Public Relations and healthcare

 

Public Relations in Health Care

In the USA, healthcare is becoming increasingly important, especially with the aging of the baby boomers.  Public relations is an integral part of public health systems (Wise). Public relations professionals in health care includes responsibilities such as to monitor community health issues and hazards, raising awareness and promoting prevention for these issues to each area and demographic of the community, reinforce safety regulations and standards for protocol and staff (Valjak, A., & Draskovic, 2011).Along with potential patients, medical and administrative staff, as well as stakeholders make up the typical clients of a professional in healthcare public relations.

Public relations practitioners in a healthcare setting can be effective through distributing accurate and timely information for today’s 24-hour news cycle. When things go well, public relations efforts are viewed as positive, but when things do not go over so well, the “return on investment” is criticized (Valjak, A., & Draskovic, 2011).

Paula Deen announced in January 2012 that she has been diagnosed with Type Two Diabetes.

 

An increased focus on prevention and awareness will be beneficial for the healthcare field (Holmes, 2013). With the directions that recent healthcare bills are going, this will be the most cost efficient for patients and hospitals alike. Since health issues in the USA stem from Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and obesity, these health issues can be prevented in with proper education for healthy choices to be made instead.

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities should be showing more of a humanized aspect of their organization (Holmes 3013). With the sometimes sterile environment, it can be hard to get a feel of what the personality of the organization is.  Aflac Cancer Center – “What Makes you Beautiful”. 

Through public relations, the organization can convey their personality and how their organization is apart and preferred to others. Constant monitoring of social media is required for effective use of humanizing the organization.

Social Media will also play a part in promoting, as well as humanizing the organization. Posting creative ways of getting key messages about the organization should be considered in the everyday function of the public relations team (Mueller, 2013). Blogging will also help disseminating key messages to the target audience.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) is a local organization that was, according to their website, recently, “ranked No. 12 among the country’s top pediatric hospitals in a list released by Parents magazine,” (Choa.org children’s 2013). “Children’s Sibley Heart Center ranked No.5 among pediatric cardiac programs, and the Aflac Cancer Center ranked No. 10 among pediatric cancer programs nationwide,” (Choa.org  children’s 2013).New innovations from research such as the tumor identification method during surgery also help keep the hospital competitive in their field (Choa.org 2013 New).

This top ranking organization has learned how to efficiently make their key messages arrive to the ears of their target audience. CHOA’s activities in the community as well as their blog posts have humanized their organization to let parents prefer to choose Children’s for their pediatric needs.

Do you agree that Childrens is doing a good job with their public relations? How could they or another hospital improve thier efforts?

References

Choa.org (2013, January 27). Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta Listed Among Top Pediatric Hospitals Nationwide. Retrieved from http://www.choa.org/About-Childrens/Newsroom/News-and-Announcements/Parents-Magazine-Hospital-Ranking

Choa.org (2013, January 27). New Nanotechnology Research Study Turns Brain Tumors Blue. Retrieved from http://www.choa.org/About-Childrens/Newsroom/News-and-Announcements/Turning-Tumors-Blue-2013

Holmes, P. (2013, January 27). 2013 pr trend forecast: Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.holmesreport.com/featurestories-info/12926/2013-PR-Trend-Forecast-Healthcare.aspx

Mueller, A. (2013, January 27). Cancer center creatively counts down to grand opening. Retrived from http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/PublicRelations/Articles/10554.aspx#

Valjak, A., & Draskovic, n. (2011). A Literature Review of Public Relations in Public Healthcare. International Journal of Management Cases, 13(3), 251-260.

Wise, K. (2010). Public relations and the visioning process in healthcare: Perspectives of US practitioners. Journal Of Communication In Healthcare, 3(3/4), 258-265. doi:10.1179/175380710X12870623776630

Online Reputation

Background and Introduction

Those who participate in social media can express themselves with a level of remaining anonymous, sometimes without immediate consequences for their online actions. This mindset that many  social media users have that the real world will not be affected by the content posted to their profiles or pages needs to be re-evaluated.   The users who do realize the importance of their online actions do sometimes try to work on their personal branding. They often find this self-promotion an obstacle to overcome for their success in today’s technologically 

 

The Healthcare Executive Magazine even cites in their first publication of 2012 that personal branding  and a positive web presence as a necessity for those in the workforce. For those who are involved in public relations, it is imperative to promote themselves as a first example to potential employers of the branding they are capable of for the brand they may later represent.

