Independent Thinking

Presentation to:

The American Association of Colleges of

Osteopathic Medicine

June 27, 2007

Who is Widmeyer Communications• Nationally known, fully integrated communications firm;• Independently owned;• Washington and New York offices;• 45 communications professionals:

– Health care;– Education;– Public Affairs;– Crisis Communications;– Design and Advertising;– Issues Advocacy– Quantitative and qualitative research.

• Significant state and national reach.

What We Do

• Product Re-launch– Today Sponge

• Strategic Positioning – Pfizer, Inc

• Re-branding– American College of Mohs Micrographic – Surgery and Cutaneous Oncologists

• Media Relations– Sellers Feinberg, AFB

• Public Affairs and Issue Advocacy– American Society of Gene Therapy

Major Health Care Trends

• Prevention and Wellness/Well Being• Quality/Value• Consumer Directed Care• Aging Population

Never Before Have So Many Trends Lined Up in Favor of D.O.s

Why Osteopathic Physicians are Well Positioned

Prevention and Wellness• Based on the idea that keeping people out of the health care “system”

is preferable• Promotes normalization of body structure and functions

- Most Americans (84 percent) report actively taking steps to prevent future problems with their health.

- Between 65 percent and 79 percent of employers provided disease management or wellness programs.

•

Trends

Quality and Value• Driven by the Institute of Medicine reports, To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality

Chasm

• Are we getting the best quality and value from a system that promotes intense intervention?

• Pharmaceuticals have made tremendous progress in care, but is there value in the latest medicine

• Value Driven Health Care:– Health IT standards– Quality Standards– Price Transparency– Incentives

Trends

Consumer Directed Health Care• Patients exercising more control over their health care spending• The most invasive option may not be the best• Commoditization of health care• Who will advise them on their total health

Aging Population• 44 million Baby Boomers joining x millions of seniors• Each has multiple doctors and takes multiple medications. Who will

advise them on their total health?

Capitalizing on the Trends

• How do D.O.s Capitalize on the Trends?• Know Yourselves

– What does the public think of you• Survey research to find strengths, weaknesses, general opinions

• Capitalize on trends

Communicate, communicate, communicate

PR, Marketing, AdvertisingWhich One is Right for Us?

• PR: It’s a case of “this is who we are, this is what we do, this is when and where we do it, and for whom.” A deliberate and sustained effort to raise awareness.

– Earned media

• Marketing: Consumer directed communications featuring the four Ps:

– Product, Price, Promotion, Placement

• Advertising: One-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled.

Communicating Your Role

Own Prevention & Wellness • Speeches at medical conferences• Journal publications• Host policy discussions• Use polling to drive stories• Introduce yourselves to the long lead health publications

– Women and women’s magazines are the gatekeepers

• Meet the national reporters– Conduct deskside briefings with leading

health reporters

Communicating Your RoleLead on Quality and Value• Commission quantitative studies• Use polling• Become leaders in Value Driven Health Care

British Medical Journal, “several studies and reviews clearly show a correlation between effective communication and improved health outcomes. The outcomes affected were emotional health, resolution of

symptoms, function, pain control…”

Engage Consumer Directed Health Care• Act as 3rd party validators for appropriate use of medical resources

– Op-eds

– Expert testimony

– Participate in policy conferences

Communicating Your Role

Prepare for the Aging Population• Multimedia presence

– Populate Web sites with expert information

– Talk radio outreach

– Community newspaper outreach

– Long lead magazine articles directed towards seniors

• Partnerships– Aging organizations

Conclusion

Health Care is Different