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Healthcare communicators face enormous challenges in 2017 as the healthcare landscape continues to shift. As any Denver public relations professional can tell you, no other industry poses as many opportunities or as much uncertainty. So how can healthcare organizations direct their communications strategies toward their most pressing needs? Some recent articles can help illuminate the most effective path forward.

Patient education According to a new analysis of US healthcare spending published in JAMA, just 20 conditions make up more than half of all healthcare spending in the United States. The three most expensive ones are diabetes, heart disease, and low back and neck pain. Together, they cost more than $400 billion in 2013. If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, how will hospitals absorb all... read more

Public Relations is about storytelling. People are attracted to stories, and as public relations professionals or organizations trying to communicate with consumers or increase brand recognition, storytelling is paramount. However, it’s often more difficult than it sounds. So, how can we create content that people actually want to consume?

Employ a classic storytelling structure From fairytales to New York Times bestsellers, the most compelling stories have a plot, a hero, and a satisfying conclusion. A happy ending actually activates the limbic system—the brain’s reward center—to release dopamine making us feel more hopeful and optimistic. Even if the story you want to share is about a new product or upcoming fundraiser, consider how you can craft it to contain these key storytelling elements, and present... read more

There are now more Millenials (people born between 1982 and 2004) than Baby Boomers. They have a combined buying power of 1.3 trillion annually and spend an average of 25 hours online each week. When it comes to healthcare public relations, how do you reach and appeal to this target market? Here are some things to consider. They define health differently.

For this demographic, health is less about avoiding illness or acheviing the ideal weight to height ratio and more about overall wellness—both physical and mental. It’s important to them to maintain a healthy lifestyle through diet, exercise and self-improvement. They readily use apps to track their health goals, get information, and overcome issues, like stress, social anxiety, and insomnia. They rely heavily on... read more

Pushkin PR is coming up on a big anniversary--20 years. Looking back, what would you say is your proudest accomplishment? JP: The thing I am most proud of is the long-term relationships we’ve been able to sustain with many of our clients. Many of our clients have been with us for five years or more, and Kilpatrick Townsend has been a client for 17 of our 20 years. I’m not sure how many other Denver PR firms can say the same, but those long-term relationships say a lot about the quality of work that we do and the integrity of the clients we’ve been luck enough to work with. There are a lot of great Denver public relations firms, but I think that Pushkin PR’s... read more

You don’t know what you don’t know; never was there a truer piece of advice spoken. Strangely enough, since I first heard the words at a conference in high school six years ago, I have lived by this advice, passed it on, and used it as a mantra. In work, I have supervised staff members and urged them that when in doubt, all they need to do is ask. In school, I challenged my classmates’ theories and ideas simply because I didn’t know differently and I was open to their perspective. In my personal life, this advice pushed me to grow and focus on leadership development in ways I would have never predicated.

Little did I know, I was going to use it every... read more

You are amazingly creative! Whew, what a great reminder. As public relations professionals, we are expected to be constantly creative. Clients expect us to consistently tap into our creative reservoirs to produce engaging content for their target audiences. But sometimes, the reservoir is zapped dry and we are cursed with a temporary spell commonly known as writer’s block. Hitting this wall can be overwhelming, especially if you are trying to meet a deadline. But never fear! Writer’s block doesn’t have to feel like a pressure cooker. Here are six tips to help you get your creative juices flowing again.

1. Get away from the computer Sounds simple? Definitely. But getting away from the computer can be a great way to... read more

IMAGE CREDIT: LA TIMES We have all seen the footage on the nightly news of Elizabeth Warren berating Wells Fargo Chief John Stumpf while he stammers explanations, excuses and apologies. The more he talks, the more he seems to fuel public outrage and skepticism. For a quick lesson in crisis communications, we turn to Pushkin PR founder and public relations pro Jon Pushkin, a guy who is all about shooting it straight.

Why do you think people continue to be so frustrated with John Stumpf and Wells Fargo? JP: When an organization has lost the public’s trust, it takes more than an apology to get it back. Repairing a damaged reputation requires more than just saying sorry. The organization needs... read more

Guest Blogger: Trisha Lycas, Insyntrix Say you have a beautiful new website, but the phone still isn’t ringing as much as you’d like. This is the lament of many businesses. The truth is, “If you build it, they will come” applies only to magic baseball fields. It takes work to draw search engine bots and spiders to your website, and more work to make them happy. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the science of getting your business noticed on the Internet. There is an endless amount of online and offline techniques to make your website more visible to your prospects, but organic search relevancy is a good starting place. It does take work. Expect to invest substantial time and effort prior... read more

We have heard A LOT about the Millennials over the past few years, but what about the generation that follows, one that has been referred to as Generation Z. For these kids, aged two to 19, the internet has been ubiquitous and more fully formed than it was for the Millennials who came before. Smartphones and other types of technology provide a constant connection to people and information, changing the patterns of our lives, the way we accomplish tasks and how we use our brains. How will that shape the generation born in the digital age?

A DIY approach to life Previous generations may have been somewhat skeptical about the content found online, but for Generation Z the internet is their primary source of quality information.... read more

We are in the midst of doing crisis communications for our sixth Cheyenne Frontier Days, so it seems like a good time to repost this slightly revised blog article from a few years ago. It seems especially relevant now given our current toxic political climate. Last week I had breakfast at the Radisson in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The waitress suggested the breakfast buffet. I asked what was in the breakfast buffet. She said “Well, we’ve got ham, bacon, sausage…’’ “Hmm, I don’t eat those,” I said suspiciously.  “She said, “Well, we have fruit, cereal, eggs…” So I ordered the breakfast buffet. The truth is, we all have to make adjustments sometimes. When things don’t go your way, when a client doesn’t agree with everything you recommend,... read more