by Julie Donnelly | Oct 25, 2017 | Blog
There is a persistent stereotype of public relations professionals as “spin doctors.” We’re hired guns aiming to put lipstick on a pig, pull the wool over someone’s eyes, or <insert any other cliched maxim here>. The last thing we would do is tell clients to lead with empathy, telling honest stories from the heart.
In truth, PR folks want to help companies clarify, amplify and distribute their message and their mission. Often, innovators are too close their own products to effectively tell their own stories. To speak for them, PR people must first understand what drives the company from its origin story to the everyday passions of the company’s employees.
Listening is the most important skill in PR. Empathy is the most important mindset. And nowhere is this as vital as within the healthcare industry.
Hundreds of thousands of people work across the American healthcare system with a single, shared goal: to help people. It is easy to lose sight of this. Insurers, hospitals, life sciences companies, health tech startups and other healthcare vendors struggle to respond to a buffet of financial and regulatory challenges that are amplified by the current transformation to value-based care.
One Boston hospital CEO described it best when she said that the biggest struggle for most healthcare organizations is “having one foot in the boat and one foot on the dock.” Many providers have made significant strides towards goals such as shifting to pay-for-performance contracts, launching population health programs, or modernizing their payment systems to reflect consumer-driven health plans. But extending clinical and patient experience best practices to every last patient remains an elusive goal for most.
It is fair to say that our healthcare company clients all have one thing in common they are all working to help healthcare providers (or insurers or employers) to get “both feet into the boat” when it comes to value-based care. Understanding the importance of this mission, and its inherent challenges, is our first job as healthcare PR professionals.
Our second job is to help clients to lead with empathy, by guiding them back, again and again, to their core value helping customers tackle the goals of the Triple Aim. Here are three ways healthcare companies can cut to the core of what matters, tell their company story effectively, and gain customer loyalty:
Everyone is a patient
Some of the most effective and memorable client communications I have seen draw on the healthcare experiences of CEOs, other C-suite executives, researchers, other employees, or their families. We all have stories of instances when the healthcare system has not delivered on its promise, and these experiences often drive the development of new solutions among healthcare companies. Meeting “unmet medical needs” begins with sharing what these needs are and why they are important with a variety of audiences. This is often best done through personal stories.
See the caregiver
The decisions made by healthcare providers on a daily basis have life-changing consequences. Many of our clients aim to make those decisions easier, by offering evidence-based content support, by getting rid of background noise that can cloud judgment, or by simply shaving time off each clinician’s administrative burden. If healthcare companies can drill down further to describe how products may positively impact specific patient interactions, particular care transitions or certain data reporting processes, this is likely to spur more “aha” moments among reporters, potential customers and investors.
We’re all in this together
It’s easier to make the empathy connection when a healthcare vendor’s primary audience is patients or clinicians. But what about companies who are targeting CIOs, physician practice managers, front office staff, payers and employers? How, for instance, do revenue cycle management tools make patients lives better?
Connect the dots here by developing case studies, blogs and other content that drives home the value of these tools to the healthcare ecosystem, and to particular individuals. Circling back to the core mission driving the company is especially important when the success stories may not *typically* be front page news. This is key to driving continued interest among the press and potential customers, but also to fanning the passions of your workforce. Everyone within any healthcare enterprise wants to feel that they are doing good in the world. Investing in uncovering success stories will have long-term benefits both internally and externally.
The first step
To build a PR program that leads with empathy, you need to uncover the stories that help your target audience connect not only with your products, but with your company culture and your commitment to making a difference. Look for that human element and you will find your programs are far more effective.
by Administrator | Oct 17, 2017 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 17, 2017 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and healthcare IT public relations and marketing agency, announced today that GlobalMed, an international provider of telehealth solutions, has selected Amendola to be its communications partner.
GlobalMed is the world leader in telemedicine, enabling more than 3 million telehealth consults each year in more than 55 countries. Many of the world’s leading medical groups, healthcare enterprises and government agencies partner with GlobalMed to deliver best-in-class patient care using the company’s unparalleled expertise in creating sustainable, integrated and connected telehealth programs.
“We are delighted to have Amendola and their experienced team to assist us in communicating the value that GlobalMed brings to their clients and partners,” said Patrick LaVoie, Chief Operating Officer of GlobalMed. “We selected them after a careful review and are confident that their deep healthcare expertise and content marketing experience will provide invaluable guidance and insights.”
Amendola will provide public relations, social media and content marketing services to advance the GlobalMed brand among key stakeholders in the U.S. healthcare industry and other commercial markets.
“GlobalMed is well-known as the telehealth provider to the White House, the Veterans Administration and many other government agencies across the world, but less well-known outside of the public sector despite their size, experience, and unique value proposition,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “We are excited to introduce GlobalMed to media and key stakeholders in the commercial healthcare industry. Our proven track record in promoting healthcare technology companies will help to elevate the GlobalMed brand among journalists, industry analysts, prospective clients, and the healthcare community at large.”
