Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates is a multi-specialty medical group practice that delivers comprehensive health and wellness services to a community of over 300,000 patients at offices in and around Metropolitan Boston. Harvard Vanguard offers community-based healthcare services through a group of full-service clinics throughout the region. Formerly part of the Harvard Pilgrim HMO, Harvard Vanguard has been re-branding itself as a patient-focused independent physician's group.

The Challenge
The image that Harvard Vanguard had to overcome was based on its lingering public association with the Harvard Pilgrim HMO and the image associated with any HMO, which is of a bureaucratic, procedure-based insurance payer. The new Harvard Vanguard has been re-branding itself as a group of premier doctors and clinicians in the New England region offering quality medical services with the patient’s best interest in mind. The image that Harvard Vanguard wanted to establish with the public and prospective and active patients was that of a caring, patient-centric healthcare provider providing patients a wide range of treatment at one convenient location. One of the first places it wanted to re-brand itself was on the web.

The audiences for the Harvard Vanguard web site were wide and varied: patients, families, community organizations, local businesses, physicians, media and job applicants, which added to the complexity of the messaging and architecture of the web site.

The Approach: Essence of Harvard Vanguard Is Patient Experience
I approached the brand realignment for the new Harvard Vanguard web site by creating a high-end visual identity that brought compassion and strong marketing messages.. Conveying the image of Harvard Vanguard as a warm, caring organization was addressed by using distinctive, custom photographs of Harvard Vanguard patients and healthcare providers in action at various facilities on the home page and throughout the site. This patient/care-giver relationship was the central focus for the rebranding and will be integrated and reinforced throughout additional media and marketing efforts.

Equally important in the rebranding was to stress Harvard Vanguard’s innovative approach to their patient-centric services. The simple, clean navigation system reinforces the brand by not only presenting users with a sense of the breadth and depth of content and tools Harvard Vanguard offers, but at the same time allowing them to quickly and easily find what they need – reinforcing the notion of accessibility and ease of doing business with Harvard Vanguard. For that reason, the information architecture of the site brought the most commonly accessed information and tools to the forefront of the site. This included:

• Electronic Medical Records, where patients can check on lab results, make doctors’ appointments, check their medical history, and communicate directly with their physician’s office
• Finding a physician and/or learning more about the offerings at a particular facility
• Access to third party medical information to inform patients and families on different aspects of medical conditions.
• Easy access to educational events and classes provided by Harvard Vanguard to patients and their families.

Result
The redesigned Harvard Vanguard site launched to great fanfare in September 2005. The difference between the old site and new site is striking. Where the original site offered no indication of the personality of Harvard Vanguard, the new site brings forward warm images of patients and staff that reinforce the patient-centric, personal care that the new Harvard Vanguard offers.