Public Relations

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3 Health Care PR Challenges to Be Prepared for in 2024

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

What is the greater challenge: identifying challenges that health care public relations will face in 2024 or limiting those truths to a 1,200-word article? The answer is clearly the latter. Year after year health care public relations professionals see unanticipated new challenges pile up on those left over from the year prior until the hill Read More

Buckle Up: Health Care PR Professionals Likely to Face Bumpy Ride Again in 2024

Senior-level public relations expert predicts communication challenges that health care organizations may experience as we gear up for the coming year. // By Ross K. Goldberg // What is the greater challenge: identifying challenges that health care public relations will face in 2024 or limiting those truths to a 1,200-word article? The answer is clearly Read More

Strategies to Turn Your Health System’s Executives Into Effective Thought Leaders

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. In reality, it’s roughly 30 percent. That makes thought leadership from hospital executives a key method Read More

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

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

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 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

The Critical Importance of Transparency in an Age of Misinformation

Paul Gadd, director of internal communications, University of Utah Health

How University of Utah Health intentionally becomes the voice of authority for internal and external audiences. // By Wendy Margolin // In March 2020 Paul Gadd, director of internal communications at University of Utah Health, answered a call from the emergency management director. Senior leadership decided to set up BLU-MED tents — emergency management tents Read More

How Marketing and PR Collaboration Can Help Address Staffing Shortages

Suzanne Bharati Hendery headshot

According to a recent report in Becker’s Health IT, health care marketing budgets have declined by 8 percent over the past year — down markedly from 2019 when budgets peaked. Marketing leaders also indicate that they are experiencing increased pressure to quantify results and demonstrate a return on investment. Aligning marketing and public relations efforts Read More

Geisinger Unifies Efforts to Establish a New Brand Platform

Don Stanziano, chief marketing and communications officer, Geisinger

In the aftermath of COVID-19, hospitals and health systems are pressured to do more with less. The 2023 Healthcare Marketers Trend Report reveals that marketing and advertising budgets have shrunk by 8 percent. At the same time, marketing departments are being asked to produce measurable results and contribute to business objectives. One strategy to make Read More

Healthcare PR: Strategies for Navigating Today’s Complex Media Landscape

Bryan Kawasaki, director, national communications, Providence

Public relations, or PR, is first and foremost about building and maintaining trusted relationships externally, with consumers and patients, providers, the media, and the larger community. We spoke with two healthcare PR leaders about how they forge those connections and raise the profile of their organizations to key audiences. Their work requires a multifaceted approach Read More

A Tale of Two Health System Public Relations Teams

Sean Couch, executive director, communications & consumer strategy, Northeast Georgia Health System

No matter how large or small or rural or urban a health care organization is, there are certain universal truths that apply when it comes to being the guardian of its reputation in the community. But the way public relations and communications teams approach things may vary greatly depending on how they are structured, the Read More

Geisinger Maximizes Budgets by Aligning PR and Marketing

The chief marketing and communications officer for Geisinger shares how collaboration between marketing and public relations enhances effectiveness and efficiency. // By Susan Dubuque // In the aftermath of COVID-19, hospitals and health systems are pressured to do more with less. The 2023 Healthcare Marketers Trend Report reveals that marketing and advertising budgets have shrunk Read More

Conference Preview: SHSMD23 Connections Aims to Inspire and Challenge

Ryan Younger, vice president of marketing, Virtua Health

Each fall, the SHSMD Annual Conference brings together the best and brightest in our industry — from seasoned veterans to tomorrow’s leaders — for three days of sharing, growing, and learning together. This year, the health care strategy and marketing community will convene in Chicago from September 10-12 at SHSMD23 Connections. The conference is an Read More

SHSMD23 Connections: Be the Change Your Organization Needs

Lisa Crockett-Providence

Connect with the community shaping the future of health care. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Each fall, the SHSMD Annual Conference brings together the best and brightest in our industry — from seasoned veterans to tomorrow’s leaders — for three days of sharing, growing, and learning together. This year, the health care strategy and Read More

Marketing’s Role in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Victor Reiss, vice president— Consumerism & Insights, UNC Health

DEI is about more than representation. It’s all about creating an environment where everyone feels heard, respected, and empowered. No other industry has more of an imperative to embrace DEI than health care as the path to a healthier future for everyone. At this year’s Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS23) in Austin, Texas, Read More

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

Executives from Connecticut Children’s, UNC Health, and Stanford Health Care share how they integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into the organizational culture. // By Susan Dubuque // DEI is about more than representation. It’s all about creating an environment where everyone feels heard, respected, and empowered. No other industry has more of an imperative Read More

Hospitals Step Up Efforts to Curb Workplace Violence: What You Need to Know

Mark Moore, corporate director of protective and support services at Dayton Children’s Hospital

U.S. hospitals are seeing a dramatic rise in workplace violence. While some organizations are taking active steps to address the issue — including developing internal and external campaigns — more is needed: Only 43 percent of workers believe their organization’s policies against workplace violence are effective. In most hospitals today, electronic medical records and patient Read More

What Does It Even Mean to Be a “Nonprofit” Hospital Anymore?

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

While traditional wisdom once held that nonprofit hospitals maintain a firm advantage over for-profit hospitals, the tides seem to be turning. // By Ross K. Goldberg // One of the oldest and truest axioms in consumer advertising is that the most successful and persuasive messaging finds a way to turn a feature into a benefit. Read More