Susan Dubuque, a strategist and writer specializing in health care and behavior change, was a cofounder and principal of Two Tango (formerly NDP Agency).Susan Dubuque

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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.

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

// By Susan Dubuque // 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.

Geisinger Maximizes Budgets by Aligning PR and Marketing

// By Susan Dubuque // The chief marketing and communications officer for Geisinger shares how collaboration between marketing and public relations enhances effectiveness and efficiency. Learn how unifying efforts between marketing and public relations can maximize budgets and generate better outcomes.

Unifying HR Marketing and Brand, Part 2: Michigan Medicine

Rebecca Priest, director of marketing, Michigan Medicine

// By Susan Dubuque // Marketing and talent acquisition executives from Michigan Medicine share how collaboration and brand alignment helped to address staff recruitment and retention challenges for their organization. Learn how collaboration between HR and marketing can enhance recruitment and retention efforts.

Unifying HR Marketing and Brand, Part 1: Moffitt Cancer Center

Joel English, senior vice president, BVK

// By Susan Dubuque // Marketing executives share how Moffitt Cancer Center’s marketing and HR teams work together to alleviate recruitment and retention challenges by aligning with the brand. Learn more about creating an effective recruitment and retention (R&R) strategy by working together and leveraging the strength of your brand.

Best Practices for Bringing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to Life

Deb Pappas, chief marketing and communications officer and executive champion for DEI Education & Awareness Pillar, Connecticut Children’s

// By Susan Dubuque // Executives from Connecticut Children’s, UNC Health, and Stanford Health Care share how they integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into the organizational culture. Read on for important lessons on advancing and operationalizing DEI efforts in your own organization.

Marketing and HR Join Forces to Elevate Nurse Recruitment

Susan Dubuque

// By Susan Dubuque // Nurse recruitment is vital to the growth and survival of every health care organization today. Here’s how one health system combined the talents of two disciplines — marketing and HR — to tackle it together.

Have You Created a Sustaining Health System Brand?

Suzanne Bharati Hendery, Renown Health

A strong and sustaining health system brand is a living organism. It is conceived from the system’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan. It is hatched from empathy. It is nourished and allowed to flourish when expressed in one voice. So how does a health system bring its brand to life? What steps must be Read More

Renown Health Brand Builds on Generational Legacy of Grit and Tenacity

Susan Dubuque

// By Susan Dubuque // Three years ago, Renown Health senior leadership set out to update the strategic plan for the health system, and Suzanne Hendery, chief marketing, communications & customer officer, was asked to craft a brand platform to reflect the new organizational direction. Learn what steps she took to craft a highly successful brand strategy.

5 Keys to Building Stronger Relationships Between Marketing and Finance

stevens-ward-fors-blaha

Increased economic pressures caused by the pandemic and other factors are making it more important than ever for marketers to partner with their chief financial officers to develop a deeper understanding of finance and demonstrate return on investment for marketing spending.

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing webinar for health care marketers and strategists

Presented on January 12, 2022

Your Presenters:

  • Amy Stevens, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Tidelands Health
  • Beth Ward, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Tidelands Health
  • Melissa Fors, Vice President of Marketing Strategy, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
  • James A. Blaha, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

stevens-ward-fors-blaha-photo

Watch Now »

Pro Bono Work Is Not Just for Doctors and Lawyers

Peggy Frank, CEO, Frank Public Relations

“Physicians travel around the globe to donate their time to help others less fortunate, sharing their knowledge and skills while expecting nothing in return except the self-satisfaction that comes from their acts of unselfishness,” says Ross K. Goldberg, president of Kevin/Ross Public Relations and member of the SHCM editorial advisory board. “But what about those Read More

The Perks of Pro Bono: What You Get When You Give

Ross K. Goldberg is president of Kevin/Ross Public Relations

// By Ross K. Goldberg // Pro bono work “feeds the soul,” says Susan Dubuque, principal at NDP. In this article, we hear from Susan and four other senior marketing and PR leaders about why they volunteer. Stepping outside your normal routine and using your skills to help a worthy cause may be just the Read More

Overcoming Resistance: Targeted Communications to Promote COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance

A Strategic Health Care Marketing webinar on demand for marketers, communicators, and strategists at hospitals, health systems, and physician groups

Your Presenters:

  • Jeanine D. Guidry, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
  • Victor Reiss, System Vice President of Consumerism and Insights – Marketing and Communications, UNC Healthcare

Moderated by:

  • Susan Dubuque, Principal, NDP Marketing & Advertising

Learn More or Watch Now »

News from the Front: Health Care Shifts into High Gear to Address the Coronavirus

jane weber brubaker

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Well before cases of COVID-19 began to spike in the U.S., health care organizations were watching the response to the pandemic unfold worldwide and preparing for the worst-case scenario. Communications to myriad stakeholders have been and are being created, coordinated, and standardized across multiple channels. Accurate, up-to-date information is Read More

“What Goes On in That New Building?” VCU Health Offers a Soft-Sell Explanation with Equal Parts Nostalgia, Induced Guilt, and Romantic Playfulness

Susan Dubuque, principal, NDP

// By Peter Hochstein // Can simple charm compete for share-of-mind in a hot health care marketplace? Yes, if the charm is really charming enough. Here’s how it works in Richmond, Virginia. This probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen a bicycle treated so callously. It stands in a dusty garage, surrounded by other carelessly Read More

Looking at Population Health Through a Marketing Lens

Susan Dubuque, principal at NDP Agency

“Population health is a hot topic in our industry,” says Susan Dubuque of ndp. “But let’s be honest. As health care marketing professionals, we may have a difficult time getting our heads around this complex, multifaceted concept. There is lack of clarity about even the most basic issues like: What is population health? Who is Read More

New Research: Exploring the State of Population Health

Susan Dubuque, principal at NDP Agency

Marketers envision playing a leading role in population health activities. // By Susan Dubuque // Population health is a hot topic in our industry. But let’s be honest. As health care marketing professionals, we may have a difficult time getting our heads around this complex, multifaceted concept. There is lack of clarity about even the Read More

Edward M. Rafalski and Kathy Selker Join Editorial Advisory Board of Strategic Health Care Marketing

Ed Rafalski and Kathy Selker

The Strategic Health Care Marketing Editorial Advisory Board is made up of leaders in the health care marketing field who are committed to shaping the future of the industry. They offer ongoing feedback on our editorial coverage, write occasional articles, and point us to developments and people SHCM members like you should know about. I am very pleased to announce that Edward M. Rafalski, Ph.D., MPH, FACHE, and Kathy Selker have joined this elite group.

How Health Care Marketers Can Boost Population Health Efforts

Susan Dubuque

“As health care marketers, we are keenly aware of the rampant changes taking place in our industry — unforeseen mergers and consolidations, aggressive competitors entering the marketplace, pressures to demonstrate measurable ROI, and reorientation from delivering acute or episodic care to managing the health of a population with the goals of improving health and reducing Read More

Rowing Together: A Collaborative Approach to Promoting Behavior Change

Susan Dubuque

// By Susan Dubuque //  As health care marketers, we are keenly aware of the rampant changes taking place in our industry — unforeseen mergers and consolidations, aggressive competitors entering the marketplace, pressures to demonstrate measurable ROI, and reorientation from delivering acute or episodic care to managing the health of a population with the goals Read More