The Right Rx for (Healthcare) Communications

Blogger: Robyn LaPorta, Central West Coast Chapter

Kristen Knapp, APR, CPRC opened the session detailing how she fell into her role with Public Affairs and Healthcare.

Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does… will be the best adventure.

Knapp then turned the focus to Baby Boomers

Florida has the highest Median Age in the U.S.

Social Trends: Baby Boomers have higher expectations regarding care including technology, self-care, social and having personal needs met.

Challenges:

Strain of Caring for Aging Parent:

• 50% projected increase in Alzheimer’s cases by 2025
• Medicaid does not pay the Full Cost = Shortfall

Technology = Information Access

• Consumers are more data driven, e.g. Five Star Quality Rating System
• Use of internet to research long-term care options is the primary method consumers look for healthcare and is on the rise.
• This requires healthcare facilities to be more transparent, and more robust with their marketing and communications efforts, especially digital marketing.

Changing Perceptions:

• Re-identifying the people that served
• change the perception by changing the “face” of the images used in ads and publicity using real residents; Knapp implemented a “Long-term Care Photo Contest”
• Stories are told better by the actual caregiver in the nursing centers and the assisted living communities

Affordable Care Act

Whether repeal, replace or other unknown outcome, issues include:

• Medicaid and Medicare
• Regulations and Litigation
• Social Media for Issues / Engagement- to help advocate for our issues.
  • Develop an understanding of what you can and cannot post on social media
  • Collaboration with Government Affairs; you need to interact with your government affairs team

Roy Reid, APR, CPRC started his portion of the program by discussing the consumer and the cost of healthcare.

Service Experience Research / Key Learnings:

• Culture and experience are one
• Define “exceptional” for every touchpoint
• Consistency wins

Trust is on the decline:

• Everything is trending down.
• The issue is not just what the community thinks about you; communicators should be sure that every message that goes out builds trust and what is the result and the impacts going to be to ensure the trust.
• 40 percent gap in what the public expects leaders to do.

To achieve your vision:

• Plan/campaign
• Generate ideas and collect feedback
• Partner with IT people
• Get Executives comfortable with video. Video is so important to convey information

We are the Guardians of reputation!

What happens when a consumer looks up a healthcare provider? YELP is the number one reviewer online for healthcare. Other locations for reviews: Facebook; Google; The Leapfrog Group; CMS-Five Star Quality Rating System.

OLD thinking versus NEW thinking:

• Indeed.com – Florida Hospital said that they were rated #6. Indeed is the largest for employment hiring online.
• We need to find more tools to engage our consumers/patients including employees
• Develop tools that work for the employee
• Collaborate and co-create
• Pilot New Solutions – fail but work through the innovation to ensure we establish these tools in healthcare.
• The triple AIM! Advocacy – how do we take advocacy outside of the walls? Think broader and where can we be engaged? (includes consumer, care giver, community, collaborative, and cost reduction)
• We must be about bringing integrity, building relationships, and have an intense focus including a discipline that we know will work. We need to continue to be a strategic voice and find where the business is moving- we need to create and think outside the box.

The session concluded with Reid stating,

There is no better time than to be in the business of communications.

Kristen Knapp, APR, CPRC

Roy Reid, APR, CPRC