How Brand Journalism Puts Cape Cod Healthcare in the Headlines
// By Lisa D. Ellis //
Many great stories exist at Cape Cod Healthcare (CCHC), just waiting to be told. Yet until recently, there was a shortage of opportunities and avenues to share most of them, says Patrick Kane, senior vice president, communications and business development of CCHC. This prompted Kane to take matters into his own hands to create a newsroom for the organization called Cape Cod Health News (CCHN). CCHN’s goal is to use a brand journalism approach to raise awareness about the high level of medical expertise at CCHC.
“Brand journalism is writing about your organization in a manner that is consistent with news writing rather than public relations or marketing,” Kane explains. The main feature that sets brand journalism apart from PR is that it doesn’t include a promotional component but, rather, treats the subjects in a more objective way.
Exploring CCHC’s Presence
Patrick Kane, senior vice president, communications and business development of Cape Cod Healthcare
To explore the allure of brand journalism for CCHC, it’s important to understand the context of the organization and how it stacks up against the competition. As a regional health care provider on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a popular tourist destination, CCHC runs two acute-care hospitals, homecare and hospice services, a nursing and rehabilitation facility, an assisted-living facility, four urgent-care centers, and a variety of outpatient health programs.
CCHC’s location, about a 90-minute drive from Boston, means that its service lines have to compete against those offered through many well-known city health systems. But one major differentiator for CCHC is that many of its physicians were trained in Boston and now practice on the Cape. This means that CCHC can offer Boston-quality care close to home, thus providing patients with peace of mind and convenience at the same time.
“One of our strategic pillars at CCHC is that great quality and great patient care begins with Cape Cod physicians,” Kane stresses, adding, “Quality is our widget and our physicians are the ones who bring this widget to life.”