About GlobalMed
GlobalMed‘s evidence-based telehealth solutions power the largest telehealth programs in the world, facilitating 3.5 million consults each year, enhancing diagnostics and improving patient outcomes in 55 countries. GlobalMed is the only vertically integrated provider of products and technology that deliver HIPAA-compliant video collaboration among healthcare professionals and patients, regardless of location. GlobalMed partners with leading medical groups, healthcare enterprises and government, and is the telehealth provider for the White House.
Founded in 2002 by a Marine Corps Reserve Veteran still serving as CEO, GlobalMed is proud to be a Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB).
Media Contact Marcia Rhodes | mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com | 602-793-1561
by Lisa Chernikoff | Oct 4, 2017 | Blog
As you work on your content strategy, think about this: According to a recent study, the average person now loses concentration after only eight seconds. I would ask you to pause and think about that but then I’ll risk of losing the remaining seconds of your attention entirely if I haven’t already. As a “fun fact,” researchers noted that even goldfish which are “notoriously ill-focused” have an average attention span of nine seconds.
So, whether that fact is fun or concerning is still be determined, but it really isn’t that shocking. This study simply quantifies the impact of a highly digitized lifestyle on the human brain. After all, we live in a world where our phones are constantly buzzing with emails, texts, news alerts, and social media notifications. We live in a world where”
Sorry, I got distracted for a moment. Did you know that Kim and Kanye are expecting their third child via surrogate? My phone just vibrated with that “breaking” news, as well as four work emails, three personal emails, and two trivial text messages. And even if celebrity gossip isn’t your guilty pleasure, you’re likely experiencing a similar scenario every hour of every day.
But to be clear, the aha moment from this study is not that goldfish are smarter than us. It’s an aha moment for us as marketing and public relations professionals. The study has profound implications for those of us who communicate for a living. To be successful, we must adapt our strategies and tactics to the reality of eight second attention spans.
Why evolving content doesn’t mean dumbing it down
In today’s world of digital and information overload, crafting content that is relevant and meaningful for your target audience is mission-critical. Remember that having shorter attention spans doesn’t mean that your customers are not decision-makers. It doesn’t mean that they’re less intelligent. It doesn’t mean that they don’t have the same pain points. It just means that they need to absorb information differently. It just means that despite downloading your white paper, they’re probably not getting past page one. There’s no shame. It’s the new normal.
That’s why evolving your content marketing is not about dumbing down the information. It’s not about simplifying or going back to basics. It’s about making your content snackable. In fact, your new bite-sized content can still convey the same concepts and ideas as the longer pieces but that content must be more concise and free of fluff.
Even more importantly, it must provide just a taste to satisfy their brief hunger and keep their interest. It must leave the audience wanting more of your content snacks. That’s what marketing is all about.
How to create tasty content snacks a recipe for success
Snackable content for the eight second attention span is just a new way of creating, organizing, and promoting content. To create tasty content snacks, you don’t need to start from scratch. You don’t need all new ingredients. Your content kitchen is likely full of big, heavy content meals which can be remixed and reused to fit the new snackable content mold. The good news is that one content meal equals several content snacks.
Now, let’s enter the content kitchen and see how to turn those content meals into content snacks. Here are three examples:
- Transform your white paper into an infographic and a cheat sheet with must-do’s.
- Transform your case study into a checklist of best practices, or a series of checklists that span everything from implementation to training and optimization.
- Transform your 30-minute webinar into a sequence of 30 second videos that highlight that key learning objectives.
And rather than being sad about the lost of art of white paper reading, keep in mind that multiple content snacks derived from the same content meal not only convey the same messages but also can easily become a lead nurturing campaign or useful follow-up references for your sales team to share with prospects.
I think it’s time to stop mourning the white paper. Instead, it’s time to cook up some bite-sized content. After all, it’s just waiting to be eaten.
by admin | Oct 3, 2017 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., October 3, 2017 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and healthcare IT public relations and marketing agency, announced today its selection as the agency of record for Boston-based caresyntax, Inc., which helps hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers identify and manage risk, automate workflows, enhance knowledge sharing and reduce surgical variability. Amendola shares caresyntax’s passion for improving the healthcare ecosystem to deliver quality improvements and favorable patient outcomes.
Caresyntax targets the more than 80 percent of clinical and operational data in surgery that exists outside of EHRs, produced by medical devices, people, sensors and checklists. By combining these procedural workflow data with clinical outcomes, healthcare providers can unlock crucial insights toward improving performance.
“Caresyntax is serious about significantly moving the needle to improve outcomes in the operating room, while also eliminating wasted capacity,” said caresyntax CEO Dennis Kogan. “We needed an agency that understands clinician pain points during this era of transition to value-based care. Amendola showed its readiness on Day One to help us refine our core messages, and get them out to potential customers and the wider provider community.”
Amendola will work with caresyntax to increase brand awareness and thought leadership by driving excitement for the value of its platform among surgeons, nurses, quality managers, and health organization leaders. Amendola with draw on its deep network of industry leaders and significant media relationships in healthcare IT. Amendola also will be responsible for delivering a range of content, demonstrating the thought leadership and expertise of caresyntax’s subject matter experts.
