Harvard Health Publications

Ed Coburn, Publishing DirectorHarvard Health Publications / Harvard Medical School

Harvard Health Publications

Trusted advice for a healthier life

Harvard Health PublicationsTrusted advice for a healthier life

Agenda

• About Harvard Health Publications– History– Guiding principles– Products– Social media

• Our competition• In practice


First, a little about me• At Harvard for 10 years• Previously co-founder of

Circadian Information• Founding member of Cutter

Information Corp. management• Past President of Specialized

Information Publishers Association• Background in starting and running

media/information businesses


About Harvard Health Publications

• Started in 1975 – Harvard Medical School Health Letter,

first consumer health newsletter– By Dr. Stephen Goldfinger and

Dr. Timothy Johnson• Staff of 28• Work with hundreds of clinical

doctors (of the 9,000+ faculty)

Guiding principles

• Authoritative• Trustworthy• Empowering• Thorough• Accessible


What we publish• 5 monthly newsletters

(print & digital)

• 50+ special reports, updated every two years (print & digital)


What we publish (continued)

• 50+ books • Magazine collaborations • Syndicated newspaper column• 3rd party licensing to a wide range

of public and corporate websites– Text, animations, video, interactive

tools, decision guides• Mobile applications


Social media efforts

• Email is increasingly important

• Twitter: 185,000+ followers• Facebook: 5,800+ fans• Blogs (internal and external sites)• Text messaging


Competition


Traditional Non-traditional Purely Digital

• Mayo Clinic Health Letter

• Johns Hopkins Health After 50

• UC Berkeley Wellness Letter

• Consumer Reports On Health

• Other players

• Hospitals and health insurers

• Health magazine, Newsweek, Cosmo, Better Homes, etc.

• Newspapers• TV and radio

• WebMD• MSN, Yahoo,

AOL, EveryDay Health, other open portals

• Mobile apps• User-generated

and other amateur content

In practice

Authoritative & TrustworthyClinical faculty physicians, multiple rounds of review

EmpoweringPractical information to help people improve health and quality of life and successfully prevent and treat illness

ThoroughResearch and context


In practice: Accessible• Plain English, watch for jargon and

acronyms• Definitions and pronunciations • Multiple points of entry• Multi-media – words, pictures,

charts/tables, video, animations• Fonts, point size, • Paragraph and line length


Health communications basics

• Tell a story (but not fiction)• The myth of “evergreen” health

content• The myth of evidence-based

medicine and health information• Responding to changes

• Vioxx• New IOM cholesterol guidelines


Health literacy

• Pronunciation guides• Audio and video options• Icons• Using the language of the reader,

not the experts– Hormone Replacement Therapy

(HRT) vs Hormone Therapy– They’re people, not patients


Ethics and social responsibility

• Health information drives healthcare policy and costs

• Don’t amplify the hype– Get the facts/a balanced perspective– What are the known benefits?

• Absolute vs. relative (number to treat)– What are the risks and side effects?

• Absolute vs. relative– What are the $ costs?


Health communicator skills

• Develop your storytelling• Be balanced, state what’s a fact,

what’s conjecture, and what you simply don’t know

• Immerse yourself in social media• Understand and live with the

technologies



Ed CoburnPublishing Director, Harvard Health PublicationsHarvard Medical SchoolEmail: [email protected]: @EdCoburnLinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/EdCoburn

Date post:	13-Feb-2016
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Harvard Health Publications

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