Call us crazy, but we think technology should make it easier for doctors to communicate and care for patients, not harder. Today, we have the most usable EHR, but to be honest, we’re #1 in a really bad lineup. Even with the best services, we were still seen as more of the “problem” than the “solution.” Before we could make any promises, we needed to do what no other health technology company was willing to do: Acknowledge that EHRs suck. Validate the complaints and frustrations physicians have been carrying around for over a decade, and encourage conversations that matter. Conversations that we could take to policymakers in Washington, DC who are shaping healthcare legislation and lobbying for better healthcare information technology. Healthcare needed more than empty promises. It needed an advocate. We started a movement to “Let Doctors Be Doctors.”

On Oct. 19, 2015, our CEO Jonathan Bush kicked off “Let Doctors Be Doctors” live from U.S. News and World Report Hospitals of Tomorrow Conference; he also earned an op-ed in U.S. News titled “Technology Must Let Doctors Be Doctors,” which ran the same day. The launch also included the reveal of ZDoggMD’s “EHR State of Mind,” satirical video and digital media ads, and the debut of LetDoctorsBeDoctors.com where healthcare professionals could speak out.

The campaign also included national and spot radio ads on National Public Radio; print, billboard and transit advertising; and programmatic TV ads targeting doctors and decision-makers of health systems.

This was all backed by targeted social media engagement and a planned echo chamber of content from key influencers. We rallied major organizations to promote the cause—the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, Health 2.0, and U.S. policymakers active on the issue.

50 million ad views; 492,000+ views of ZDogg's video; 3.2K #LetDoctorsBeDoctors tweets and 9.8 million total impressions; 55K+ visits and 900 posts to LetDoctorsBeDoctors.com

130% YOY growth in corporate website visitors

Comscore survey showed brand awareness rose 10% amongst exposed audiences (40% to 50%)

82.5+ million earned media impressions; U.S. News & World Report, Huffington Post, MedCity News, Becker’s, Health Leaders, Politico, Ad Age and HIStalk placements

High-profile industry influencers joined the conversation: Authors Dr. Atul Gawande and Dr. Robert Wachter; Dean, Harvard Medical School; physicians at @ctchildrens and @UCSFChildrens; President, American Medical Association; the Utah Medical Association; & the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians.

Comscore survey showed 10% lift in intent to shop our brand (4% to 14%) by prospects exposed to the campaign

Letdoctorsbedoctors.com drove 250 net new sales leads and 50% of all Q4 product demo requests