For years, the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Academy (MGH-PA) has provided world-renowned continuing medical education at its live events and on the Web. And when audience members expressed an interest in receiving educational content on their mobile phones, the Academy came through — promptly developing an iPhone application that allows users to download recent education programs from wherever they are.

“Research from Google in the fourth quarter of 2009 showed that 86 percent of MDs use the Internet to get information and 59 percent of those access the Internet from mobile devices,” says Glenn Laudenslager,Marketing Director for MGH-PA. “Developing an app allowed us to meet a customer need and provide education in the format that they consume it in.”

In creating the iPhone app, organizers hoped to reach a broader audience than that of their live conferences, which draw some national and international attendees but mainly attract New Englanders. Because only 11 percent of attendees at MGH-PA’s live events also access the organization’s digital content, organizers also hoped that the new mobile app would increase that percentage.

Tapping into the iPhone audience was easier than it sounds.Working with the Reed Medical Education team, MGH-PA used Mobile Roadie, a Web-based app creation system, to develop the app. “We just upload all the information, logos, content and everything, and they take that information and build the app in about seven days,” Laudenslager says.

The final result mirrors the look and feel of MGH-PA’s Web site and communications materials and uses a simple, user-friendly browser interface. The app features audio podcasts of recent educational programs, as well as an interactive user rating and comment system. It also allows users to link to their Facebook and Twitter accounts and post comments and links to their profiles on those sites.

The medical community embraced the new app almost immediately. MGH-PA held a “soft launch” in early January, Laudenslager says, by sending e-mails to its database and introducing the new app via Twitter, using relevant hashtags so the app would be included in health care conversations. Within two weeks, more than 590 people downloaded the application and viewed or listened to the Academy’s programs more than 1,400 times.

And the application is already helping MGH-PA reach a wide, new audience: Only six days into the launch, more than 70 people opted in to receive e-mail messages about the app, and only two of those matched names that were already in the Academy’s database. “Our early data is showing that this tool will allow us to capture new customers that we don’t capture in other channels,” Laudenslager says. “And we can acquire new customers at almost no cost per acquisition.”

There are other benefits as well. The mobile application provides the MGH-PA team with content to leverage in social media, providing links for Twitter followers and others interested in psychiatric health topics. “Also, since social media and user ratings and mobile access are driving how customers interact with our brands, this lets us be a part of our customers’ lives when they’re not at our events or on our Web site, and it allows us access to other people within their networks,” Laudenslager says.

MGH-PA’s Strategy

GOAL: To provide education to customers in their preferred format and to generate a broader audience for live events and other educational programs.

STRATEGY: Develop a customized iPhone app that offers cuttingedge education to health care professionals.

RESULTS: Within two weeks after its launch, the iPhone app was downloaded by more than 590 users who had listened to more than 1,400 of the Academy’s programs.