Public Relations

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

Coming this Fall: A Return to the In-Person SHSMD Annual Conference

Lisa Hinkle, deputy director of education, Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD)

As COVID indicators in the U.S. continue on a positive trend and we ease back into normal life, the opportunity for industry colleagues to gather in person again has finally arrived with the Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) annual conference. This year, conference attendees have two options. SHSMD Connections will convene Read More

How Health Care Organizations Can Effectively Respond to Negative Online Patient Reviews and Social Media Feedback

Jenny Sundberg, senior marketing specialist and operations manager, Bryan Health

// By Brian Griffin // A proactive approach to responding to negative online comments is a winning service recovery strategy. Patients think it’s important for health care providers to answer negative reviews; when complaints are addressed, the rate of patient satisfaction roughly doubles, according to one survey. With more patients using online reviews and social Read More

Live from San Antonio — It’s SHSMD Connections 2021!

Jennifer Weiss Wilkerson, vice president and chief strategy officer at Sheppard Pratt and SHSMD board president

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Since the first major industry conference was canceled back in March 2020, we’ve missed out on the energy and vitality that a live conference generates. The 2021 fall conference season kicks off with SHSMD’s annual conference in September, with the option of attending virtually in October for those who Read More

What’s Next for Health Care Marketing Post-COVID?

Dalal Haldeman, PhD, chief executive officer, Haldeman Marketing, LLC

COVID forced organizations to adapt quickly. Communicators’ skills were essential in navigating the crisis, and marketing led the way, meeting the extraordinary demand for information. Over the past year-plus, health system marketing departments radically shifted their priorities. The question is: Which COVID-era changes actually moved the industry forward and should remain? Which strategic initiatives have Read More

Reshaping Marketing After COVID: What’s the New Normal?

Catherine Harrell, chief marketing officer, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System

// By Marlene Kurban // Top health system marketing executives weigh in on how COVID forced organizations to adapt quickly. Communicators’ skills were essential in navigating the crisis, and marketing led the way, meeting the extraordinary demand for information. Were greater flexibility and agility unexpected byproducts of a challenging year? Will they propel health care Read More

Adapting Event-Related Fundraising When the Event Is Cancelled

Boston Children's logo

Like every other health care operation, fundraising has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Foundations, trusts, and development departments have had to squeeze all the creative juices they could muster to tackle an unpredictable, unprecedented situation. Boston Children’s Hospital sets the bar high. Named the country’s #1 Pediatric Hospital by U.S. News & World Report for Read More

How UNC Health Got a Jump-Start on Preparing for Vaccine Rollout

“On December 14, 2020, the first COVID-19 vaccination outside the clinical trials was administered in the U.S. But UNC Health began preparing for the vaccine rollout months earlier,” writes Susan Dubuque, principal and co-founder of NDP. Here’s an excerpt from Susan’s new article. “Our consumer insights team conducts monthly Brand Trackers, and in the summer Read More

Fundraising Success at Boston Children’s Amid a Pandemic

Michael Bornhorst, associate vice president, corporate development, leadership giving and special events at Boston Children’s Hospital Trust

// By Marcia Simon, APR // When you have hundreds of runners raising money for you, and the Boston Marathon — usually held on the third Monday in April — gets canceled, how do you bounce back? Boston Children’s Hospital Trust, the pediatric hospital’s fundraising arm, found lots of ways to keep the donations flowing Read More

A “Super Bowl Moment” for Health Care: How UNC Health Promotes Vaccination

Victor Reiss, UNC Health’s vice president of consumerism and insights, marketing and communications

// By Susan Dubuque // In Part 2 of this series (Part 1 is here), Victor Reiss, vice president of consumerism and insights, marketing and communications for UNC Health, shares the health system’s research-based, comprehensive plan to address vaccine hesitancy. “For most health care marketing professionals, dealing with COVID-19 is the largest undertaking of a Read More

New Campaign Features Health Care Workers Encouraging Mask Use

The coronavirus continues its rampage throughout the country, sickening people, taking lives, devastating the economy, and overwhelming our health systems. Even if we are not sick, COVID-19 wears down our will to keep fighting until vaccines are widely available. That includes abiding by public health guidance: avoiding large group gatherings, social distancing, handwashing, and wearing Read More

How To Convince Patients It’s Safe — and Smart — To Return

Lewis Clark, vice president of marketing/media/public relations, Deborah Heart and Lung Center

At the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in southern New Jersey, the task of letting patients know it was safe and even wise to return evolved into a multimedia effort. The campaign has been paying off with a substantial increase in patient visits. In Peter Hochstein’s new story, he explains how they’re doing it. Here’s Read More

Wearing Is Caring: Inspiring a National Movement to #MaskUp

#MaskUp

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // If marketing is about influencing people to change behaviors, then a new public service campaign launched just before the Thanksgiving holiday — #MaskUp — is marketing at its best. The coronavirus continues its rampage throughout the country as of this writing in early December, sickening people, taking lives, devastating Read More

Mount Sinai Goes Back To Basics With New Definition of MarCom

David Feinberg, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer of Mount Sinai Health System

As the marketing communications function has grown in health care over the years, many hospital systems find their MarCom organizations continually growing in responsibility and staff size, with no master plan for how everyone will work together. David Feinberg, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer of Mount Sinai Health System, and Karen Read More

Mount Sinai Creates High-Functioning MarCom Organization by Simplifying Structure

Sheryl Jackson

// By Sheryl S. Jackson // As the marketing communications function has grown in health care over the years, many hospital systems find their MarCom organizations continually growing in responsibility and staff size, with no master plan for how everyone will work together. David Feinberg, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer of Read More

While the National Mood Is Grim, Internet Campaign at Johns Hopkins Medicine Goes Just a Tad Upbeat, Building Staff Morale While Standing Out from the Crowd

Peter Hochstein

// By Peter Hochstein // Hey, there’s a pandemic going on! Hospital workers are supposed to look harassed, grave, and ready to collapse from exhaustion, right? That’s not quite the way the communicators and staff at Johns Hopkins Medicine saw it. Result? Internet views by the — no, not by the thousands, by multiples of Read More

Optimize Your Website and the World May Beat a Path to Your Door — Plus Other PR Wisdom from a Not-So-Little Hospital System on the Prairie

Peter Hochstein

// 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

Los Angeles Archrivals Team Up for the Greater Good

Rhoda Weiss, Ph.D., president of Rhoda Weiss Consulting Group, and co-chair, Becker’s Healthcare 11th Annual Meeting Virtual Experience

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 that people were not accessing health Read More