My latest post on Ragan’s Health Care Communications News:
Kaiser Permanente asks: How are you educating patients about your quality reports? Consumers aren’t paying attention to your quality reports or awards. How can health care communicators change that?
Posted in Uncategorized
Originally posted July 20, 2011 on the Ragan’s Health Care Communications News
Kaiser Permanente asks: How do you ‘let patients help’? Inspired by the e-patient movement, this health care organization is determined to share patient voices.
Posted in Uncategorized
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the rising importance of digital media in the last few weeks.
What used to be something I took an interest in during my spare time is now a central part of my job, day-in and day-out. In truth, new media is not particularly “new,” but it has evolved quickly in recent years. Fortunately, I’m comfortable with technology and have been able to learn new technologies and be an early adopter, as appropriate, for my clients/employers.
I’m very proud to say that I took my first (and only) HTML class in 1994, developed my first client website in 1998 and started this blog in 2004. I even met my son’s father on a listserv in 1997 — long before online dating was trendy! Digital and social technologies became a part of both my personal and work life when the domain was reserved for self-proclaimed geeks. Today, digital technologies are more than mainstream, they are a way of life. There are endless platforms available for promoting brands and engaging audience. As a result, virtually everyone in the PR, communications, marketing and advertising industry seems to be in catch-up mode, clamoring to prove their expertise in the space.
Earlier this month at the PR News Digital PR Summit, I had the good fortune of presenting on a panel about Creating a Digital Dream Team (scroll through PR News TV at PR News Online for an interview by me on the subject). During Q&A, I was asked what kind of expertise I look for when I am hiring someone for a digital media role. My answer was direct and, to my entertainment, widely Tweeted: “I’d be skeptical of people who bill themselves as ‘gurus’ or ‘experts’ in #SM. We’re all making it up as we go.”
Ultimately, expertise in the digital space is not about knowing the trendy new platforms nor even about successfully executing one or two campaigns. When I evaluate whether people can be successful in the digital space, I want to know they will begin with a clear strategy (what are we trying to accomplish?) and are willing to invest the time to develop meaningful relationships with the audiences they are trying to engage. I want to know that they will fully integrate digital and social strategies into their overall plans, not see digital or social platforms as separate programs. The ability to understand the value of integration is what matters most to me.
Diving deeper into the subject of integration, I recently published “Integrating Social Media into PR Plans: What You Need to Know” in the PRSA Strategist.
Posted in digital media, new media, public relations, social media, web 2.0
Tagged #hcsm, #sm, digital media, htpotter, PR, social media, strategic communications, strategy
After way too many weeks, I have finally posted the presentation I did with Christina VanDunk at the Kaiser Permanente-Ragan Health Care Communicators’ Summit to Slide Share.
So I seem to have finally Tweeted something controversial.
While that was not my intent, the following Tweet caught the attention of @iam_spartacus, who reached out to me both via this blog and Twitter. (Correction: My Tweet initially caught the attention of @CALpumper. She reached out via this blog and then posted on hers. @iam_spartacus alerted me to the discussion via Twitter.)
What I thought was a simple Tweet led to this blog post: http://randomlycapitalized.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/welcome-to-the-dmob-lifestyle/
Given the level of anger and frustration directed toward me on her blog, I shared the following response there.
Hi. I am the Tweeter with whom you are angry. And I thank you for reaching out.
I get the sense that my Tweet (or at least my intent) is being misunderstood. I think the heart of the anger around this Tweet was my use of the word “lifestyle.” The use of that word referred specifically to the type of magazine that Better Homes and Gardens had created — a “lifestyle magazine.”
I apologize for not making that more clear in my original post.
To further explain, I was in a grocery store and for the first time, I saw a copy of Diabetic Living magazine. Seeing that Better Homes and Gardens identified the escalation of a chronic condition as enough of a trend to create a glossy magazine, in the midst of a traditional media downturn, made me take notice.
Seeing that magazine made me mindful of the recent increase in marketing efforts specifically targeting consumers living with diabetes (late night commercials featuring cookbooks for diabetics are what first came to mind). Given that I am not living with diabetes, I can’t speak to my reaction as a consumer. However, as someone who does work in both health care and PR, it disturbed me to realize that there are enough people in the US now living with diabetes to constitute a “market segment.”
You write above that you are among the many in the nation who cannot afford a healthy lifestyle. In my opinion, it’s a sad commentary on the state of our nation that good health is considered a luxury. I wish I had an easy answer, but sadly, I am often as angry and frustrated as you.
(For the record, I do work for both a health plan and a care delivery system. However, all that I Tweet about and blog about are my own personal opinions.)
The more I think about this subject, I am curious to hear other people’s opinions. Is the rise in direct marketing to people living with diabetes a good or a bad thing? Perhaps the appearance of these types of mass market products are a positive opportunity to improve understanding of diabetes, and ideally a tool for helping those with diabetes live a more healthy lifestyle.
I just can’t seem to get beyond the concept that we (as a nation) have allowed the rate of diabetes to increase so drastically that the population living with diabetes is now viewed as a “market segment.”
Posted in health, public relations, social media
Last week I had the honor of speaking at WHIT 5.0 with Ted Eytan, MD, MPH, e-Patient Dave and Regina Holliday. Together we addressed the topic “Is a Personal Health Record enough in 2009?: Engaging staff, patients and communities through social media.”
In hosting the session, Ted did a great job soliciting audience comments and questions. He has posted the full collection of questions and comments in his blog post Voice of the Audeince: WHIT 5.0 “Beyond the PHR.”
Below, I will begin tackling some of the audience questions that I felt qualified to answer.
1. Social Media Policies (question #5): One member of the audience requested existing policies that balanced transparency and patient privacy. I am happy to share Kaiser Permanente’s policy. It is available at: http://tinyurl.com/kpsocialmediapolicy
2. International NGO’s (question #9): There was a question about whether Kaiser Permanente works with international NGO’s and the answer is YES! Check out kp.org/international for more information.
3. Patient-Friendly Presentation: A member of the audience asks “How could medical information be presented in a patient -friendly format to assure added value to patients?” While I admit I am biased, I think kp.org does a great job linking directly from actual clinical information (e.g., a lab test result) within the PHR to a health encyclopedia with easy-to-read information about what that information means to a non-clinical reader. To see what I mean, check out this demo of My Health Manager.
More answers to come . . . .
Posted in Uncategorized
Very disappointed to say that because I was in another state, I missed the opportunity to walk my son to school on International Walk to School Day.
Though it may seem as if walking to school is not a very big deal, for too many there is a lack of safe, accessible routes to school. That fact alone prevents too many children from taking part in what should be the easiest form of exercise.
I wrote about this in more detail on EngageHer. It’s worth checking out this video about Kaiser Permanente’s Photovoice project, too.
Good health begins in our neighborhoods. Though it may seem daunting, this video shows that making meaningful improvements is possible. It just takes involvement of others who care.
As Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
