That’s the question that kicked off the discussion at a session I attended on Integrated Fundraising at the recent Direct Marketing Association conference in D.C. As soon as it was asked five different attendees offered five different scenarios on “ownership.” Accompanying most of their remarks were slightly snide references to the web staff involved and frustrations surrounding getting that staff to address needs in a timely manner.

As one of those web staff people, it was hard for me not to take offense to both the tone and the terminology. Own? From my perspective, the organization owns the site – and in the best of all possible worlds each division is informing and supporting that presence. Ownership, in this context, is a collaborative process and one that often requires reconciling a number of inputs. The role of web staff is to guide those inputs alongside the strategic goals of the organization on a parallel track with [ever emerging] web technologies and trends.

But as nearly all business functions are now filtered through the web, web properties (and subsequently, web content) are highly charged topics. As someone who was around during the early days, when no one seemed to care what the webmaster did, the contrast is striking. Today, when it comes to web properties, it seems everyone wants to own them but no one wants to support them.

First, I want to apologize for not posting earlier...with the best of intentions to be a regular contributor, I got caught in a perfect storm of change that threw off my game. Ironically, that perfect storm is also changing my outlook in regard to web content issues, which could lead to some interesting insights.

After more than 15 years and who knows how many web pages and emails...I decided to leave the American Lung Association for a position as the Vice President of eMarketing for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org) . Though it was hard to leave my friends at Lung and my terrific Online Services Team, I'm very excited about my future at LLS!

So, it's with a little irony that I re-read my original post...as the ownership and management issues at LLS are architected somewhat differently than at Lung, the content challenges remain similar. Obviously, I'm hoping to share what I learn in the process --- and encourage anyone who's inspired to, to contribute to that dialogue. It's all about change this week!

Those of us in public health or that segment of the pharmaceutical industry involved in cancer care are likely familiar with the concept of "patient navigation." To be honest, until recently I wasn't. But I'm catching up....

It seems the phrase originated with a series of hearings conducted by the American Cancer Society in the late eighties to better understand the needs of this country's poor in regard to access to effective cancer care. For cancer patients especially, early diagnosis is critical to patient outcomes. As you might imagine, their report offered a grim picture of the healthcare challenges facing this underserved group and helped spur change from a number of fronts.

Now, nearly 20 years later, "patient navigation" has grown to include other disease states, as well. Improving outcomes, however, has remained the primary goal.

When I consider the subject of "patient navigation" from a web perspective, I find myself considering a number of factors....who's online, where people are finding information, what tools are most helpful in providing support and how an organization integrates related services are but a few of the key issues that come to mind. Then there's the concept of the navigation itself and how effectively that helps improve outcomes.

All considered, these are big issues that a number of organizations are dealing with. I'm curious to find out more about how others have been approaching this subject....through web design and online community development, especially. For web services groups, there's much available to quantify....but how effectively are we doing that and how can we improve? This seems like a great opportunity to partner with our program and service departments.

Please share your experiences, your thoughts and your advice on improving outcomes online.