New Zealand health software company builds brand awareness in the UK

The brief

With an established reputation and a successful business in its native New Zealand, health and social care integration experts Orion Health looked to increase awareness of the company and its solution offering to the UK healthcare market.

In June 2013, Orion Health commissioned Highland to deliver a reactive and proactive PR programme over a twelve-month period to increase brand awareness and differentiation amongst healthcare providers, commissioners and influential organisations in the UK.

The programme aimed to build on Orion Health’s international reputation, demonstrating its knowledge of the UK healthcare sector, aligning it with key government initiatives and positioning the company as industry experts and thought leaders in its field.

The campaign

The campaign launched with a success story around the deployment of the Northern Ireland Electronic Care Record (NIECR) using Orion Health’s Consult and Rhapsody solutions. A press release was issued to highlight the impact the NIECR had made on patient care and outcomes and patient safety through endorsements from Northern Ireland health minister, Edwin Poots and clinicians using the system. This generated coverage in publications such as The Guardian, the BBC and eHealth Insider (now DigitalHealth.net).

Highland also utilised The King’s Fund report on a nationwide integrated care project in New Zealand which used Orion Health’s clinical portal to deliver the country’s Electronic Shared Care Record View. It was described by one clinician as the “best invention since the stethoscope”. Media interest was generated through a press release, resulting in various press interview requests from journalists who were keen to understand how the UK could learn from this project to meet its own challenges.

Another key element of the campaign was to raise awareness amongst the newly formed clinical commissioning groups. Through news stories, case studies, features and interviews, Highland generated coverage in key publications such as Commissioning Success and Commissioning GP.

In order to position Orion Health as thought leaders, Highland identified opportunities to provide comments in features, contribute to industry discussions as well as write opinion articles on issues affecting healthcare. This has resulted in widespread coverage in publications such as The Guardian Healthcare Network, OnMedica and eHealth Insider.