Nov. 11, 2008 at 12:12pm

When you have to announce layoffs

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Internal Communications
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Grim... That’s the mood of some of our hospital clients who are cutting back and making due as the financial crisis persists. Especially the ones tasked with announcing program cuts, workforce reductions and laying off their own staff. Still, they are taking heart in knowing that good communication can help keep a bad situation from getting worse.

Oct. 29, 2008 at 12:03pm

Making the best of the worst:

Communicating in times of crisis

Posted by Shari Campbell in Community Relations, Declassified, Media Relations
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“The government surveyor approved our process.” “We don’t want to sound apologetic.” “He shouldn’t have been doing that!”

When faced with a tragedy or difficult issue, it’s not uncommon for finger pointing to spread through an organization like wildfire.

Oct. 21, 2008 at 9:13am

Got a minute, doc?

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Advertising, Practice Management
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A passenger who sees a dirty tray table, an airline CEO once remarked, is likely to question if the engines are maintained properly. That’s because consumers use cues to judge quality. I was reminded of this lesson just now as I reviewed the results of interviews, focus groups and surveys conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 14 communities around the country.

Oct. 7, 2008 at 1:26pm

Coming soon: A blue ocean in Michigan

Posted by Shari Campbell in Branding
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It’s been a few weeks since I hopped a plane from San Francisco, site of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development’s (SHSMD) annual conference. With dozens of topics and tracks to select from, I always find this annual event to be helpful and thought-provoking.

Last month’s conference was no exception.

Sep. 22, 2008 at 8:46am

Are we overlooking families?

Posted by Guest Blogger in Care Line Marketing, Practice Management
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Until recently, I didn’t know that what I’ve been doing had a name: patient advocate. In the last few years, I have spent lots of time accompanying my family to hospitals, doctors’ offices and testing facilities. The providers are patient-focused, as they should be.

But are hospitals and clinics overlooking the importance of family and friends who accompany the patients? We are emotionally engaged with the patient. We watch intently as care is administered. We listen as employees talk to each other and our loved ones. We get lost in the hallways and sometimes don’t understand a test, procedure or treatment process.

Sep. 16, 2008 at 9:17am

Differentiation as a math problem

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Planning and Strategy, Practice Management
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Trying to differentiate your physician practice? Chances are someone else is doing the same thing you are. But do more different things, and it’s much harder to copy you. I was reminded of this lesson from Richard Horwath last week when I visited my gynecologist.

Add an activity, improve your odds

Rich, a strategy professor and consultant, teaches that if you try to differentiate on just one activity, there is a 90 percent probability that a competitor will match it.

Sep. 5, 2008 at 8:50am

Make your claim matter

Posted by Shari Campbell in Advertising, Care Line Marketing, Planning and Strategy
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So what?

That was my initial response to a health care ad I glanced at this morning that claimed, “ … we have some of the fastest ER times in the state.”

Aug. 25, 2008 at 12:54pm

Newsletters that reward as we read

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Internal Communications, Planning and Strategy, Publications
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“People will read if the reward is large enough,” according to Ann Wylie, insightful writer and consultant. Defining the reward has been at the heart of our recent work as a member of a team planning a health care client’s new employee newsletter.

Here are some of our early ideas to make this publication a must-read:

Aug. 21, 2008 at 3:35pm

Three principles for crisis communications

Posted by Shari Campbell in Internal Communications, Media Relations, Planning and Strategy
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Intel. Odwalla. Jack in the Box. Alaska Air Lines.

These are just a few of the companies that came to mind earlier this week when I discussed with a client the impact of a potential crisis.

Of course, no crisis is the best scenario. And as hospital public relations and marketing professionals, there’s much we can do to prepare our organizations to handle a crisis before it ever happens.

Aug. 8, 2008 at 11:06am

Safety, experience lure boomers

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Advertising, Care Line Marketing, Planning and Strategy
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Consumers become more risk averse as they age, observes Peter Francese in Ad Age July 7, 2008. Francese is founder of American Demographics magazine and demographic trend analyst at Ogilvy Mather. So, we should appeal to aging boomers with messages of safety, experience and service guarantees.

And we should do it carefully, especially among the boomers I know – and you probably do, too – who seem to get more pig-headed with age. “Resolutely opinionated consumers don’t want to admit their minds are closed, and they resent it when anyone suggests they are not willing to consider a new idea,” Francese writes.

Plenty more in the Archives