APRE2010

Both Sides of the Provider Tax Debate

Mary Kay Grasmick, Vice President of Communications for the Wisconsin Hospital Association, is presenting on Wisconsin's successful opposition of a provider tax  - and then how and why they ended up supporting it.

Mary Kay used their weekly e-newsletter as the primary vehicle for educating members on why they first opposed an assessment and then supported it (because the governor then said he'd just cut Medicaid without an assessment). Their media approach included editorial board visits, guest columns from CEOs, and a statewide radio ad campaign (just under $30,000).

Inciting and Engaging the Public as Your Proxy to Fight Health Care Cuts

 

William Van Slyke, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations for the HealthCare Association of New York State, is covering the current fiscal environment which will compel more and more state governments to consider significant health care funding cuts. Across the nation, state budget proposals He is presenting about how HANYS executed a comprehensive campaign to incite and engage the public as a proxy for health care providers.

The main advocacy site HANYS created is www.helpyourhospital.org. They also dabbled in social media.

Cutzilla spot: http://www.youtube.com/user/StopCutzilla#p/u/0/05qd_kNklvA (The spot was not created to be aired. It was created to use as a viral video on political blogs.)

APRE Slideshow: Past and Present

Infection Rates, Adverse Events and the Consumers Union

 

Amanda of the Texas Hospital Association introduces the panel:

- Cassie Sauer, Vice President, Communications, Washington State Hospital Association
- Starr West, Senior Director of Policy Analysis, Texas Hospital Association
- Lisa McGiffert,Consumers Union

In light of the IOM anniversary, this broad discussion will discuss balancing the need for public reporting/more transparency and the harsh realities (lack of national standards, tight state budgets that hinder meaningful use, etc.) with the need to enhance public trust in the health care system.

In January, Washington state launched their quality reporting databank.

OHA's Hospital Voice & Haiti Relief Efforts

Oregon launched a new magazine for and about their community hospitals, Hospital Voice.  He also covered his CEO volunteering in Haiti relief efforts - and the hospitals joining in. (His CEO even dipped his toe in blogging!)

NJHA's Pocket Guide to Pressure Ulcers

Kerry shared a new product NJHA offered for sale this year (think non-dues revenue!), NJHA's Pocket Guide to Pressure Ulcers. (She warns that you should not look at the pictures!) She used their Twitter page to get the word out initially (with no budget, of course) - and garnered 200 sales in the first 24 hours from one tweet!

SCHA's Fine Line Exhibition

 

The South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) recently brought Columbia a special interactive exhibition to help reduce the stigma of mental illness in the community.

“Fine Line: Mental Health/Mental Illness” is a documentary of voices, stories and portraits by Michael Nye that confronts stereotypes and reveals the courage and fragility of people living with mental illnesses. Photographer Michael Nye spent four years photographing and recording personal stories of people with mental illness.

The 55 black-and-white photographs and personal stories are glimpses into the much larger, complex lives of individuals with mental illness and substance abuse disorders. Mounted between each photograph is a CD player so viewers can listen to each story while looking into the face of a real person with a real illness.

OKPhysicianJobs.com

Susie Wallace shared a new physician recruiting Web site they created, www.OKPhysicianJobs.com. It was created to help their hospitals with physician recruitment. They partnered with www.practicematch.com to create the Web site.

Association “Crisis” Communications and Public Relation Campaigns

 

Ann Ward, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Texas Hospital Association, and Mary Yost, Vice President, Public Affairs, Ohio Hospital Association, tag-teamed this presentation on PR campaigns focusing on crisis communications.

OHA's campaign to fight a hospital tax went through many iterations - none of which actually launched. They did keep the Web site, www.nohospitaltax.com. For now, it just links to their advocacy Web site.

THA also shared their www.gettexascovered.com Web site, member tool kit, and campaign materials.

They also shared materials from www.texasneedsnurses.org.  

Special thanks to Cindy Samuelson...

...for finding us a conference room with such a beautiful view! (How many times have we all been trapped in windowless rooms in beautiful locations?)

Creating an Engaged Workforce

 
Eileen Wixted
WPNT   Associates
4401 Westown Pky Suite 116
West Des Moines, IA 50266
Phone: 515.226.0818
Fax: 515.226.0828
ewixted@wpntworld.com

Eileen's session is covering how we can help our members communicate in a courageous, compelling manner to create a culture where unions are not welcomed, employees are engaged, and patients are cherished. She assures us that it is the best time to be a public relations professional in health care - not the worst.

Interesting takeaways:

- Unionizing the health care workforce by 2020 is organized labor's priority.
- More information in the social media age - but less stickiness.
- Elevate communication as a required skill for all management personnel.
- Develop multi-channel tools to meet the cultural and generational needs of ALL stakeholders.

Maryland's Who Will Care? campaign

Jim covered MHA's Who Will Care? program. MHA set a goal of raising $20 million in private donations to bolster the nursing workforce. Even in this economy, they expect to have reached $18 million by May 2010 when they close the program out. They also recently revamped their Web site.

CHA's Protect My ER campaign

Jan shared with us the success of California's Protect My ER campaign. This is the latest video in that campaign.

AHA's overview of health care reform

Alicia Mitchell of the American Hospital Association covered their advocacy efforts in the health reform battle. She reminded us all that Health for Life last year was the beginning of our advocacy discussions.

Current hospital concerns:

• Coverage not universal
• Lack of meaningful liability reform
• Limited expansion of Medicare GME slots
• Failure to address end-of-life issues
• Partisan politics

  

AHA Community Resources

Jennifer reminded us all of AHA's Caring for Communities resources, including the latest, Telling the Hospital Story: Beyond Schedule H.

Scale Back Alabama

Abby from the Alabama Hospital Association shared the success of their Scale Back Alabama program.

FHA has been working on a tobacco tax to fund Medicaid

Iowa's Legislative Day video

Scott told us that the Iowa Hospital Association is spending more time and resources on multimedia. He was especially proud of their 2010 Legislative Day video.

Leaving money on the table

During the sharing session, Cindy highlighted a luncheon they hosted for legislators with these bills all over the tables. It made the point that their legislators were leaving lots of Medicaid dollars on the table.

Cindy opened with this March Madness video...