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This website (the “Website”) is operated by MD Connect, Inc. (“Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) to describe our services and collect information from potential and existing Clients. We assist healthcare providers, health networks, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, and their affiliates (“Client(s)”, “You” or “Your”) with the acquisition of potential patients, which may include production of patient-facing websites (“Recruitment Websites”) which collect and house data from individuals (“Patients”) who may become patients at a particular healthcare provider location. This Privacy Policy more broadly describes our personal information collection procedures for this Website and Recruitment Websites (collectively “Websites”) and the choices available to You and Patients regarding our use and disclosure of Your and their personal information.
We collect, use, and disclose personal information You share with us directly or You voluntarily provide through Your use of this Website, regardless of how You access the Website or our services, which may be through the use of a mobile device. We also may collect personal information by means of phone or email conversations directly with You. By providing personal information to us directly or by using the Website, You are consenting to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy. Our use of information collected on this Website shall be limited to the purpose of educating existing and potential Clients about our services.
Security
At MD Connect, we take the protection and security of our clients’ Personal and Sensitive Data very seriously and have invested heavily in infrastructure, policies and staff training to insure compliance with various global regulations (e.g. ICH E6/GCP, HIPAA/HITECH (US), GDPR (EU), APEC Cross Border Privacy, China CSL). We employ a series of physical, technical, and administrative security safeguards to reduce the risks of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, or alteration which include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Company uses reasonable measures to protect Your and Patients’ information, however, no data transmission over the Internet or data storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. If You have reason to believe that Your interaction with us is no longer secure (for example, if You feel that the security of any account You have with us has been compromised), please notify us immediately by contacting privacy@mdconnectinc.com or by faxing Your notice to 781-235-0929.
Certified Privacy
MD Connect works closely with one of the world’s leading privacy regulatory consultants, TrustArc, to ensure our privacy programs are compliant with global regulations and privacy standards through a system of assessment, remediation, certification and ongoing monitoring. Our Recruitment Websites are certified with the broadly known TRUSTe seal which builds confidence and trust amongst Patients and Clients.
HIPAA / HITECH Compliance
Although data collected during the patient recruitment and pre-screening process by the Company may not constitute a patient medical record as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), we understand that this data is nonetheless sensitive and treat it with all the appropriate security and privacy protections afforded Protected Health Information by both HIPAA and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
GDPR compliance / Privacy Shield The Company participates in and has self-certified its compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More can be found out about GDPR at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
The Company participates in and has certified its compliance with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. The Company is committed to subjecting all personal data received from European Union (EU) member countries, in reliance on the Privacy Shield Framework, to the Framework’s applicable Principles. To learn more about the Privacy Shield Framework, visit the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Privacy Shield List. [https://www.privacyshield.gov/list]
The Company is responsible for the processing of personal data it receives, under the Privacy Shield Framework, and subsequently transfers to a third party acting as an agent on its behalf. Company complies with the Privacy Shield Principles for all onward transfers of personal data from the EU, including the onward transfer liability provisions. With respect to personal data received or transferred pursuant to the Privacy Shield Framework, Company is subject to the regulatory enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. In certain situations, The Company may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
Under certain conditions, more fully described on the Privacy Shield website [https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=How-to-Submit-a-Complaint], You may be entitled to invoke binding arbitration when other dispute resolution procedures have been exhausted.
APEC compliance
The Company has been certified by a leading regulatory consultancy (TrustArc) to have privacy practices meeting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Privacy Recognition for Processors (PRP) framework for data processors. More information on this can be found at https://www.trustarc.com/products/apec-certification/
Information Collected
When You visit our Website or contact us or we contact You, we collect personal information that You provide voluntarily. Most of our Recruitment Websites contain a contact form where we collect personal information which You or Patients provide or we may collect personal information when we contact You by telephone or email. The Company only collects personal information that is limited and necessary to contact Clients or Clients Patients. At the request of Clients, we occasionally collect additional information from Patients to determine their eligibility and qualifications for treatment by the healthcare provider.
Personal Data
On this Website, we may collect and process Your Personal Data. In the provision of our services, The Company (Data Processor) processes Personal Data on behalf of its Client(s) (Data Controllers). Personal Data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (data subject).
Personal Data includes direct and indirect identifiers such as:
Sensitive Data
In the provision of our services, The Company (Data Processor) may process Sensitive Data on behalf of its Client(s) (Data Controllers). Sensitive Data is a special category of Personal Data that requires additional privacy and security protections. The collection of Sensitive Data is done at the direction of our Client(s) and is limited to specific and necessary Sensitive Data of potential Patients needed to determine eligibility for specific clinical trials or for potential Patients needed to determine appropriateness for a given medical practice.
