Topics Covered:
- Spreading and Increasing Brand Amplification
- Connecting Digital Goals to Business Metrics
Reed Smith, MBA
Expertise: Digital Marketing & Communications
Reed Smith is a nationally recognized thought leader, and founder of the Social Health Institute. Reed focuses on the integration of social computing into hospitals and other health care hospitals. His health care marketing experience includes time as a hospital marketing director, as well as overseeing product development for the Texas Hospital Association, where he created a social media guide for hospitals, assembling best practices and case studies from hospitals across the country.
Reed was instrumental in bringing the health care track to the SXSW® Interactive festival, and is a member of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media Advisory Board. He travels throughout the country speaking to hospitals and health care hospitals about health care social media strategy and best practices.
Reed serves as the Chief Social Strategist for Gray Digital Group as well as on the advisory board for both the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, and the SXSW® Interactive festival.
Thornton Kirby
Expertise: Healthcare Administration and Public Policy
Thornton Kirby has been President and CEO of the South Carolina Hospital Association since 2005. Thornton is recognized nationally as a leader in health care reform and patient safety, and under his leadership South Carolina has emerged as one of the nation’s top states in the quality of hospital care.
The Hospital Association is currently working with Dr. Atul Gawande and his colleagues at Harvard University to improve surgical safety, and the Association is also working with The Joint Commission to build a culture of high reliability across South Carolina’s hospitals. Both initiatives have garnered national attention as models for improving hospital care nationwide.
Thornton was recruited out of high school to attend the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Scholar, and after earning his undergraduate degree in American Government he returned home to study law at the University of South Carolina. Before joining the South Carolina Hospital Association, Thornton practiced law as a health care attorney, worked as a hospital administrator, and served for nearly a decade as a senior executive at Clemson University.
Thornton has extensive experience with corporate governance, having served as a director on 45 different boards over the past 30 years. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and he holds adjunct faculty appointments at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina where he lectures frequently on health care issues. Because of South Carolina’s leadership in patient safety and quality, Thornton is frequently invited to speak at national and regional meetings on health care reform and quality of care.
Location Information:
All classes will be hosted inside the One Clemson Facility downtown Greenville, SC. If you are traveling from out-of-town, there are numerous hotels and restaurants located within walking distance of the One Clemson Facility. The One Clemson Facility is a brand new,state of the art education and meeting facility housing all Clemson’s MBA Programs and professional development course offerings.