// By Althea Fung // Jason Reminick, MD, MBA, MS was stranded. In the fall of 2012, the then fourth-year medical student was gearing up for a series of residency interviews when Hurricane Sandy, a Category 3 hurricane, came barreling through the Northeast, making it impossible for him to attend his in-person interviews in New Read More
// By Althea Fung // Suicide rates in the United States have increased substantially over the past two decades, according to the American Psychological Association. Since 1999, the rate has jumped 35 percent. For teens, the suicide rate is also on the rise. The rate of suicide rose 50 percent between 2000 and 2016 for Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // Whether it’s a national news network on the phone, or a triple-header of a tornado, some of the biggest PR opportunities are unplanned. Even Lindsey Meyers, vice president of public relations and communications for Avera Health, sounds just a tad surprised that there’s such sophisticated medical research going on in Read More
View From the C-Suite: Greg Feirn, CEO; and Christine Albert, SVP; Marketing & Communications, LCMC Health Anthony D. Slonim, MD, DrPH, CEO; and Suzanne Hendery, Chief Marketing & Customer Officer; Renown Health // By Sheryl S. Jackson // Strong relationships between CEOs and CMOs help organizations align on a shared vision, invest in the right Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // See those retailers in your rearview mirror? They are the health care disruptors you’ve been hearing about — Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, Google — and they are coming for you. They are closer than they appear, and they will steal your customers — if you don’t disrupt back. “The Read More
// By Marcia Simon, APR // Google is often the place people look first when seeking health information online. Assuming your health care system has done all the right things to optimize discoverability, the patient’s next step is to access care, most often by making a phone call. That first impression determines the course for Read More
// By Althea Fung // Language can build relationships and forge bonds, but it can also create barriers. Content writers and marketers carry implicit biases that can rear their ugly heads when crafting copy. “Bias in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. Evolution developed it for survival,” says Kristen Syrett, PhD, an associate professor Read More
// By Lindsay R. Resnick // Consumers want to know, “Who’s going to do the right thing when it comes to my health?” We’ve been exposed! COVID shined a bright light on American health care — the best and the worst: gaps in its value chain, disparities in communities, advances in technology, changes in consumer Read More
// By Paula Serios // In Part 1 of this two-part series, we looked at surprising results from a proprietary national study. Two cohorts — Innovators and Early Adopters — have the potential to consume more health services and generate higher revenues than any other. The key is to understand what makes them tick, and Read More
// By Daniel Fell // In early May, our company launched a biweekly tracking study to better understand and monitor consumer sentiment toward seeking health care services during the COVID pandemic. The Optum Consumer Pulse Survey asks a representative sample of 700 adult consumers nationwide how likely they are to visit different types of health Read More
// By Marcia Simon, APR // Telemedicine came to the rescue when COVID-19 first rattled the capacity and safety of health care delivery. It didn’t take long for hospitals, providers, and patients to embrace the conveniences, especially when federal waivers allowed for expanded access to virtual care services, and payers relaxed their reimbursement guidelines. Hospitals Read More
// By Richard Cohen // One of the central issues when a health care organization acquires other hospitals or entities on the care continuum is how to get all the employees from its disparate parts on message. This was something that the folks at the Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health took to heart several years ago after Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Los Angeles is home to many world-class health care organizations, and they compete vigorously for the same patients. But even in a competitive market, joining together for the greater good may be the best way to get an important message across to the community. “It became apparent early on Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // In this topsy-turvy world we’re living in, everything familiar has had to change to accommodate the new normal, and conferences are no exception. The Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development annual conference, SHSMD Connections, will now be held virtually as two conferences, “Navigating a New Reality” on Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // The situation seemed dire at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Doctors at a large medical group were under orders to refer patients to a different hospital. Then Vassar launched an ad campaign that empowered patients to defy their doctors. And everything changed. The news arrived more than a little jarringly at Read More
// By Paula Serios // Some companies decide what product or service they want to sell and then use marketing to find people to buy it. Smart companies figure out what problems people face and how they want them solved, then create distinctive products and services to solve them. The human-centric approach to developing products Read More
// By Marlene Kurban // “People will remember how they’re treated,” says Rob Klein, founder and CEO of Klein & Partners. “And how you treat them will determine whether your brand comes out of this with momentum.” Klein & Partners and The DRG recently released the results of the third wave of an online national Read More
View from the C-Suite: Don Stanziano, Chief Marketing Officer, Geisinger // By Sheryl S. Jackson // Health care marketers know that building a successful brand is not just about new logos, taglines, and ads. The brand must accurately reflect the vision and beliefs that make up the culture of the organization, drive all strategic decisions, Read More
// By Kyle Hardner // As COVID-19 has spread throughout the United States, it has shed new light on a decades-old question: the role of social determinants of health in defining overall health outcomes. The pandemic is hitting hardest among certain racial, ethnic, and minority groups. Through mid-June, non-Hispanic Black people had a COVID-19 hospitalization Read More
// By Althea Fung // As the U.S. emerges from what is likely the first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many health care organizations are launching campaigns to encourage patients to seek the medical care they have delayed. Northwell Health, a 23-hospital system with nearly 800 outpatient facilities in the New York metro area, Read More
// By Marlene Kurban // Rebranding a large health system is a complex undertaking that is more than a marketing and design challenge; it requires a thoughtful, strategic approach to be successful. ChristianaCare, the largest health care provider in Delaware, unveiled its new brand identity in October 2019, after an 18-month planning process with its Read More
// By Wendy Stark Healy // “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” is the motto at Richmond-based NDP. Last year, the full-service marketing and advertising agency added a media planning division — Neathawk360. As the name implies, this new service embraces a 360-degree approach to the many and diverse forms of media Read More
// By Dan Dunlop // During the pandemic, provider organizations have done a great job communicating with their communities about the need for people to stay home and stay safe. Unfortunately, the public has come to believe that hospitals and medical facilities are no longer safe places. As consumers have begun to take this pandemic Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // A group of musicians in Iceland demonstrated that promoting social distancing doesn’t have to sound like somber, top-down marching orders from an authoritarian central command. Instead, they tapped into something uplifting, communal, and perhaps instinctively primeval. I feel sorry for the American doctors and public health experts who’ve been tasked Read More
// By Sheryl S. Jackson // Health systems across the country are cautiously restarting elective surgeries and trying to recover from financial losses incurred during the peak of the pandemic. How are leaders approaching this massive challenge? Here, industry experts walk us through their evolving communication strategies as their organizations pivot from crisis communications to Read More