Cardinal Santos Medical Center’s (CSMC) continued commitment to making quality healthcare accessible through their educational webicon (webinar + press conference) program was once again put into the spotlight at the Philippine Hospital Association’s (PHA) 72nd Virtual Annual National Convention and Exhibits, held on November 17-19, 2021.

During the PHA Master Class session at the convention, CSMC Vice President and Head of Human Resources Maria Louzel Diaz-Tiozon shared the motivations and story behind the creation of one of the hospital’s most successful programs to date, as well as the webicons’ impact on both their audience and their institution. Joining Diaz-Tiozon in the session were other notable speakers from hospitals with award-winning practices.

According to Diaz-Tiozon, the first building block that inspired the birth of the webicons was the desire to ensure the welfare of their patients and the viability of the institution amidst a crisis, as well as an advocacy to empower people with the right information to help them make good decisions for their health and wellbeing. This led to the development of a health and literacy campaign that also harnessed the power of technology, social media, and the Internet.

“As healthcare workers, we recognize the importance of doing our share in restoring the trust and confidence of people that our clinics and our hospitals are safe spaces for healing,” said Diaz-Tiozon.

The webicons were conceptualized by the human resources team of CSMC, with the aim of engaging their community and the general public through advocacy and health education. The hospital’s medical and marketing teams, alongside CSMC’s public relations partner Grupo Agatep Inc., executed the webicons and promoted them through various media partners via online and offline platforms.

Diaz-Tiozon also shared that the webicons may have fostered a newfound trust of first-time patients in CSMC’s services.

“We have gone far since we first broached the idea of the webicon,” Diaz-Tiozon said. “After producing 6 [webicons], our hospital saw a rise in new patient turnout, recording 64,293 new patients or 36% of CSMC’s total unique individual cases for the period January to September of this year.”

Due to the initiative’s positive impact, CSMC was awarded the Gold Award for Branding and Marketing Campaign at the annual Asian Hospital Management Awards (AHMA), an achievement that led to the participation as an honored speaker at the PHA convention.

Diaz-Tiozon ended her speech by reiterating the three valuable lessons learned from the WebiCon: 1) The best ideas come from unexpected places; 2) Pilot. Iterate. Repeat; and 3) Use storytelling to inspire and motivate others.

“[The impact of our webicons] underscores the importance of being aware of your measures for success,” Diaz-Tiozon said in closing. “[By] aligning and driving everyone toward a common goal, [you are] doing excellent work that truly makes a difference.”

For more information about CSMC and other services that CSMC offers, please visit https://cardinalsantos.com.ph/. CSMC is also on Facebook, like and follow them at www.facebook.com/CardinalSantos.