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TREND REPORT

PERCEPTION IS REALITY – EPIC IS COOLER THAN CERNER

Epic has managed to position their brand as the choice for the “young, innovative” health IT professionals.

Similar to the Apple TV commercials, Epic has positioned its brand in the market as “cooler” than Cerner in the industry.

In the successful TV commercials, the PC character is old, conservative and boring, while Mac is young, cool and hip.

The TV spots were successful for Apple because they did not show cool product feature about Mac computers---instead these commercials promoted their company image. The cultural differences of both companies are reflected in the commercials.

Epic has been selling an IMAGE of a hip, cutting-edge company—and this approach has worked.

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TREND REPORT

Perception is Reality

THE MEDIA LOVE EPIC

Epic has received very favorable coverage in the press. Mainstream media and Health IT press write glowing articles about Epic.

The New York Times article in January 2012This article was a glowing representation of Epic and is practically a PR piece about the company. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/business/epic-systems-digitizing-health-records-before-it-was-cool.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

Epic Growth Wowshttp://host.madison.com/wsj/business/report-of-epic-s-continued-growth-wows-at-business-luncheon/article_a95cdc28-46df-11e1-9a91-001871e3ce6c.html

Epic Employee on “The Amazing Race” on CBSEpic employee Rachel Brown and her husband are on the new season of the hit CBS TV series, “Amazing Race”. Even the Epic employees are cool…this reality series is one of the highest rated prime-time shows on TV. http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/cast/81474/

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TREND REPORT

Perception is Reality

TOP RANKS IN HEALTH CARE IT REPORTS & INDUSTRY CACHET

In recent KLAS Health Care IT Software rankings, Epic has come out at the top. The company has promoted their rankings in the KLAS reports and so have many industry publications.Epic was ranked No. 1 in seven out of 20 categories in one of KLAS’ most recent surveys.

Epic EHR Platform Tops KLAS Health Care IT Software Rankingshttp://www.eweek.com/c/a/Health-Care-IT/Epic-EHR-Platform-Tops-KLAS-Health-Care-IT-Software-Rankings-408647/

Today's Hottest Health IT Jobs Are EpicArticle from Information Week about why Epic is a hot place to work for Health IT Jobs quotes David Foote, an industry search officer of Foote Partners:"Epic is by no means the largest vendor, but it seems to have a cachet in the marketplace, a strong product differentiation.”http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/EMR/232700445

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TREND REPORT

Perception is Reality

COMPARE EPIC BUZZ TO ONLINE CHATTER ABOUT CERNER

People are not talking about Cerner. The quote below from a Health IT blog sums it up well:

"Sure, I knew Cerner is a gigantic company, but my usual sources of information — e.g. my colleagues in the IT press, analysts and social media/Web gossip — aren’t buzzing about Cerner’s pluses and minuses.”http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2011/11/16/where-is-cerner-in-all-of-this-or-do-we-really-need-another-epic-story /

Cerner Receives Good Press Coverage http://seekingalpha.com/article/386671-cerner-spectacular-growth-in-healthcare-ithttp://www.histalkpractice.com/2011/01/06/a-look-at-cerner-ambulatory/

Even Industry Pundits Puzzled Why Epic is Cool and Cerner is Nothttp://histalk2.com/2012/02/10/time-capsule-why-you-should-root-for-cerner-even-if-you-hate-them

http://zachmortensen.net/2011/11/23/metcalfes-law-manifest-destiny-of-cerner-and-epic

http://labsoftnews.typepad.com/lab_soft_news/2010/07/why-does-epic-keep-hammering-cerner.html

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TREND REPORT

Epic is Cool with Younger Market

EPIC USES iPADs and SOCIAL MEDIA

iPad Use of EpicEpic is part of sexy but silly research study showing how doctors utilize iPads with Epic software.http://histalk2.com/2012/03/17/monday-morning-update-31912/

Epic CoolnessEpic uses Social Media to gain buy in for their softwarehttp://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2012/01/02/hospital-system-builds-emr-buy-in-using-social-media/

OPPORTUNITIESRecommendations

Recommendations Based on Opportunities and Trends in Data

Spiral16 has some recommendations based on the data on tactics to increase Cerner’s visibility online and in social media.

