Category: Public relations

How to Position Your Staff as Subject Matter Experts

Posted on by Brian Lee

INTRODUCTION

Does your hospital or health tech expertcompany want to have the reputation as being the best in certain areas? Perhaps your hospital is renowned for orthopedics, or your startup’s CTO has special insights on interoperability?

Positioning a staff member as a subject matter expert (SME) will earn your company credibility among your target audiences. That’s because people want to do business with experts. In other words, would you want to go to an OB/GYN who knew the least about women’s health?

Your SMEs also will serve as the “go-to” person to answer questions from the media, if you brand them correctly. Following are tips for positioning your staff as subject matter experts.

WHO SHOULD BE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS

To maximize the effectiveness of subject matter experts, choose ones that matter to your target audiences. Let’s take a look at an example for a health tech company focused on helping radiologists: No offense to the developers who created your SaaS, but the radiologists probably prefer to hear from a DO than a programmer.

Make sure the SMEs are experienced and/or hold some type of management position (vice president, professional services team, etc.). They also need to know about the mission and business objectives of your IDN or HIT company. Each month may be different, but generally, you need to find SMEs that can allot 2-3 hours/month to carry out their duties.

HOW TO USE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS

The value of your subject matter experts comes from being able to use them in a variety of ways, such as media relations, content marketing and public speaking.

Prior to any kind of interviews, each SME needs to go through a media training session, in which they will learn how to succinctly respond to reporters’ questions while working in your key messaging strategy.

Use subject matter experts in content marketing to add credibility and authenticity. They are likely already keeping up with what’s going on in your industry–for example, MACRA, Affordable Care Act, telehealth, etc.–so it shouldn’t be too hard to have them provide insights on those topics.

Similar to media interviews, you should have SMEs go through presentation training before you send them out in public. Tradeshows, conferences, TED Talks and symposiums are ideal venues for you to showcase your SMEs because they can talk in technical detail with audiences or attendees.

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Three Tips When Selecting a Crisis Spokesperson

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

INTRODUCTION

media-spokespersonWhen a hospital has a crisis, it’s important to have the right spokesperson, as this person is the liaison between the hospital and the public (and media).

For example, the size and severity of the crisis plays a factor in determining who should serve as spokesperson (e.g. CEO, PR Director, department head, etc.). This person could be picked after the crisis breaks, but it’s better to have a pool of potential spokespeople identified in advance (as part of your crisis communications plan).

Here are three tips when selecting a spokesperson for your hospital crisis:

  1. Choose the correct seniority level. More often than not, having the PR director or a vice-president serve as the spokesperson is sufficient. Your hospital doesn’t want to make a “minor” crisis seem more important than it is (think how infrequently the President of the United States makes announcements). Plus, the CEO can override the PR director or VP if they misspeak. Only in times of a “major” crisis should the CEO be the spokesperson. Really, his/her time is best spent managing the crisis (and being seen doing so).
  2. The spokesperson needs to have the right personality. Your spokesperson needs to be able to demonstrate empathy and show the public that the hospital is taking all the necessary measures to make sure the crisis is handled correctly. This may seem obvious, but someone with an adversarial personality would not make a good spokesperson. All spokespeople should go through thorough media training.
  3. Having multiple spokespeople is acceptable.Certain circumstances may require having more than one spokesperson. For example, in the event of a cybersecurity breach, you may need to bring in your CIO to provide a technical explanation. Make sure the spokespeople are consistent in their messaging.

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Five Tips for Making a Smooth Leadership Transition

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

Businessman's outstretched arm passing a flaming torch to another businessman's open hand

Change is inevitable. When your hospital has a new CEO or president, the communications department has an important role in the leadership transition. Here are five tips for making it go as smoothly as possible.

  1. Be open during the hiring process. You don’t have to release names of candidates, but you should include updates on the hiring process on the intranet site or in weekly emails to hospital staff. This gives them a sense of inclusion and helps to remove uncertainty.
  2. Get the new leader up-to-speed. Give your hospital’s new CEO or president a top-level summary about any ongoing branding/marketing campaigns, and present a copy of your crisis communications plan.
  3. Plan meetings for the new CEO to meet with individuals in the hospital’s external and internal network. This can be stakeholders, community leaders and each department in the hospital. Your staff should conduct media training with the CEO and then set up interviews with local media, too.
  4. Have CEO share vision with hospital staff. You should write a welcome letter on behalf of the CEO and/or plan numerous meet-and-greet sessions, including shifts outside 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Also, consider hosting a Facebook Live chat with questions from hospital staff.
  5. Establish a communications protocol. Every leader has their own preferences. Don’t expect the new CEO to accept your procedures for handling media requests, etc. Find the right balance between making your recommendations and accepting your new CEO’s.

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