“A hospital stay can be a scary, foreign experience, so patients are looking to connect with something familiar,” said Suzanne Fleming, SVP for The Wellness Network. “This study shows that The Patient Channel, presented in a hospital setting, offers a unique platform for health care providers and advertisers to connect with patients when they are most receptive.” The Patient Channel and its sister channel The Newborn Channel represent the largest out-of-home health media network in the United States, annually reaching 20 million patients and their caregivers, and 3.1 million new moms, respectively. The channels are valuable educational tools for health care professionals to empower patients and their families with information about their conditions and general wellness concerns during a hospital stay.• Television is valuable to patients during their hospital stay; often a time of anxiety, uncertainty and loneliness. Patients often turn on the television soon after arriving and watch an average of 28 hours over the course of their stay, with nearly 6 hours (or greater than 20 percent) spent watching The Patient Channel.
• In hospitals that carry The Patient Channel, patients have an improved overall perception of the facility and its level of care for patients.
• Patients are highly receptive to The Patient Channel’s content, independent of a patient’s initial curiosity about his or her own condition. Respondents ranked this source of health information third behind their health care professional and family/friends, ahead of TV News, support groups and the internet.
• Most patients find The Patient Channel’s programs interesting and worthwhile, with information presented in a clear, understandable, practical, reassuring and comforting manner.
• Some respondents absorb and recall a substantial amount of program information long after their discharge. Sixty-seven percent say the ability to watch The Patient Channel after discharge would keep them more motivated to stay on their treatment plan.
• Patients consider The Patient Channel similar to in-home educational cable programming such as The Learning Channel, The Food Network, HGTV, Animal Planet, D Life, The History Channel and Biography. Further, viewers feel The Patient Channel is more educational than other health programming they see on cable.
NEW YORK, February 23, 2011 – Interactivation Health Networks, which acquired The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel from NBC last year, announced today that it is changing its name to The Wellness Network. The new name reflects the company’s focus on providing unique, unparalleled and relevant health and wellness content, and advertising solutions, benefiting its three core constituents – advertisers, hospitals and consumers. The Wellness Network properties, The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel, will retain their same brand names.
The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel represent the largest out-of-home health media network in the United States, annually reaching 20 million patients and their caregivers and 3.1 million new moms, respectively. The Channels are valuable educational tools for healthcare professionals to empower patients and their families with information about their conditions and general wellness concerns during a hospital stay.
“Our award-winning education and lifestyle management programming is an increasingly valuable resource for both hospitals and patients as healthcare providers seek to leverage technologies and education to improve the quality of healthcare,” said Dave Ross, COO of The Wellness Network. “Whether it was the birth of a baby or an unexpected health event that led to a hospital visit, patients all want to recover quickly, stay healthy and prevent future illness. Our Channels’ focus on wellness aligns the healthcare provider’s, hospital’s and patient’s goals.”
With unmatched access to highly attractive demographics, The Wellness Network also enables healthcare advertisers to align their brands with award-winning content that is trusted and preferred by consumers. For example, viewers rank The Patient Channel third (behind their healthcare professional and family/friends) as a key source of health information and well ahead of broadcast television news programs, newspapers, radio and the internet. 67% of viewers feel that watching The Patient Channel motivated them to stay on their treatment plan, increasing patient compliance with their healthcare provider’s program.
The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel allow brands to specifically-target their marketing campaigns to engaged consumers who are open to receiving brand messages and ready to act,” said Suzanne Fleming, SVP at The Wellness Network. “We connect our advertisers directly with their target audience at critical life moments alongside programming aimed at promoting a better lifestyle and maintaining good health.”
More information about The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel, as well as details about programming, sponsorship opportunities, and more can be found via the hyperlinks below.
The Wellness Network also partners with Joint Commission Resources to produce and distribute the Joint Commission Resources Quality and Safety Education Network.
About The Wellness Network
The Wellness Network owns The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel, the most comprehensive in-hospital TV networks. Delivered directly to patient rooms and waiting areas, the Channels provide viewers with original, award-winning health programs and advertisers with the unique ability to integrate brand messaging with content that is compelling and endorsed by healthcare professionals. The Newborn Channel broadcasts baby care and postpartum programming for new parents, reaching 60 percent of new moms. The Patient Channel features both condition-specific and preventative health programming to empower and inform patients. The Channels are available in more than 2,500 hospitals nationwide. The Wellness Network is also a partner in the Joint Commission Resources Quality and Safety Network which is a continuing medical education series for health care professionals produced by Joint Commission Resources and distributed by the Wellness Network.
For more information, visit www.thenewbornchannel.com, www.thepatientchannel.com and www.jcrqsn.com
The joint campaign will kick off in December with the simultaneous launching of a series of heart health related programming online and the distribution of four million educational pamphlets to hospitals, free of charge.
