Whether it is hospital and healthcare systems mergers and acquisitions, medical advances or the impact of the economy on healthcare delivery, health topics remain in the forefront of the news.
To help provide an idea of where PR can contribute to healthcare coverage, the Publicity Club of Chicago meeting on Dec. 3 featured five representatives from consumer and trade medical/health publications to help PR professionals better understand what they are covering and how to approach them.
Following are highlights of the discussion:
Emily Berry
Staff writer, American Medical News
Emily.Berry@ama-assn.org
Berry covers health plans for the business section of American Medical News, the AMA’s weekly newspaper for physicians, most of whom are in family practice. AMA News is trend-driven, so Berry urged everyone to research the publication to determine the trends.
Berry came to Chicago in 2007, from the Times Free Press of Chattanooga, Tenn., where she covered health care for two years. She has an unusual double-major in English and neuroscience from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, which actually gave her a solid foundation for her current editorial responsibilities.
Berry predicted that 2009 will be a big year for healthcare policy changes, which will greatly shape her coverage.
“There is a groundswell that indicates that something needs to be done in healthcare and policy,” said Berry. “This is a story we see as a must-cover. Physicians and hospitals have parallel concerns, with the economy overshadowing everything. For physicians, it’s about the survival of their practices. Is there a permanent fix to the Medicare payment formula? There is also a question of the role health plans will play under Obama. Will there be new a Medicare plan or private pay policies? For the short-term, are physicians insured enough to stay in practice?” These are among the issues pressing the minds of those at American Medical News.
Companies are selling new technology solutions for physicians; however, this is happening at a time when doctors are wondering if they are going to survive. As a result, they are not about to make large investments. “A magic answer doesn’t exist,” said Berry. “Physicians are being pragmatic.”
Berry is most interested in a story if she has “not seen a lot written about it or isn’t something I’ve gotten to dig into yet.”
She added that if the pitch is disease-specific, she “needs something to hang it on — a new angle.” When talking about healthcare reform, it helps to have specific stories and people with insight into the issue available. She is looking to personalize the story, but notes that she often files these stories away as a resource if she cannot use them immediately. She wants to cultivate and identify experts, rather than receive pitches.
“I love it if I can call you on a Friday at 4:30 p.m. and not get an eye roll,” said Berry. “I expect an earnest effort, not an attitude. Do your best to be helpful, but don’t over-promise. Just let me know if you know someone for a quick quote.”
Berry understands that PR people cannot know all the deadlines of every publication, but she loves it when someone calls and asks, “Is it okay to talk now?” She added, “I don’t want to be rude, but there are good and bad times to call. All I ask if that you understand our deadlines.”
“Some PR people will conduct interviews with new physicians at their organization to determine whether or not they are media-ready,” she added. “This helps us avoid some people who should never speak to the media because they are grumpy or don’t like to be reached on their cell, for example. That is good to know in advance.”
The publication prefers to do its own graphics. Occasionally, because it will receive statistics or numbers that are not attributed, red flags are raised. Berry urges PR people to be sure to cite sources of the information they provide and make sure the source is credible.
Matthew Weinstock
Senior editor, Hospitals and Health Networks
mweinstock@healthforum.com
Hospitals & Health Networks, a 76,000-circulation monthly business magazine, is published by Health Forum, a for-profit subsidiary of the American Hospital Association, and is targeted to the “C-suite” audience. As senior editor, Weinstock is responsible for conceiving, assigning and editing features and news briefs, although he still manages to write a story from time to time, as well. With nearly 20 years of experience as a reporter and editor in the business-to-business press, he joined Hospitals & Health Networks as senior editor in 2003. Prior to that, he spent 12 years as a reporter in Washington, D.C., covering Congress and a number of federal agencies for business publications, most recently Government Executive.
Since Hospitals & Health Networks is a national publication, Weinstock finds it difficult to get to meet and know a lot of people; however, he is not adverse to meeting people who are local or visiting the area — or meeting them over the phone, just to connect. Like most editors, he values reliable sources.
Weinstock monitors the entire healthcare field; as senior editor, he does not have a specific “beat.” His interests at Hospitals & Health Networks encompasses everything about how to run hospitals, including patient safety and quality of care, as well as healthcare reform and the economic implications of the federal budget.
“Some of the stories that interest me are that Medicare is running out of money three years earlier than anyone predicted access to capital by hospitals, and the uninsured,” he said.
Hospitals & Health Networks is a monthly publication with a long lead-time. “We work at least two months ahead, so January’s issue is in production and we are working on February stories now,” said Weinstock. “These are due in by Jan. 1. We can do things on the fly, but we are not a breaking-news organization.”