Uses and Disclosures of Information Collected The Company uses and discloses Personal Data (including Sensitive Data) for a variety of purposes that are limited and necessary to the operation of our business and the delivery of services to You. These purposes include to:
The Company may disclose personal information collected through this Website to affiliated third party service providers, such as IT support services, customer service providers, and other services providers that support us and facilitate the services we provide to You. These companies are authorized to use Your Personal Data only as necessary to provide these services to us. For example, we use Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google. Google utilizes the data collected to track and examine the use of our Websites, to prepare reports for us on website activities and share them with other Google services. However, Google Analytics offers an opt-out provision for website visitors who do not want their data to be collected. You can access more information about this option at http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout .
Google may also use the data it collects to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. The Personal Data collected for this purpose is limited to cookie and usage data. You should refer to Google’s privacy policy for more details about their data privacy practices related to this usage.
The Company may disclose information to a third party in the event of a reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets, or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings). You will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our website, of any change in ownership, uses of Your Personal Data, and choices You may have regarding Your Personal Data. Further, we may use and disclose information collected through the Website as we believe to be necessary or appropriate, including: (a) as permitted by applicable law; (b) to comply with legal process; (c) to respond to requests from public and government authorities; (d) to enforce our terms and conditions; (e) to protect our operations; (f) to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our affiliates, You, or others; and (g) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit damages that we may sustain. We may also disclose Your Personal Data to any other third party with Your prior consent.
The Company reserves the right to compile and use the Personal Data collected as described above, in a de-identified or anonymized format, i.e. no longer personally identifiable as defined by data privacy regulations, for data aggregation and data analytics purposes.
Passive Information Collection and Use
The Websites use a passive technology called “cookies” and other similar technologies. With cookies, we collect the IP (Internet protocol) addresses of all visitors to our Websites and other related information such as browser type, operating system and average time a visitor spends on our websites. The Company uses this information to help us understand our website activity and to monitor and improve our Websites. Cookies also provide information about You and Your preferences, and help us personalize Your experience on our Website. You can set Your web browser to notify You when cookies are being placed on Your system or to not accept cookies. However, if You decide not to accept cookies from our websites, You may not be able to take advantage of all of the features available to You on our Websites.
Our Website uses another passive technology called “internet tags” or “web beacons”. This technology allows us to understand which webpages You visit and helps us optimize and tailor our Websites to You and other future visitors. You can set Your browser to notify You when these passive technologies are being placed on Your system to not accept them. We may partner with third parties to display advertising on our website or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party partners may use cookies or similar technologies in order to provide You advertising based upon Your browsing activities and interests. If You wish to opt out of interest-based advertising click here [or if located in the European Union click here]. Please note You will continue to receive generic ads.
The Company also collects information from and about Your mobile device, such as a unique device identifier.
Unaffiliated Third Party Sites and Services
The Company may make unaffiliated 3rd party sites and services available to You and Patients to access. Access to these sites and services requires that You provide Your consent to the services or products offered by the unaffiliated 3rd parties before access is granted to the 3rd party sites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the unaffiliated 3rd party sites and offerings. The 3rd party sites and offerings are governed by the Privacy Policy of the unaffiliated 3rd party. You should review their Privacy Policy before consenting to access their sites and offerings. The Company is not responsible for the personal information You provide to these unaffiliated third parties sites and offerings, including and without limitation to any third party operating any site, web property and/or application that is available to You through this Website or to which this Website contains a link. The availability of or inclusion of a link to any unaffiliated 3rd party site or products on the Website does not imply or serve as an endorsement of it, its services or products by The Company.
Use of Website by Minors
Use of this Website or our services is not generally directed to individuals under the age of 18, and we request that these individuals not provide Personal and/or Sensitive Data through the Websites or through our service providers unless identified as appropriate in the Pre-Screening criteria. However, there may be some Sponsors that are specifically seeking this age group. In such clinical trials or situations, parental consent may be required as part of the Pre-Screening process.
If personal information related to individuals under the age of 18 is identified and deemed inappropriate, reasonable steps will be taken to delete the information.
Choices and Access
By providing us with Your personal information, You are consenting to our collection, use and disclosure of Your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.
