health tips

Not since the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 has the world seen such a public health crisis as COVID-19. Now at the brink of systemic healthcare system failure for a variety of reasons, now more than ever, hospital and health system marketing and public relations departments to step up even more then they have been. Up until recently, it's been a game of catch-up in healthcare marketing and PR as COVID-19 impacts communities across the world.   Hospitals and health systems adapt to making decisions and moving forward on the fly, marketing and PR need to as well. That doesn’t mean running ahead but making sure that marketing and PR efforts and the channels employed are lockstep with the reality of the pandemic surge. It’s a learning curve for sure, and everyone is doing the best they can. What you do today in marketing and public relations will set up the hospital and health system for the future. The Coronavirus crisis will come to an end. Amid the seemingly unending tragedy and desp...

I get your all busy, and I am not making light of the current situation. Nor am I being opportunists about the crisis. My posts over the past several weeks are related to the need for hospitals and health systems to be open and transparent with the communities they serve. To be a resource and influencer changing people’s behavior, attitudes, and beliefs regarding COVID-19. To be a trusted source of information, dispelling myths, rumors, and innuendo. To show leadership in the community and being a trusted influencer. I opine on strategy for marketing, public relations, and crisis communications based on years of expertise and experience. My only goal is to shine a new way of thinking about marketing, communications, and strategy for the world of healthcare consumerism. It does bother me when I am attacked angrily and vehemently for expressing an opinion and accused in caps of all things that are blatantly not true. The lesson for us all is that in social media, I control the comments, ...

It was gratifying to see in scanning the websites of hospitals and health systems that they have started communicating relevant information and guidance on COVID-19. Much needed and more than the first communications notice about limiting visiting hours and visitors, you're preparing your community. But you need to take additional action. It's not enough to have news and information on the hospital or health system website. One. More. Step . That is one more communication step with your patients and your communities. Today's discussion is not a marketing ploy to fill the physician pipeline with patients or fill inpatient beds.   This communication is all about you in clear, concise language and terms the steps you are taking in your COVID-19 preparations. It is not long, flowery, and making grand promises of always being here, and we care about your safety. Let me explain. I have already received email communications from hotels, rental car agencies, airlines, restaurants, ...

One aspect that needs to be considered by hospitals, especially those that are still independent with smaller marketing and PR staff as well as budget, is how you will handle any crisis communications when the Coronavirus hits your community.  With all the Coronavirus misinformation floating around, which is not helped by Trump gaslighting the World Health Organization and contradicting the CDC and other health experts, the community hospital is in a precarious PR position.   Should the Coronavirus reach the status of a pandemic, there will not be enough PR consulting resources for you to buy to assist you. It's not a question of if, but when it hits your community. From my years in senior management in hospitals and health systems, community hospital leadership, even though they may think they know what to do, have no experience for what is about to hit.   My apologies if you may be offended by my statement, but the bottom line is just because you run a hospital, and may...

Hospitals and health systems have a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference in the community. A difference that is not driven by purely dollars and cents, but one that is mission-driven and supports, or shall we say, justifies the hospital/health systems existence as a tax-exempt entity. You see, there is a lot of stupid going on with Trump who is gaslighting, muddling, contradicting expert health advice and politicizing a very serious health crisis, aided and abetted by other elected officials, right and left-wing focused media, and celebrities, naming a few. The general public has gotten in on the stupid act too, with a recent survey that indicated 38 percent of Americans wouldn’t buy or drink Corona Beer because of the Coronavirus. And where are the hospitals and health systems in all of this? Oh, we see the major academic medical centers trotting out the physicians for the media, walking, and talking about the situation. Wise words for potential prevention in a 30 or ma...