Award Categories and Judging Criteria

New! Best Digital Marketing ROI and Outcomes*

This award recognizes strategies that achieve demonstrable ROI, business goals, and positive community health outcomes. Measuring healthcare marketing results is crucial for optimizing strategies, allocating resources, and demonstrating accountability. Judges will evaluate reported results against marketing objectives. Results may include ROI, conversion metrics (e.g., volumes, sales, form fills, appointments), campaign performance (e.g., impressions, clicks, CTRs), and also community health outcomes (e.g., vaccinations, cancer screenings, smoking cessation rates). 

Best Digital Staff Recruitment and Retention*

Focus is on the successful deployment of strategic communications and technology to support healthcare organizations employer branding, recruitment, staff engagement and retention efforts. 

Best Search Engine Marketing Campaign*

Focus is on impactful campaigns. Campaigns elements, including ads, landing pages, and strategy in support of business objectives will be evaluated. Winning entries will be expected to share goals and results. 

Best Digital Front Door*

As consumer and patient needs evolve at an unprecedented pace, it is vital for hospital, health system and medical group marketers to use digital tools to transform care experiences by developing digital front doors that keep up with consumer expectations. This special category evaluates how effectively organizations combines various tools and tactics into a comprehensive strategy to acquire new patients, and deliver excellent experiences.   

Best Digital Physician Engagement*

Focus is on the successful deployment of strategic communications and technology to bolster relationships between physicians and healthcare organizations. 

Best Email Content — Individual Email

Focus is on the best healthcare content delivered as an email. How extensive, balanced, up-to-date, well-organized, and authoritative is the information presented? How effectively do design, content, and delivery facilitate the goals of the audience and the healthcare organization for this content. 

Best Email Content — Email Series

Focus is on the best healthcare content delivered as an email series. This includes email newsletters, and other types of multi-part campaigns. How extensive, balanced, up-to-date, well-organized, and authoritative is the information presented? How effectively do design, content, and delivery facilitate the goals of the audience and the healthcare organization for this content. 

Best Short Video Content

Category includes entries of a single video under 2 minutes in length. Video deployed as TV advertisements, web video, TikTok, Reels, YouTube or on any other platform can be entered.  

Best Long Video Content

Category includes entries of a single, longer-form video (2 minutes or longer). 

NEW! Best Video Series*

Category includes a cohesive series of videos. This can include a video channel. Video deployed as TV advertisements, web video, TikTok, Reels, YouTube or on any other platform can be entered. Judges will evaluate three individual videos from the series.

Best Digital Leadership in Health Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion*

This category recognizes the importance of eliminating systemic barriers and biases around race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability that negatively impact health outcomes. Show the ways your organization is leading in these efforts from a digital perspective. Examples may include a special microsite or a dedicated section of your website; a content hub that is relevant to diverse audience members; focus on digital accessibility; a targeted digital campaign or other communications.

Best Landing Page or Microsite

This category focuses on a critical element of any digital campaign. Landing page or microsite may promote a service line, product, rebranding, special event, internal communications effort, or other marketing goal. Evaluations based on implementation of marketing content, design, creative, clarity and ease of path to conversion, and results if available.

Best Internet Home Page

Only the home page will be judged. Do the design and navigation facilitate access to key site information? Does it provide strong branding and excellent usability?

Best Mobile App

This category is for individual apps on iOS, Android, or other platforms. Usability, branding, clarity of purpose, and consumer ratings are all taken into account.

Best Mobile Website

While all sites should be perform well on mobile, this category looks at the site entered exclusively from a mobile perspective. Usability, design, branding, quality of content will all be evaluated. Web apps intended for mobile use, and anything delivered via a mobile browser should be entered here.

Best Overall Internet Site

Factors considered include delivery of strong healthcare content, interactivity, medical care support, integration with the organization’s operations, as well as strength of web design, ease of navigation, and digital accessibility.

Best Site Design

Is the web design unusual, attractive, and engaging? Does the design facilitate access to key site information? Does it provide strong branding and excellent usability?

Best Social Media

Focus is on patient/consumer engagement through social media including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, blogs, chats, live video, and other social networking channels.

Best Rich Media

Category includes video, audio, animations, virtual tours, and multimedia.

Best Interactive

Focus is on interactive features and technologies that engage patients and establish ongoing relationships via personalized web pages, e-newsletters, and email alerts. Includes functionality such as online health risk assessments, and AI-driven interactive features such as chatbots.

Best Healthcare Content

How extensive, balanced, up-to-date, well-organized, and credible is the information presented? Includes individual wellness and community health initiatives.

Best Healthcare Podcast

Focus is on the organization's use of this unique content channel to communicate with internal or external audiences. Entries will be judged on the quality/effectiveness of the content and the podcast's ability to achieve organization's business objectives.

Best Overall Digital Patient Experience

Focus is on using digital tools to enhance patient access and convenience including patient portals, appointment requests and scheduling, ER wait times, patient test results, bill pay, patient-physician communications, directions, classes/events, and service preregistration.

Best Annual or Special Report

Focus is on the effective digital implementation/delivery of annual reports as well as reports on community benefits, foundation, capital campaigns, events, wellness, and other initiatives (reports can also be in print, but only digital delivery will be evaluated).

Best Care/Disease Management

Focus is on medical management tools, news, and information to help consumers manage a chronic condition; two-way communication between patient and healthcare practitioners; and opportunities to monitor clinical care.

Best Provider Directory

How easy is it to find a healthcare provider — physician, nurse, dentist, or other professional — who meets a consumer’s or referring physician’s needs? How organized, extensive, and interesting is the information on the doctor? Are appointment requests facilitated?

Best Digital Internal Communications*

How well is an organization using digital communications and tools such as websites, intranets, mobile apps, e-newsletters, internal social networking tools, and other collaboration platforms to enhance employee productivity and satisfaction and reduce administrative costs?

Best Digital Marketing Campaign*

Category covers campaigns that are digital only. Campaigns may cover promotion of a service line, product, rebranding, special event, or an internal communications effort. Evaluations based on goals, marketing content, creative, and results if available. Detailed guidelines supplied upon entry.

Best Integrated Marketing Campaign*

Category covers campaigns that include digital and other "traditional" channels such as TV, radio, outdoor, print, etc. Campaigns may cover promotion of a service line, product, rebranding, special event, or an internal communications effort. Evaluations based on goals, marketing content, creative, and results if available. Detailed guidelines supplied upon entry.

Mark Gothberg eHealthcare Organizational Commitment Award*

This award recognizes an organization’s overall digital strategy and commitment to using the internet and technology to help achieve its mission and strategic business objectives. Factors considered include financial resources and organizational focus on eHealth as well as initiatives implemented. To enter this award category, you must also enter at least four other award categories and provide details supporting your submission so that the organization can be fully evaluated. Detailed guidelines supplied upon entry.

* A note on Special Award Categories

Categories marked with an asterisk are considered special award categories. There is a slightly higher fee for these entries due to the substantial time required to judge them. Get full details on fees and deadlines here. Supplemental materials supporting your entries in these categories is encouraged.