Hospitals don’t have to be media-savvy. In the grand scheme of things, media relations probably falls pretty low on the list of a hospital’s priorities. That’s why it’s so pleasantly surprising when a hospital or health system absolutely aces it.
Becker’s Hospital Review editors and writers speak to hospital executives and work with their media relations teams every day. We’ve come to recognize a few organizations and leaders who really go above and beyond when it comes to telling a story, adding valuable insight to pressing conversations and helping us meet deadline. Here are seven signs of a media-friendly hospital executive and public affairs team.
1. The executive doesn’t shy away from hard issues. You hear a lot about transparency in healthcare these days, and hospital and health system executives have a great opportunity to demonstrate this in interviews. Some of the best interviews I’ve conducted have been with CEOs who delved into uncomfortable topics — sometimes unprompted! One CEO talked about his thought process before implementing a major layoff. Another talked about a patient committing suicide under his watch as CEO — a devastating “never event.”
When the CEOs brought up these events, they shared the lessons they learned as a result — anecdotes that are otherwise hard to come by. We hope our readers can learn something from others’ difficulties, and we appreciate when an executive lets down his or her guard and broaches tough subjects. Reporters will still ask about layoffs and never events, because that’s their job, but the length to which an executive discusses such topics is up to them. It’s rewarding when one opts to expand rather than become tight-lipped.
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2. The media relations team addresses queries and questions within a day, if not within the hour. I’ve never emailed a hospital’s media relations staff unless it was about something important, and I’m guessing the same is true for most reporters. So when a hospital’s PR team waits days to respond, or doesn’t at all, it sends major red flags about how they treat a media request.
When a reporter reaches out with a question or interview request, most will be happy to receive a prompt, validating response. “Stay tuned” or “I’m on it” are two of my personal favorites, and they take all but four seconds to type and send. That’s the start of a healthy reporter-PR relationship. No response at all? That’s poor professional etiquette and a journalist’s nightmare, especially when a factual question comes up with a deadline looming.
I’ve found one of the biggest names in healthcare — Cleveland Clinic — is also home to some of the most responsive public affairs professionals. It doesn’t always work this way: Sometimes the most prestigious and/or largest systems are the least responsive. Yes, Cleveland Clinic might have a larger PR team than other hospitals (resulting in less backlog of media inquiries), but staff members do a great job of coordinating requests between the system’s many departments and answering questions before day’s end or deadline, whichever comes first. I can tell such promptness is an instilled value in that media relations department, and I always look forward to working with that system as a result.
3. The hospital website details its media team. It’s tough for an outsider to gauge the hierarchy of the hospital’s PR department. Should I email my interview request to the director? Coordinator? Associate? Odds are I’ll end up sending to all three. Make it easy, and denote the person who is best to email for media requests. You don’t like receiving emails or calls that aren’t meant for you, and time-pressed reporters don’t enjoy missing the mark, either.
The most helpful websites include direct lines and emails for the media rep(s), along with a contact for urgent situations. Another helpful material is the media fact sheet, which lists the bed count, annual admissions and other pertinent information about the hospital reporters will likely want to include as they write up their stories.
4. The executive doesn’t shower the reporter in clichés. Experienced reporters know a great quote when they hear it, and they also cringe at phrases and words so overused they’ve practically lost their meaning. One example is, “Care in the right place, at the right time, in the right setting.” Another deplored word? Synergy. They once meant something, but today, neither add much value to the conversation.
Every industry has its own jargon and catchphrases, but reporters will avoid such tired language and instead look for energetic, frank and insightful commentary. A CEO at a top-tier health system once told me, on the record, that his system’s “99th percentile patient satisfaction sucks.” He wanted it higher, and he wasn’t mincing words. That quote made it to print. Years later, it’s still a much more memorable quote than something about the patient satisfaction percentile remaining, generally, mildly unsatisfactory — wouldn’t you say?
Date: September 12, 2013