Upon request the Company will provide You with information about whether we hold any of Your personal information. If You wish to change Your preferences about the personal information You provided to us or wish to withdraw Your consent to its retention, use or disclosure, please contact us at privacy@mdconnectinc.com or by faxing to 781-235-0929.
Please note that our response to Your request to withdraw consent is subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, including: (i) if You withdraw Your consent before we submit Your information to our Client’s clinical trial site, we will not submit it; (ii) if we receive notice of Your withdrawal after we have submitted Your information, You will need to contact the Client’s clinical trial site to withdraw Your consent to further use; (iii) where we have provided or are providing services to You, Your consent will be valid for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or otherwise stated at the time of collection.
If You would like to review, correct, update, or delete the personal information that You have provided via the Website, please contact us at privacy@mdconnectinc.com or by faxing to 781-235-0929. We will reply to Your request in a reasonable period of time not to exceed 60 days.
If You have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request.
Retention Period
We retain Your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or allowed by law or to otherwise fulfill a legal obligation.
Cross-Border Transfer
Your information may be processed in the country in which it was collected or transferred to other countries, including the United States (where our servers are generally located), for processing where laws regarding processing of information may be less stringent than the laws in Your country. By using this Website and our services, You consent to the transfer of Your personal information to countries outside of Your country of residence, including the United States.
Platform Data Collection
In the provision of our services, The Company (Data Processor) collects information under the direction of its Client(s) (Data Controller(s)) and processes information on our Client(s)’ behalf. We have no direct relationship with the individuals whose Personal Data we process. If You are a customer of our Client(s) or are a participant in a Client(s)’ clinical trial and would no longer like to participate and/or be contacted by our Client, please contact the Client directly.
We may also transfer Personal Data to companies that support us in providing our services for our Client(s). Such transfers to subsequent third parties are covered by the service agreements with our Client(s) and/or with The Company. Such contracts hold the Parties to standards of confidentiality and security consistent with this Privacy Policy.
The Company acknowledges that You have the right to access Your personal information. Individuals who seeks access, or who seeks to correct, amend, or delete inaccurate data should direct their query to the Company’s Client or the Company directly. If requested to remove data we will respond within a reasonable timeframe.
The Company will retain Personal Data we process on behalf of our Client(s) for as long as needed to provide services to our Client(s). The Company will retain this personal information for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Updates to This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be revised from time to time. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when the changes are posted in a revised Privacy Policy on the Website. If we make any material changes, we will notify You by email (sent to the e-mail address specified in Your account) or by means of a notice on this website prior to the change becoming effective. Your continued voluntary provision of personal information or use of the Website following these changes serves as consent to the revised Privacy Policy.
Contacting Us
If You have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@mdconnectinc.com. or by faxing to 781-235-0929.
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A leading mid-west dental practice with over 10 locations had been using a local digital marketing agency, with limited healthcare experience, to manage their digital advertising programs.Unhappy with the results the local agency was producing, the dental practice chose to trial MD Connect as their digital agency after an exhaustive search for a new digital partner.
A local MRI center was looking to leverage their advantages versus a number of larger, local competitors through targeted advertising. They wanted to be sure that whatever money was invested in marketing and advertising had a clear return on investment by driving additional MRI scans.
This case study profiles the business impact ‘active’ online campaign management and optimization can have versus a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ program. The study was conducted within three specialties across 60+ different practices.
This case study profiles a multi-year series of campaigns with a top-ranked US hospital. MD Connect worked cooperatively with various hospital constituents (marketing, IT, clinical, administration) to produce immediate results with positive ROI and has since expanded into multiple clinical specialties.
One of the largest body contouring (liposuction) centers in the nation (with ten locations in seven states) had MD Connect go head-to-head with another nationally-known online marketing agency in a ‘bake-off’ for 6 months. See how MD Connect significantly improved referral volume while decreasing costs.
This case study profiles a large physician practice that is aggressively marketing (spending >$40,000 per month). Detailed data is presented for 17 different marketing expenditures (via TV, radio, print, online and billboard) over an 8 month period in 2011. Client data includes tracking out to revenue dollars for each media investment (and thus clear ROI per media investment).
MD Connect has audited thousands of phone calls for medical practices, and has seen firsthand the qualities of phone reception that help to drive conversion. Conversion on phone ‘referrals’ varies from 15% to 70% and the difference is largely due to technique.