TRACY – I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THIS TYPE OF INFO THAT YOU PLANNED TO FEATURE IN THIS REPORT BUT HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS BASED ON THE DATA THAT I FEEL WE CAN MAKE---AS WELL AS ONE RECOMMENDATION

OPPORTUNITIESPay Attention to Online Forums

Online Forums Should Be Monitored and Tracked

Conversations in online forums contain passionate and truthful feedback from consumers. Online forums are often called the “back rooms” of the Internet because these online communities are made up of peers sharing problems and recommendations with each other Information from online forum activity can be an invaluable source of information for Cerner.

The data in our initial study shows there are conversations taking place in online forums about Cerner and Epic. Here are two samples:

Student Doctor Forumhttp://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-799012.html

Nurses Forumhttp://allnurses.com/nursing-informatics/project-comparing-cerner-333493.html

OPPORTUNITIESPay Attention to Online Forums

Online Review Sites Should Be Monitored and Tracked

Online review websites hold a high volume of passionate but often opinionated feedback for brands. Some of the content left on review sites represents extreme viewpoints but there are nuggets of truth in some of the comments found on review websites. A few samples:

Complete and Utter Chaoshttp://amplicate.com/hate/cerner/1212840-complete-and-utter-chaos/

I Hate Cerner Because It’s Not Sunquesthttp://amplicate.com/hate/cerner/8215327-i-hate-cerner-because-it-is-not-sunquest-it-can/

Cerner Complicated, Not User-Friendlyhttp://amplicate.com/hate/cerner/5163412-ive-used-several-programs-cerner-is-by-far-the/

OPPORTUNITIESCreate an Online Community for Customers

Communities as a Channel for Research and Development

There are a growing number of case studies about businesses using online niche communities as a channel for customer service, research and development.

In a 2010 Forrester Research study of business buyers, 91% use social technologies and 69% use them for professional purposes. In that context, more companies are discovering the potential of branded online communities aimed at the B2B market.

Long-Term Marketing IdeaCreating an online community for Cerner customers. This community could be monitored and tracked regularly ---essentially becoming a focus group that the company doesn’t have to pay for.

Launching a community targeting a key customer group could benefit the brand long-term.

OPPORTUNITIESReasons to Launch a Community

Online Communities Foster Relationships with Customers

Increased customer loyalty - Your community members will feel like part of your brand, creating a deep brand loyalty that gives you an edge over competitors. Control over your message -You can use your community to communicate key brand messages. And you will have the chance to deal with customer complaints on your own turf, before they are broadcast to the world.

Customer insights -A community will allow you to develop a profound knowledge of your target customers, their interests and needs, their communication style, and the details of their daily lives... all of which helps you market to them more effectively. You can also get advance feedback from your community on product concepts and campaign ideas.

Savings - All of the above-listed benefits potentially translate into savings. A functioning community can reduce the need to spend money on other marketing channels.

OPPORTUNITIESUtilize Online Video to Communicate

Use Video as an Online Communication Tool

Video is a powerful platform for Cerner. There video results did not make up a large portion of the results but the YouTube videos found in the data were “loud” for the Cerner brand.

Cerner founder and Vice Chairman Cliff Illig was featured in a video series sponsored by the US Small Business Administration titled America’s Best: Their Stories, Their Ways."America's Best: Cerner Corporation” http://bit.ly/GYYvbB

A Cerner produced video on YouTube, “Relocation in New Jersey” appeared influential in the overall results. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sObwZoxwXU&feature=youtube_gdata

Dr. Arbittier with WellSpan Health discusses using Cerner Anesthesia Management.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5Ev5few5NQ

OPPORTUNITIESMobile Video

Test Mobile Video as Online Communication Tool

Cerner could test using mobile video as an online communication tool to establish its brand position as an innovator in this category.

Utilizing mobile communication as a part of the marketing plan makes sense because many of the medical professionals using Cerner software are on mobile devices and Spiral16’s research found that online video is an influential platform for the brand.

Shoutz is a mobile video application for business. It is only fully integrated mobile video social network communication tool that allows businesses to send mass messages via mobile video. At this time, Shoutz is the only application that allows mass communication of a special offer via mobile video.

Shoutz Mobile Video