Interview: Ty Allen, Founder & CEO, SocialClimb
The HIPAA Journal has spoken with Ty Allen, Founder & CEO of SocialClimb. SocialClimb offers a comprehensive, HIPAA-compliant healthcare marketing platform that aligns with the goals of healthcare organizations of all types and sizes.
Tell the readers about your career in the healthcare industry
I have been building marketing software for years and focused on healthcare marketing software beginning in 2016. I had not previously been in the healthcare space, but quickly discovered that it aligns with my passion for building innovative products that deliver real value. SocialClimb delivers the most comprehensive suite of healthcare marketing tools in an easy-to-use platform, making it easier for doctors to connect with patients in need.
What are the main challenges in your position?
With HIPAA regulations on the forefront of every healthcare professional’s mind, many organizations are hesitant to implement any form of digital marketing. The challenge we primarily face is educating customers on the importance of marketing and the opportunities available. Healthcare is a highly regulated industry, and ensuring compliance and data security is paramount. Recent compliance fear in the industry has healthcare companies reacting wildly by unplugging marketing analytics or halting marketing efforts all together. It’s important for healthcare organizations to recognize that there are opportunities to establish a successful marketing strategy while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
Tell the readers about any significant event in your career.
In 2014 I was involved in an accident that fractured my neck and injured my spinal cord. As I went through surgery and the rehab process I was extremely frustrated with the state of healthcare marketing. I had to make choices on surgeons, rehab doctors, facilities, and therapists and there was little to no data for me to use in that decision process. I realized that healthcare marketing was 10 to 15 years behind most other businesses in marketing. This inspired me to use my experience launching several software start-ups to enter the healthcare industry and help connect patients and doctors. Once I recovered enough to drive and work again, I started SocialClimb to deliver a healthcare marketing platform that was easy to use, brought modern marketing technology to healthcare, and ensured users were HIPAA compliant.
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Are you working on any interesting projects?
Four years ago, a physician who was a customer asked me if it was possible to target the patients he wanted. He wanted to work with patients who needed a certain surgical intervention and ideally had non-government health insurance. In response to those requests and dozens of related requests, we have built the most innovative HIPAA compliant patient-targeting solution on the market. Physicians can target and attract ideal patients. Revenue can grow, and profit can grow.
What products/services do you provide for the healthcare industry and what is unique about them?
Our predictive patient targeting tools enable practices and hospitals to target and attract ideal patients via HIPAA-compliant marketing efforts that are filling a large void in the healthcare marketing space. As third-party web cookies are removed from the browsers (Google’s Chrome browser removes them later this year), patient targeting and retargeting are nearly impossible without a platform like SocialClimb. While other solutions are on the market to target and retarget, SocialClimb costs a fraction of the other available options. On top of a competitive cost, clients are sure to see a strong return on investment.
When did you first get involved with HIPAA compliance?
HIPAA compliance has been integral to our business since the day we founded the company in 2016. I empathize with busy healthcare organizations who are trying to navigate the complex relationship between HIPAA and digital marketing.
What are your main challenges regarding HIPAA?
Our largest challenge is the volume of HIPAA-sensitive data our customers send us on their patients so we can interact with those patients. Our security and compliance make the use/storage/purging of that data a continuous priority.
Do you have any predictions for the future of HIPAA?
Data exchange systems will continue to improve to better enable the easy exchange of HIPAA data. I also expect that HIPAA and privacy laws will continue to become more stringent. This makes it even more critical to establish a marketing strategy that’s respectful of patient privacy.
Do you have any predictions for the future of healthcare technology?
Healthcare technology is still ten years behind general business tech. It will continue to trail behind due to HIPAA and compliance. Improving online reputations, gathering patient feedback through surveys, and increasing patient volume through targeting will become increasingly important marketing practices.
Do you have any predictions for the future of the healthcare industry?
Healthcare must become more self-regulating and find ways to deliver quality care and lower costs. If the industry does not find its own solutions, solutions will be legislated, and they will be poor substitutions for native/industry-grown ideas.
You can contact Ty Allen via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ty-j-allen/
