Susan DubuqueContributing Editor
Plain-English Health Care
Richmond, VA
(866) 641-4548
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Susan Dubuque, a strategist and writer specializing in health care and behavior change, was a cofounder and principal of Two Tango (formerly NDP Agency). She literally wrote the book on marketing’s role in health improvement, Gearing Up for Population Health: Marketing for Change, published by the SHSMD of the American Hospital Association. She is an adjunct instructor at VCU’s School of Health Professions. Susan serves on the editorial advisory board of Strategic Health Care Marketing and is co-chair of the 2024 eHealthcare Leadership Awards.
Susan has contributed her expertise to the articles listed below.
When East Tennessee Children’s Hospital announced it would become Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital, the news traveled fast. The name alone carries instant recognition, not just across the state but well beyond. Discover how the organization translates this high-profile partnership into a strategy to reach families, engage donors, and expand access to care.
// By Susan Dubuque // What separates good work from award-winning work in the eHealthcare Leadership Awards? What gets recognized is not just the work itself, but also how clearly and convincingly it is presented. for practical ways to clarify your story, present your work with confidence, and yes, improve your chances of winning.
Backed by philanthropy, a new national alliance gives children’s hospitals a way to expand access, align strategy, and move faster together. Discover how this alliance reshapes pediatric care while giving marketing and communications leaders new ways to tell their stories and strengthen their brands.
// By Susan Dubuque // UChicago Medicine’s “Live Again” campaign confronts stigma, builds awareness, and drives appointments for pelvic health services in Chicago’s northern suburbs. See how research-driven strategy, relatable creative, and disciplined media planning generated appointments while reshaping the conversation around pelvic health.
// By Susan Dubuque // At The Christ Hospital Health Network, marketing efficiency and effectiveness aren’t driven by headcount or budget size. They are the result of a deliberately built culture that gives a lean team clarity and the freedom to move quickly, producing outsized impact in a highly competitive market.
At Renown Health, communicating with Spanish-speaking patients requires more than literal translation. It calls for a marketing strategy built on listening, cultural understanding, and an end-to-end experience that makes access to care feel respectful and seamless. Discover practical lessons in navigating language, culture, and access in diverse markets.
The Virginia Mental Health Access Program (VMAP) helps build primary care capacity from within. Working directly with hospitals and health systems, VMAP expands access to pediatric and maternal mental health care, supports providers with training and guidance, and tackles one of the state’s most pressing workforce challenges.
// By Susan Dubuque // When East Tennessee Children’s Hospital announced it would become Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital, the news traveled fast. The name alone carries instant recognition, not just across the state but well beyond. Discover how the organization translates this high-profile partnership into a strategy to reach families, engage donors, and expand access to care.
In many organizations, marketing still operates downstream, pushed into a reactive role long after strategic decisions have been made. This series examines executive partnerships by reverse-engineering them. We begin with Tanner Health, a community health system in rural Georgia, where collaboration, candor, direct executive access, and shared metrics shape marketing performance.
// By Susan Dubuque // Backed by philanthropy, a new national alliance gives children’s hospitals a way to expand access, align strategy, and move faster together. Discover how this alliance reshapes pediatric care while giving marketing and communications leaders new ways to tell their stories and strengthen their brands.
Hospice care remains one of the most misunderstood services in health care. Despite strong clinical outcomes, many patients delay hospice services until the final days of life. See how Gilchrist uses authentic storytelling and documentary-style videos to reposition hospice as a way to live every remaining day to its fullest.
// By Susan Dubuque // At Renown Health, communicating with Spanish-speaking patients requires more than literal translation. It calls for a marketing strategy built on listening, cultural understanding, and an end-to-end experience that makes access to care feel respectful and seamless. Discover practical lessons in navigating language, culture, and access in diverse markets.
As health care organizations race to personalize digital experiences, UCLA Health takes a deliberate stance: Privacy isn’t a constraint on engagement; it’s the foundation of trust that enables meaningful connections. Discover how UCLA Health embeds privacy into its digital strategy to strengthen trust, improve continuity of care, and support long-term patient relationships.
// By Susan Dubuque // The Virginia Mental Health Access Program (VMAP) helps build primary care capacity from within. Working directly with hospitals and health systems, VMAP expands access to pediatric and maternal mental health care, supports providers with training and guidance, and tackles one of the state’s most pressing workforce challenges.
// By Susan Dubuque // In many organizations, marketing still operates downstream, pushed into a reactive role long after strategic decisions have been made. This series examines executive partnerships by reverse-engineering them. We begin with Tanner Health, a community health system in rural Georgia, where collaboration, candor, direct executive access, and shared metrics shape marketing performance.
// By Susan Dubuque // Hospice care remains one of the most misunderstood services in health care. Despite strong clinical outcomes, many patients delay hospice services until the final days of life. See how Gilchrist uses authentic storytelling and documentary-style videos to reposition hospice as a way to live every remaining day to its fullest.
At the University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC), leaders are focused on strengthening what matters most: supporting nurses, building trust, and creating a place where people want to stay and grow. Learn more about UTMC’s approach, results achieved, and tactics you can adopt to strengthen your recruitment and retention efforts.
// By Susan Dubuque // As health care organizations race to personalize digital experiences, UCLA Health takes a deliberate stance: Privacy isn’t a constraint on engagement; it’s the foundation of trust that enables meaningful connections. Discover how UCLA Health embeds privacy into its digital strategy to strengthen trust, improve continuity of care, and support long-term patient relationships.
// By Susan Dubuque // For more than a decade, Orlando Health has been quietly perfecting a weekly video news show that keeps tens of thousands of employees informed, engaged, and genuinely connected, one 3-minute episode at a time. Discover how Orlando Health uses its news show to inform and bring together team members.
// By Susan Dubuque // At the University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC), leaders are focused on strengthening what matters most: supporting nurses, building trust, and creating a place where people want to stay and grow. Learn more about UTMC’s approach, results achieved, and tactics you can adopt to strengthen your recruitment and retention efforts.
// By Susan Dubuque // Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and Children’s Hospital Foundation share a marketing and fundraising story shaped by grit, creativity, and a deep sense of community ownership. See what came next: a coordinated effort between philanthropy and marketing and the ad campaign that brought their shared story to life.
Marketing leaders from Renown Health and The Christ Hospital Health Network share how their award-winning recruitment and retention strategies helped address workforce shortages. Read on to discover how authentic messaging and targeted outreach can strengthen both recruitment and retention.
// By Susan Dubuque // A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Education to classify nursing and other health positions as “non-professional” has raised concern across the health care community. Find out how health care leaders are responding to this decision and how marketers can help safeguard future talent pipelines.
// By Susan Dubuque // Across a global network of medical centers, The Michael J. Fox Foundation leads a research initiative reshaping how we study, detect, and hope to stop Parkinson’s disease. Discover how a thoughtful marketing strategy helped build the study that’s changing what we know about Parkinson’s.
In an era of shrinking reimbursements and rising costs, philanthropy has become an essential lifeline for hospitals and health systems, with donors contributing more than $20 billion to U.S. hospitals each year. Discover how philanthropy mobilizes communities and provides millions of dollars in essential funding for cancer research and patient care.