The Buffalo Law Journal states that even if the potential employee is not as familiar with the online tools to personal branding, to get to know and how to properly use these websites to their advantage.  Even for something as simple as networking and getting in touch with others who might pass the potential employee information along is a factor in the online presence that needs to be built.

Relevance to PR

For public relations professionals, it is important to network and get to know other professionals in the current city in public relations and other fields, because a good relationship with a media contact or other business to partner up with can be beneficial to whichever brand is currently being represented.

Also online reputation is important to not only networking connections but for those looking for a new employee that wants to see what PR professionals do for branding themselves.

In the book Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier the authors describe reputations as this

Your online reputation determines who is willing to hire you, buy from you, or sell to you.  And you probably know less about your online reputation than you should. Your Reputation Shapes Your Real-World Interactions. Reputation is reality.

Many PR professionals say the perception is truth, and this take on reputation is reality is a great way of relating that saying to our technologically based world.

Significance

Reputation.com states, “Approximately  80 percent of recruiting professionals incorporate online reputation research into their hiring process, and 70 percent have rejected a candidate due to something they found online”. Managing online reputations are crucial to today’s professional environment.  Reputation.com also breaks down what to do to get started on a positive, personal reputation online. Online Reputation Prezi

These steps include finding personal information online using Google and social media sites, removing any negative presence due to misspellings or questionable content, and to avoid any misleading information by posting on a current blog.

step by step tips for getting started on managing online reputation.

Sources:

Colmerauer, C. (2012, February 20). LEGAL TECHNOLOGY/SOCIAL MEDIA Personal branding key for job seekers. Buffalo Law Journal. p. 1.

Fertik, M., & Thompson, D. (2010). Wild West 2.0 : How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier. American Management Association.

Lauren I., L., Ereni, M., & George R., M. (n.d). Online Personal Branding: Processes, Challenges, and Implications. Journal Of Interactive Marketing, 2537-50. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2010.09.002

Morton, R. L. (2012). Bringing Your Personal Brand to Life. Healthcare Executive, 27(1), 70-73.

reputation.com. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.reputation.com/reputationwatch/articles/how-your-online-social-network-could-cost-you-new-job

Pinterest Board

Pinterest Board

Monitoring Report

JDRF: Improving Lives. Curing Type 1 Diabetes.

I monitored twitter from October 7-14th for mentions of “walk(s)”
24/37 tweets included posts about walks for JDRF
All mentions of JDRF or walks were positive.

I think JDRF Has been effective in getting their publics involved in spreading the word about their main events which are walk/runs for the cure.

The reviews from twitter are positive and they build a positive light for the company. I would suggest being more interactive with their twitter followers, asking more questions, and getting them more involved on a daily basis with Juvenile diabetes awareness, and fundraising opportunities.

I would suggest that even though the outlook from twitter is positive for the JDRF brand, that the organization needs to generate more awareness through having more twitter posts and having them be more interactive. also some pictures from different fundraisers could be included so participants can re tweet it on their twitter as well.

Improving Lives. Curing Type 1 Diabetes. I monitored twitter from October 7-14th for mentions of “walk(s)”
24/37 tweets included posts about walks for JDRF
All mentions of JDRF or walks were positive.

I think JDRF Has been effective in getting their publics involved in spreading the word about their main events which are walk/runs for the cure.

The reviews from twitter are positive and they build a positive light for the company. I would suggest being more interactive with their twitter followers, asking more questions, and getting them more involved on a daily basis with Juvenile diabetes awareness, and fundraising opportunities.

I would suggest that even though the outlook from twitter is positive for the JDRF brand, that the organization needs to generate more awareness through having more twitter posts and having them be more interactive. also some pictures from different fundraisers could be included so participants can re tweet it on their twitter as well.