Latest Articles

Transform Even Reluctant Speakers Into Stars: Proven Strategies and Tactics to Use with Hospital Leaders

Sharon Delaney McCloud, director of corporate communications at UNC Health

How UNC Health’s communications team prepares hospital executives for thought leadership. // By Wendy Margolin // Among the most important currencies in health care is trust. Meanwhile, trust in leadership today is at an all-time low. According to PwC’s 2022 Consumer Intelligence Series on Trust, 87 percent of executives think customers highly trust their companies. Read More

Paul Keckley: Friction in U.S. Health Care System Coming to a Head

Ron Shinkman

Conflict between the sector’s “haves” and “have-nots” has been brewing for years and is coming to an inflection point. // By Ron Shinkman // Health care in the U.S. has been very good to those who participate on the business end of the enterprise, but the comfort they enjoy is often at the expense of Read More

How Community Engagement Can Boost Your Health Equity Strategy

Lindsay Cosimano, senior director of marketing communications, Nebraska Health Network

How can a health system make a difference in utilization, quality and outcomes, and cost — and improve engagement with underserved members of its community? This was the topic of a recent presentation at the 2023 SHSMD Connections Virtual Conference. Lindsay Cosimano is senior director of marketing communications at Nebraska Health Network, an accountable care Read More

Beyond the Headlines: Health System Leaders Share Their Crisis Communication Strategies

Lauren Landwerlin, vice president, strategy, marketing, and communications, Saint Francis Health System

Health systems rely on their communications teams to keep all stakeholders informed during a crisis and help to bring healing to the community in the aftermath, through empathetic messaging. At SHSMD Connections in September, three health system communications leaders shared their experiences following a crisis in their respective communities. “Sometimes the strength of the people Read More

A Health Equity Strategy Focused on Community Engagement

Simon-Marcia-Author

Community engagement is a cornerstone of public relations. Effectively breaking down the barriers to health care access is a far greater challenge. // By Marcia Simon, APR // How can a health system make a difference in utilization, quality and outcomes, and cost — and improve engagement with underserved members of its community? This was Read More

Lessons from a Crisis: When You’re in the Eye of the Storm

Lisa O’Neil, system director of marketing and brand management, Lee Health

You don’t know what you don’t know until you’re faced with leading your organization through a crisis. Here are three stories from leaders whose best advice is to expect that, sooner or later, a crisis will come. It’s not if – it’s when. // By Susan Dubuque // Health systems rely on their communications teams Read More

Creating the Blueprint: 5 Ways to Develop National Health Care Brand Recognition

Karen Brodbeck, vice president of Brand Management, OSF HealthCare

An effective public relations effort can give organizations a megaphone to amplify health care brand recognition. As a faith-based, mission-oriented organization, OSF HealthCare (OSF), founded in the late 1800s, has historically met internal and external challenges through innovation. In the past decade OSF, headquartered in Peoria, Illinois and serving patients in Illinois and Michigan, has Read More

How a Data-Driven Media Strategy Can Deliver Cost-Effective Results

Andrea Becker, senior director, marketing, WellSpan Health

Last year, Central Pennsylvania-based WellSpan Health established two major goals to combat breast cancer and strengthen the health system’s market position: 1) heighten awareness of breast care services, and 2) increase mammography screenings. These relatively common goals for health care organizations are often supported by the same time-worn tactics that marketers have used for years Read More

How OSF Healthcare Makes Its Presence Known Nationally

Cheryl L. Serra

An effective public relations effort can give organizations a megaphone to amplify brand recognition. // By Cheryl L. Serra // As a faith-based, mission-oriented organization, OSF HealthCare (OSF), founded in the late 1800s, has historically met internal and external challenges through innovation. In the past decade OSF, headquartered in Peoria, Illinois and serving patients in Read More