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to rein in the ever-rising cost of healthcare in the United States, making all providers of care more accountable for the cost, quality and value of what they deliver. While the panel presented different viewpoints based on their line of expertise, everyone agreed: the changes from the ACA are making a difference. And because there is greater access to information that we did not have before, greater alignment exists among stakeholders. “The major difference [between now and 1999] is technology, digital and the mass consumerization of health,” said Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO of ghg. “You have consumers who are online, reaching Dr. Google, smarter than they were in ’99… you’re going to get a more educated consumer, which has to make a difference in healthcare, and it will make a difference for pharma as well.” The Health Spoken Here series continues as ghg will host the Health Outcomes Code‑A‑Thon on June 21st and 22nd at the Ogilvy Chocolate Factory. The contest will bring together a community of developers, designers, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and community members to formulate new ideas and prototypes that improve health outcome measures as they relate to the ACA and the larger U.S. healthcare system. For more information on this contest, please visit http://ghghealthoutcomescodeathon.challengepost.com/. Claire Gillis, CEO, WG Consulting, Featured in March Issue of MM&M The March 2014 issue of MM&M features an article by WG Consulting CEO Claire Gillis. WG Consulting, ghg's global healthcare market access consultancy, is a leader in aligning clinical, health economics and stakeholder analysis across all states of drug development. Their work in the healthcare realm allows them to identify current issues in the marketplace and provide real-world issues. In this issue of MM&M, Claire utilizes her expertise in delivering evidence-based solutions to discuss "putting moves" on Big Data and what the healthcare sector can learn from consumer giants such as Amazon. Read more from her opinion piece at http://bit.ly/1dgYcu5. WG Consulting Presents at 2014 New York Social Media Week On February 19th, Caitlin McQuilling, Health Economist for WG Consulting, presented on behalf of "Team WG" during the Health Innovation Track for New York Social Media Week. Now in its sixth year, Social Media Week has become a leading platform and worldwide event with local presence and global reach across Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Team WG – consisting of Justin DiSanto, Yan Wang, and Caitlin McQuilling - was able to present at this year’s New York Social Media Week after winning Third Place in the Merck Social Health Hack. The "hackathon" provided the team with a chance to flesh out concepts and create innovative solutions that improve health literacy, manage chronic and acute illnesses, and improve overall wellbeing of the community. Team WG focused their efforts on finding a solution for Hepatitis C by designing an app, tentatively titled HepFree, to engage patients throughout their treatment and provide data to the physician and health system on adherence, side effects, and quality of life. During New York Social Media Week, the team had the chance to present their work from the hackathon and network with major players in the health atmosphere, including Aetna, Merck, American Express, in addition to several prominent physicians and payers. As a whole, the event provided the group with an opportunity to see first-hand how technology and social communication is becoming a growing opportunity in healthcare. Justin DiSanto stated, "It was a good experience to take part in the social aspects of healthcare. It was also great to shift from an onlooker to a participant at an event such as this." This was the first year Social Media Week included a health track, signifying the growing importance of healthcare in the social realm. For more information about Social Media Week, please visit http://socialmediaweek.org/. Grey Healthcare Group & OptimizeRx Announce Partnership to Expand Offerings through EHRs New York, N.Y., January 7, 2014—ghg (grey healthcare group) and OptimizeRx Corporation (OTCQB: OPRX) today announced an innovative partnership that will enable pharmaceutical/biotech companies and payers to better support healthcare providers and patients through their electronic health records (EHRs) and patient portals. [More] © 2015 Grey Healthcare Group. All rights reserved. Part of WPP – Leaders in Advertising, Branding and Marketing.