KDV Communications

A Little Levity on the Eve of Surgery

Kara Della Vecchia — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:56:47 +0000

For the past 13 years or so I’ve been touting the patient benefits of various medical technologies and techniques. Well tomorrow I’ll be the beneficiary of those benefits as I undergo surgery.

As I sit here trying to wrap up all of the loose ends before I am out of commission for the rest of the week, I came across a list of funny headlines that I’ve compiled while monitoring the news. Thought I would share them with you. Please feel free to share your own.

- Students take LCDC field trip

- West Shore Healthcare Foundation Stuffing Ambulance

- Ben Franklin to Invest $501,200 in Six Companies (good to know that he’s still a successful businessman)

- Coffee mulls hospital options

- CHOP children CPR

- Turkey Offers a Solution to Increasing Healthcare Costs in the U.S. (as lean meat to fight the costs of obesity?)

- University of Nevada School of Medicine physiology professor earns $1.2 million grant over four years to study motility of internal anal sphincter muscle (sorry, couldn’t resist this one)

- Snowblowers can remove fingers, too (in addition to which other body parts?)

- Ferndale salsa king dips into Haiti relief efforts

- Dr. Creep’ hospitalized in a coma after series of strokes

- Smart Toe For Hammertoes

- Don’t Let Rodeo Chow Wreck Your Waistline (I really wish I had read this article)

New Year, New Face

Kara Della Vecchia — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:47:26 +0000

As someone who works to generate attention and interest for other people’s organizations and products, sometimes I neglect to properly position and promote my own business. While I launched my new website last year, I never took the time to have a professional photo taken of myself. And since I am a one-woman shop for the most part, I realized that it was important to offer up a face with the name.

Taking a look at my outdated headshot on LinkedIn (something that was cropped out of a family event photo five years ago), I turned to a professional for the job and hired Lucy Cobos, a veteran photographer known for her portraits of Boston’s healthcare leaders.

I typically hate photos of myself, but Lucy used her artistic magic to capture the face that I was hoping to convey for my business. You can see the resulting photos on the Bio page of my website and in my LinkedIn profile.

And many thanks to Phoebe Ramler of Phoebe’s Faces for her make-up artistry. I don’t tend to wear much make-up in my everyday life – Phoebe did a great job of enhancing me for the photo shoot while keeping me real!

Microline Surgical: Starion Merger

Kara Della Vecchia — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:00:18 +0000

http://www.microlinesurgical.com/files/miseal-release.pdf

Company: Microline Surgical

Microline Surgical: MiSeal Release

Kara Della Vecchia — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:59:36 +0000

http://www.microlinesurgical.com/files/miseal-release.pdf

Company: Microline Surgical

GHX: Web Copy (Global Data Standards)

Kara Della Vecchia — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:43:49 +0000

http://www.ghx.com/product-pages/global-standards/about-global-data-standards.aspx

Organization: GHX

GHX: Web Copy (Collaboration)

Kara Della Vecchia — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:43:08 +0000

http://www.ghx.com/about-you/collaboration-and-community.aspx

Organization: GHX

A Perspective on Healthcare Communications in the New Economy

Kara Della Vecchia — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:20:37 +0000

Over the past few months, I’ve been hearing more and more medical device manufacturers talk about how they are adapting their product development, marketing and sales efforts to meet the needs of increasingly cost-conscious healthcare providers.

While writing a recent white paper for one of my clients, GHX, a representative from Boston Scientific explained that while the clinical voice of the customer will always be critical in shaping the direction of a medical device supplier, manufacturers now need to adapt to a changing customer voice that addresses the financial pressures facing their customers as well. He calls this the “blended voice” – one that represents the clinical and economic benefits of a company’s product and service offerings.

As a PR consultant who has worked with medical device manufacturers for over a decade, it has been interesting to experience how the industry has evolved to meet the changing needs of its customers. If I look back on communications materials that I developed 10 years ago, the terms “financial pressures” and “economic benefits” are nowhere to be seen. Quite honestly, back then I was planning/executing high-end events for anesthesiologists on behalf of one device manufacturer (featuring gourmet dinners, whiskey tastings and luxury hotel accommodations – how much things have changed!).

In recent years, I too have found myself communicating with a blended voice on behalf of my clients. I guess it all comes down to the fact that if healthcare facilities survive and thrive then we all survive and thrive – clinicians, administrators, healthcare workers, suppliers, distributors, consultants/companies allied to the industry – and most importantly, the patients (a role that we all take on from time to time).

GHX White Paper: Strategies for Healthcare Supply Chain Collaboration

Kara Della Vecchia — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:01:57 +0000

Strategies for Healthcare Supply Chain Collaboration: Improving Operations, Reducing Costs

Company: GHX

MassMEDIC: Web Copy (Entire Site)

Kara Della Vecchia — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:57:20 +0000

http://www.massmedic.com/

Organization: The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC)

The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Has a New Face

Kara Della Vecchia — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:21:41 +0000

MassMEDIC, the largest regional medical device association in the United States, launched its new website this week: www.massmedic.com. I had the pleasure of working with MassMEDIC president Tom Sommer and web designer/developer Scott Poulin on the site’s content and design. It features background on the organization, member benefits, upcoming events and resources including a job bank, suppliers directory and member reports.