The programming will include two new educational videos, “Stroke: The Road to Recovery” and “Controlling High Blood Pressure” produced by the Patient Channel in association with the American Heart/ American Stroke Association. AHA physicians and President Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., were interviewed for the programs, which feature patients’ stories of survival and recovery and their doctor’s practical advice on preventing and treating these life-threatening conditions. The new videos will be added to The Patient Channel schedule, and will air in over 1600 U.S. hospitals starting in January 2011.
“Many people first become aware of their heart health while in the hospital,” said Dave Ross, CEO of the Patient Channel. “Our work with the American Heart/American Stroke Association enables us to reach those patients through multiple programs broadcast each week full of expert advice on how people can prevent future heart attacks and strokes and resume an active, healthy life.”
Those programs, along with eight other Patient Channel programs, were developed with the input and review of The American Heart/American Stroke Association’s Science and Medical Review Committee, ensuring that the programming is consistent with the American Heart/ American Stroke Association’s clinical guidelines.
“We are delighted that The Patient Channel supports The American Heart Association’s mission to promote cardiovascular health to families and communities,” said American Heart Association President Ralph L. Sacco, M.D. “Together, we can get people back to a better quality of life and so they can perform their activities of daily living.”
For a full list of the heart, stroke and cholesterol programming running on The Patient Channel, as well as other details about The Patient Channel’s educational offering and platform, visit www.thepatientchannel.com.
For more information and tools promoting cardiovascular health, visit The American Heart Association’s www.heart.org and www.HeartHub.org
About The Patient Channel
The Patient Channel, owned by Interactivation Health Networks, LLC, is the most comprehensive in-hospital TV network. Delivered directly to patient rooms and waiting areas in over 1600 hospitals, the Patient Channel provides viewers with original, award-winning health programs and advertisers with the unique ability to integrate brand messaging with content that is compelling and endorsed by healthcare professionals. The Patient Channel features more than 50 condition-specific and preventative health programs to empower and inform patients. For more information, visit www.thepatientchannel.com
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our mission is to build healthier lives by preventing, treating and defeating these diseases – America’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers. We fund cutting-edge research, conduct lifesaving public and professional educational programs, and advocate to protect public health. To learn more or join us in helping all Americans, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit www.heart.org
As part of the agreement, 14 hours of dLifeTV’s diabetes lifestyle programming will be added to The Patient Channel’s existing diabetes line-up. The partnership will begin in the fourth quarter of 2010 and advertisers will be offered special tie-in opportunities to commemorate American Diabetes Month in November. The Patient Channel’s existing topics of diabetes prevention, treatments, and avoiding complications will be supplemented with dLifeTV episodes profiling real people overcoming the challenges of living with diabetes, as well as interviews with celebrities living with diabetes such as The View co-host, Sherri Shepherd, and CBS newsman, Bob Schieffer. There will also be special programming on topics as varied as religion and diabetes, diabetes in the workplace, and the latest diabetes gadgets.
Patients will be encouraged to watch dLifeTV (Sundays at 7 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. PT on CNBC), as well as join dLife’s award-winning website, dLife.com, which has over one million visitors each month.
“Diabetes diagnosis often happens in the hospital, and inpatient stays are often caused by diabetes and it’s complications. For many of them it can be a time of profound fear, confusion and isolation. Not to mention a supreme teachable moment to improve their diabetes IQ going forward. We are delighted by our new partnership with The Patient Channel, which allows us to put dLifeTV in front of people with diabetes at such a critical time of need,” says Howard Steinberg, CEO and founder of dLife.
“The Patient Channel hospital footprint reaches 35 percent of hospitalized Americans with or at risk for diabetes,” says Dave Ross, COO of The Patient Channel. “This programming will help hospitals and diabetes educators to educate and improve the compliance of patients and families at the very time they are motivated and seeking information to manage their condition and lifestyle.”
For a full list of the diabetes programming running on The Patient Channel, as well as other details about The Patient Channel’s educational offering and platform, visit www.thepatientchannel.com.
For additional resources on managing your or your patients’ diabetes lifestyle, please go to www.dLife.com.
About Interactivation Health Networks
The Patient Channel and the Newborn Channel are the most comprehensive in-hospital TV networks. Delivered directly to patient rooms and waiting areas, the Channels provide viewers with original, award-winning health programs and advertisers with the unique ability to integrate brand messaging with content that is compelling and endorsed by healthcare professionals. The Newborn Channel broadcasts baby care and postpartum programming for new parents, reaching 60% of new moms. The Patient Channel features both condition-specific and preventative health programming to empower and inform patients. The channels are currently available in over 2,700 hospitals nationwide. For more information, visit www.thenewbornchannel.com and www.thepatientchannel.com
About dLife – For Your Diabetes Life
dLife is the only multimedia network serving the diabetes community. Its award-winning media outlets include dLife.com, the leading online destination for diabetes information, inspiration, and connection, featuring more than 9,000 recipes, 400 videos, and 80,000 pages of content; dLifeTV, the only lifestyle TV series for people with diabetes, airing every Sunday on CNBC (7 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. PT); and other consumer and professional programs to inform, inspire and connect people with diabetes and those who care for them every day.