This best practices guide contains 8 critical requirements to insuring maximum conversion with interested, calling patients, including:
As your first, live interaction with a prospective patient, it creates that valuable first impression, and (more often than most realize) helps the calling patient decide whether they will visit your practice. Download your copy today to optimize how your front desk converts phone calls into appointments.
This 4-page marketing research study (conducted cooperatively with and published by a leading medical society) contains the results of a detailed online survey of marketing investment and return for 219 physician practices across the United States. Data was assimilated to construct a picture of:
Other data on metro population effects, program tracking techniques and phone coverage benchmarking are included as well. Marketing spending during the recession has not diminished significantly, and, given increasing competition, may be more necessary than ever. Download your copy today to see where Physicians are spending their marketing budgets and the effects it has on their practice.
Many healthcare advertisers are aware of search engine marketing and the need to ‘optimize’ their rankings, but fewer are clear on the distinction between its two predominant marketing strategies; search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search (PPC) marketing. Fewer still understand which is more cost effective, generating the appointments or procedures that truly power your business.
This empirical analysis explores SEO versus PPC for medical online marketers and presents a valid case to why overly focused SEO efforts yield less actual patient inquiries than a blended campaign.
Medical device marketers pursuing digital direct-to-patient (DTP) or patient advertising must determine both where to send the digital traffic they generate, as well as their desired program outcome (e.g. targeted patient lead generation or general brand awareness). In this newly released study, MD Connect analyzed and provided:
If you are considering your next DTP digital strategy for your medical device, check out this new research study first.
When it comes to medical marketing, there’s no question that search reigns supreme. According to Pew Research, 80% of American internet users have conducted health-related searches online – up nearly 20% since 2001. Approximately 77% of patients conduct an online search before scheduling an appointment with a healthcare provider. Since healthcare searches make up 5% of nearly two trillion queries a year, the size of this audience – and the opportunity it presents – is huge.
Download our guide to search engine optimization to learn about:
The right search strategy can help you reach potential patients at every stage of the conversion funnel, generating valuable leads without breaking the bank.
Competition in local healthcare markets has reached an all-time high — with no shortage of options, patients who experience undue friction during their path to treatment typically don’t stick around long. As the first live interaction with your medical brand, a patient’s experience when they call can often be the deciding factor between you and another provider.
Download our guide to phone optimization and learn how to:
Without a well-thought out phone strategy, your advertising dollars may be going to waste. The simple, actionable steps laid out in this guide will help ensure you maximize your marketing ROI.
LaserVue Eye Center is one of the many practices MD Connect worked with in collaboration with Lensar, a medical device company focusing on cataract surgery. LaserVue is also part of a co-marketing program designed to increase the volume of new patients looking to have cataract surgery performed. During this collaboration, MD Connect developed a custom template for Lensar that is easily scalable, thus shortening the time to market with new clients to less than one month. MD Connect also managed all digital patient outreach efforts and provided tracking and analytic services to share insight on leads generated by the program and appointments.
For many years, MD Connect worked with NRMVT, a small infertility practice, to drive new patient volume through paid advertising and search engine optimization services. MD Connect also created a content plan to help convert patients into appointments.
MD Connect’s relationship with Advanced Fertility of Texas recently expanded to create and execute marketing campaigns for one of the company’s infertility supplements. MD Connect developed a robust program that includes Google Search, Bing Search, Google Marketplace, and Amazon. MD Connect created a product page on Google to support some of these initiatives.
MD Connect partnered with New Hope Fertility Center for many years, providing content production, website design/development services, Search Engine Optimization services, and digital patient outreach using Google, Bing and Facebook advertising. Full tracking was implemented using form and phone call tracking.
MD Connect works with Exactech, a shoulder replacement medical device company, on a co-marketing program highlighting the local practitioners and the technology patients seek for shoulder replacement. To help Exactech clients (local practices) in the program increase their online and advertising presence, MD Connect developed a templated website that is easily scalable. MD Connect also manages the program’s digital advertising spend and provides full-funnel tracking, down to the appointment, for both the practice and Exactech (patient information is de-identified).
Dr. Lincoln and his practice partnered with Microport, a hip replacement medical device company, as part of a larger co-marketing program that services patients seeking hip replacement surgery options. MD Connect was engaged to create a website that educates patients on the technology while highlighting the local practice and practitioner. MD Connect also manages the digital media spend for the program and provides full tracking and analytics, reporting on lead volume and appointments generated by the digital marketing program.