“Downtime in the operating room and clinical variability are key cost drivers for surgery departments, and caresyntax is at the forefront of tackling these issues by improving efficiency and clinician workflows,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “We look forward to elevating the caresyntax brand across the hospital and health system ecosystem, using our deep expertise in the healthcare IT space. Our proven track record will help accelerate progress towards caresyntax’s PR goals.”
About caresyntax
Caresyntax, a surgical analytics and integration services company with North American headquarters in Boston, helps hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers identify and manage risk, automate workflows, enhance knowledge sharing, and reduce surgical variability.
Converging IoT technology and surgical analytics, the caresyntax platform is used in nearly 6,000 operating rooms worldwide, transforming unstructured clinical and operational data into actionable, real-time insights. Clinical teams, as a result, enhance performance, control surgical variation and improve patient outcomes.
Partnering with GE, Medtronic and Siemens in the U.S., caresyntax is a sister company of Berlin-based S-CAPE GmbH, a global operating room integration specialist with 25 years of successful installations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit www.caresyntax.com.
Media Contact: Jodi Amendola | jamendola@acmarketingpr.com | 602-614-3182
by Philip Anast | Sep 27, 2017 | Blog
As we strive to be better communicators and storytellers, it often helps to get out of our comfort zones and read inspirational literature that can teach us new things. We often find those types of books in classical literature, or from the latest fiction and non-fiction books. Sometimes, “How-to” guides also help.
That happened to me recently when I picked up the book, “A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if You Flunked Algebra).” You may be asking yourself, “Why would a PR guy be reading a book about math and science?” Isn’t the reason you pursued journalism and then PR in the first place is that you stunk in those other areas?
Well, as it turns out, author Barbara Oakley, Ph.D., did, too. But through a gradual retraining of her brain, she earned a Ph.D. in systems engineering after completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, respectively. She now teaches engineering at Oakland University in Detroit, and is a leading educator in the area of STEM education.
While her book is primarily geared toward helping high school and college students successfully navigate the aforementioned disciplines, it’s ultimately a guide to improving skills and techniques for learning how to learn. And that can be useful for people in any profession, including PR.
Two modes of thinking
For instance, Oakley describes the two modes of thinking: the focused and diffuse.
The focused mode is like the flashlight setting that casts a bright light in a narrow area. It’s a direct approach to solving problems that requires rational, analytic and sequential ways of thinking. When we’re working intently on a project, like writing a white paper or drafting a PR plan/strategy, we use the focused mode of thinking.
But the diffuse mode also plays an important role in those projects. It taps other parts of the brain and is akin to turning your flashlight setting to casting a wider yet less powerful light. As its name suggests, the diffuse mode is wider and big picture. It’s a resting state in our brains. It works quietly in the background and allows us to form new insights. It kicks in when our minds wander, or when we take a break from a focused task to walk, jog, listen to music, sleep or play video games.
Oakley’s point, backed by the hundreds of research studies that inform her book, is that we must maximize both types of thinking to learn and tackle problems.
If we’re working on a specific assignment, it’s important to step away from that work at intervals to allow the diffuse mode to enter the picture. By pursuing a leisure activity or working on some other job assignment, we allow our diffuse mode of thinking to continue working on the first task at hand and lend new insights. The diffuse mode opens up possibilities that we may not have considered in the focused mode and prevents us from believing that only one approach to a project is the single way of accomplishing it.
Taking a better approach
Here are some other practical tips that I gleaned from the book that we can translate to our own profession and help us do our jobs better:
- Avoid procrastination because it prevents the diffuse mode from helping a project or media campaign. While the luxury of time is not always possible in our profession, especially in crisis communication situations, building a timetable of assignments and deadlines, with thoughtful consideration, can help improve the overall response and results.
- Don’t cram to memorize a speech or the big PR plan presentation in one day. Rehearse and study over a series of days and/or weeks. Research shows that we retain the material better, avoid reading the screen verbatim, and make more genuine presentations.
- Avoid reading literature or meeting notes over and over again to learn the material. Instead, use a technique called “pause and recall,” i.e., turn away from the literature and notes after each page or several pages, and describe the concept in one’s own words; that’s the way we build chunks that form strong neural connections in long-term memory.
- Take a 21-minute nap to refresh the brain (but don’t tell the boss). The brain’s neural networks need to be reset from time-to-time, which freshens our outlooks toward problem-solving
- “Lady Luck favors those who try.” Sometimes, we feel downtrodden if a media pitch fails to elicit that desired interview, for example. Perhaps it’s time to let the diffuse mode help; alternatively, we could pick up the phone, be persistent (within reason), and converse with that target reporter directly. In my experience, with professionalism and respect for the journalist on the other end, the odds are good.
As in any learning endeavor, Dr. Oakley’s observation rings true: “The better I got (at math), the more I enjoyed what I was doing. And the more I enjoyed what I was doing, the more time I spent on it.”
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