Introducing Consumers to the Health Information Exchange

Four years ago, Rhode Island was one of six states awarded a $5 million federal demonstration grant to support the community-based design and development of a statewide Health Information Exchange. The R.I. Department of Health partnered with the Rhode Island Quality Institute to undertake the project, and they turned to Clarendon Group to manage the community engagement process.

Clarendon led the project’s branding effort—a task that required navigating the sensitive topic of how the system would handle patients’ personal and medical information. The process involved multiple committees and stakeholders, from doctors and consumers to legal and technical experts. Working with input from these groups as well as several other creative consultants, Clarendon conducted extensive market research, including more than a dozen focus groups, that shaped not only the brand but the underlying policy.

Through this collaborative process, we produced a name, logo, tagline, messaging strategy, and creative collateral that will be launched in the summer of 2008.