A Trusted Healthcare Network on a Mission to Heal
Hartford HealthCare (HHC) is a network of hospitals, ambulatory sites, and care facilities with over 500 locations serving 185 towns and cities across Connecticut and beyond. HHC’s marketing department captures a high volume of images to showcase their vital work providing accessible and affordable healthcare across the state.
The Challenge: Getting Organized and Access for All
Chris Rakoczy joined HHC in 2015 as a contract photographer and transitioned to a full-time role. As the organization’s new Digital Asset Librarian, it was Chris’s responsibility to uncover what wasn’t working and how to fix it. Here’s what he found:
- Lack of organization. Chris and his co-workers were primarily using Dropbox. Without an extensive set of metadata options, Dropbox made it difficult to keep things organized and challenging to search for files as more and more assets were added to their account.
- No easy collaboration. In Dropbox, there was no easy way to provide access to colleagues. That meant photographers were getting buried in share requests and had to constantly respond via email or send links to individual folders, which interrupted work.
- Delayed deadlines. Chris often returned from photoshoots to urgent email requests from HHC designers for access to photos they needed to complete assignments. Designers sometimes had to wait days for the files they needed. By the time the file was sent, sometimes it was too late.
- Missed community opportunities. Without the ability to post photos from events quickly, HHC missed opportunities to connect with their local community, acquire new patients, and build their brand.
“If we’re out at an event, and people have to wait for us to get back to our desks, find the thing they want, and send it, it could be too late for their needs.”
Chris Rakoczy, staff photographer, Hartford HealthCare
The Solution: A Streamlined Workflow That Works For Everyone
HHC chose PhotoShelter to streamline their content workflow and collaborate better with their photographers, designers, and the rest of their creative team. Here’s how PhotoShelter helped them succeed:
- Customizable organization and search features. Customizable file metadata, keywords, collections, and galleries help Chris create an organizational structure that is easily searchable. Now, their custom photo stock library can continue to provide value long after projects are complete.
- So many ways to work together. PhotoShelter Workspaces have helped Hartford HealthCare’s employees manage and collaborate on creative projects. HHC also uses PhotoShelter’s single sign-on (SSO) feature to streamline access and ensure security without having to send individual user invites. With the added benefit of unlimited invited users, any of HHC’s 37,000 colleagues can access its vast asset library.
- Cloud-based access anywhere = work gets done. With PhotoShelter’s secure, reliable, owned network, Chris and his team can quickly log on from anywhere. That means HHC’s staff photographers can easily upload images to PhotoShelter and designers can quickly access the files they need to complete their work.
- Strengthen community reputation. With instant access to HHC’s photo library, team members can download photos from recent community events to share through their marketing channels. This visual content helps HHC strengthen their reputation as a trusted local healthcare provider.
“When we adopted PhotoShelter, it was a huge difference. The photographers started spending less time answering email requests for specific images; it became much more of a self-service model.”
Chris Rakoczy, staff photographer, Hartford HealthCare
Get More Time to Work on What Matters with PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter gives Chris and the creative team at HHC countless hours back to focus on meaningful work instead of tedious back-and-forth communication. Colleagues can easily find what they need and no one has to wait for someone to share a much-needed file. Now, the team can put the majority of their effort to what really matters: showcasing the stories of health, healing, and care across their community.
“Through PhotoShelter, we’ve been able to empower everybody in the organization to get what they need when they need it — and also discover things they didn’t know they needed. They can pull something down within a couple of minutes, versus probably hours or days.”
Chris Rakoczy, staff photographer, Hartford HealthCare
Key Stats
- 37k+ employees with access to PhotoShelter
- ~160k assets housed on PhotoShelter
- 28k downloads in the last 12 months