Dr. Johnson and his practice are a part of a much larger (30+ practices) co-marketing program with Conformis, a knee replacement medical device company. The program is co-funded by both the practice and Conformis. Because it focuses on generating new patient leads for custom knee replacements, MD Connect was tapped to improve lead volume and quality. This program has been in the market for over seven years, and MD Connect continues to deliver using both online and offline tracking measures to report on appointments generated from the program.
MD Connect and Mansfield Orthopaedics have an extensive working relationship. MDC crafts and executes digital patient acquisition strategy, from hosting the website and making site updates to managing its digital advertising program with full-funnel tracking that includes form leads and phone calls.
MD Connect worked with ADPI (the 5th largest DSO at the time) to manage all of its paid media programs across more than 30 affiliates and 100 locations nationwide. Each program is focused on converting local traffic into affiliate practice, and with full-down funnel tracking, MDC was able to help ADPI flexibly adjust marketing budgets by affiliate and location.
MD Connect partnered with Bright Direction Dental to lead its rebranding efforts. During this partnership, MDC created a custom corporate website that helps Bright Direction Dental attract new business partners.
As a new practice, Philly Dermatology engaged MD Connect to develop its website and manage all of its paid media campaigns. During this partnership of over 4 years, MD Connect drove significant new patient referral volume using Google and Bing search, as well as Facebook advertising.
MD Connect has been a partner of VIP for more than eight years. MDC provides website design services for both the Vein and Fibroid center practices, as well as digital patient acquisition services that utilize Google, Bing, and Facebook advertising. MDC provides full tracking services (form leads and phone calls), reporting on appointments generated from all advertising programs.
MD Connect worked with Dr. Pittman and Vein911 for over seven years, providing many different services, including a new, custom-developed website, content development, Search Engine Optimization services, digital media management, patient acquisition strategy, and full-funnel tracking and reporting (to appointments and procedures). Dr. Pittman has since referred MDC for multiple new vein partnerships.
MD Connect currently manages the South Austin Vein website, content production, Search Engine Optimization services, and digital patient acquisition using Google and Facebook ads. MDC also provides full-funnel tracking and reports on appointments generated.
Today’s patients are more proactive and empowered than ever before. Increasingly, patients are turning to the internet to conduct their own health-related research and make their own decisions about treatment. And where are they finding that information? Google (well, 70% are — the other 30% use Bing).
Download our guide to Google advertising to learn about:
Despite the ever-increasing level of competition for new patients in the local healthcare search market, there’s still plenty of opportunity to reach your target audience without blowing your budget in the process.
For over five years, MD Connect has provided Advanced Fertility Center of Texas with Search Engine Optimization services, digital advertising management, and full tracking and reporting based on appointments held and procedures generated. We have expanded our partnership to also include advertising efforts for AFC of Texas’ nutritional supplement production line (Vitagenis and Lowsitol).
Over the last five years, MD Connect has worked with Center for Reproductive Health to drive new leads and convert them into loyal patients. MD Connect also designed, developed, and launched a new practice website to optimize digital outreach efforts.
MD Connect worked with Long Island Laparoscopic Doctors for many years, providing a comprehensive range of services that included a custom new website design, content efforts, SEO services, and digital patient acquisition initiatives that saw a significant increase in quality leads.
Bayside Oral Surgery approached MD Connect to help with building a specific digital acquisition program for Dental Implants. MDC designed a service-specific landing page to drive paid advertising traffic and utilizes phone and form tracking to report on all appointments generated from the program.
MD Connect collaborated with KMG Psychiatry to promote a newer treatment option that fights depression. TMS is a unique solution that requires partnering with the medical device company to produce content and an ad program focused on converting patients into appointments in a very competitive industry. MD Connect developed a landing page focused solely on TMS treatment, which produced significant results in a short period of time.
Performance Physical Therapy (PPT) engaged MD Connect to develop a localized, practice-focused digital advertising program. MDC created a custom landing page, implementing it across more than 20 practice locations. By providing PPT with tracking and reporting metrics from location-specific digital advertising programs, MDC helps PPT focus on higher-priority practice locations with flexibility in media spending.
Smart Design Creates New Patient Opportunities Across all industries, web design can make or break a user’s experience with a brand. Visitors’ perception of your website is directly related to their perception of your business. Poor web design can drive away customers, while innovative and user-friendly design can convert them.
Download our guide to web design to learn about:
Creating a strong website is a complex process, but with the right tools, your site can both engage new visitors and encourage them to schedule appointments within your hospital, clinic, or medical practice. Download our white paper today to learn more.
