AAHomecare seeks 'megaphone' status
By Tracy Orzel
Updated Fri October 31, 2014
WASHINGTON - When Beth Ludwick designed AAHomecare's new app, she designed it for HME stakeholders, as well as herself.
“I included exactly what I need to see in the morning,” said Ludwick, senior director of communications for AAHomecare. “I'm not here to push news and content on people.”
The free app features breaking news and member alerts from AAHomecare, a group chat wall, AAHomecare's Twitter feed and the latest from industry publications.
“We're a whole different organization now,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO. “In the past, I think one of the things associations did—and maybe we did—was we kept our information close to the vest and felt that it was a member benefit.”
Member or not, Ryan now wants to see AAHomecare become a “megaphone” for the HME industry.
“If we can be the funnel for industry news, I think it brands well with us,” he added.
When it comes to adapting to technology and social media, Ludwick said the HME industry doesn't have the luxury of standing by the sidelines.
“The 35 to 54 demographic is changing how they interact with news,” she said. “That segment of the population is consuming their news via social media, Twitter and on their phones, so it's not just millennials that are going across platforms to get their news and interact.”
Ryan, who recently started tweeting himself, agrees.
“I think people want to communicate in real time,” he said. “They want to have it at their finger tips and if we want to be a leading association, we have to lead in that communication process.”
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