Six times a year, they run specific features, such as topics on clinical management, a service line or the latest industry findings. In the back of the book are shorter pieces, such as a piece on a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) health report, with a link back to the report. Be sure not only to check the editorial calendar, but also “know the publication and its audience. This audience includes CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CIOs and other executives.”
Weinstock added, “We do not cover products or do reviews or company profiles. Look at the magazine’s Web site before pitching a story.”
He also encouraged the audience to make sure their Web sites are updated and clearly include the PR person’s name and contact number(s). “This information should be easily available. If I have to do more than two or three clicks to find them, I’ll stop looking.”
Although he prefers to interview executives so the discussion is virtually peer-to- peer, he explained, “a senior vice president or above should be the one telling the story. If you tell us a story and it’s something we are working on, but you only have a manager who is tuned into this and that person is a better source, we are willing to talk to them. We won’t just talk to someone with a title,” especially if someone else is more knowledgeable.
Weinstock especially likes calls where someone tells him, “This story just broke. Here is an expert and what he can talk about.”
“I love stories that no one has done,” he said, adding, “If you can supply graphics and data, that’s even better. We love that stuff!”
As for the future look of the magazine, “We are evolving,” said Weinstock. “Check back for more updates in six months.”
Jean DerGurahian
Reporter, Modern Healthcare
jdergurahian@crain.com
Having joined Modern Healthcare in 2007, DerGurahian reports on quality of care and patient safety, which she calls “the heart of health care,” as well as covering regional healthcare business news in the Southeast. Before joining Modern Healthcare, she was a business reporter for the Albany, N.Y., Times Union and served as technology reporter at the Capital District Business Review in Albany.
What DerGurahian looks for most in her stories is a business angle. For example, in 2008, hospitals showed record profits; that may not happen again. With more hospital consolidation taking place, it is likely that the use of electronic health records will increase and accessibility issues will become much more prominent.
“With more than 5,000 hospitals,” said DerGurahian, “I cannot call all of them to check on what’s new.”
She does not cover technology product stories, since physicians most likely will not be investing in them. She would love to “see more numbers, more data that will gauge the improvement against Medicare issues.”
Her special frustration is to receive a pitch asking, “What do you cover?” To avoid feeling the need to ask that of her, DerGurahian urges people to visit the Web site and go to the “About Us” tab. “All the contacts and their beats are there, along with our Code of Ethics,” she said.
As Modern Healthcare, a weekly, is actually part of a family of publications including the Daily Dose and IT Strategist, Modern Physician and six online e-mail publications, deadline pressures are felt daily. DerGurahian asks people to keep that in mind when they contact the publication.
“We don’t cover products or companies,” she said. “What we want to hear about is the experts that are around, especially those in the C-suite and physicians.”
The publication has just begun to explore using videos but has done a fair number of podcasts. DerGurahian is reluctant to take videos from outside sources. However, she does read blogs. She also gathers and files possible resources.
As the publication covers “the whole country, if you are local and have someone who is an expert and want to have coffee with me for about five minutes in the city, I’d love to hear what they’d like to talk about,” DerGurahian said, adding, “I read and keep all my e-mails but I don’t always respond.”
Katharin Czink
Medical producer, WGN-TV
kczink@tribune.com
As producer of WGN-TV’s Medical Watch segment since 2002, Czink has focused on innovative technologies, cutting-edge therapies, the latest surgical procedures and promising medicines. Chicago-area experts are frequently spotlighted, including physicians, scientists and other healthcare professionals and patients.
Before joining WGN-TV, Czink previously worked at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and served as a medical writer and editorial team member at the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch. She covers health and medicine at WGN. She fell into the position by accident, but has fallen in love with it.
For the two-minute spot on television, the station calls on local experts and researchers, whether the story is about stem-cell funding or about physician concierge services opening up. According to Czink, they “don’t cover umbrella issues, but the nuances.” She said she receives an abundance of “awareness” story pitches, but particularly likes topics that are tied to new treatments or cutting-edge developments.
“We will do a story, regardless of the awareness month,” said Czink. For example, this means that WGN-TV will not only cover breast cancer in October, when it coincides with its recognition month, but any time when a new treatment or technology becomes available. From a television point of view, I need that something extra.”
“With looming deadlines, I frequently need experts — often at the last minute,” she said. “We regularly need physicians who can comment on breaking health news. We come to them whether they are at the hospital, offices or homes. Often they think we will take up a lot of their time, but, really, that’s not the case at all.”
However, Czink warned PR professionals that experts need to be prepared — provided with the general dos and don’ts of interviewing. “And it helps if a doctor is willing to ask patients to relate their personal experiences as they pertain to the story.”
WGN’s coverage consists of digest segments that cover the health news of the day, or a single topic that can be fleshed out and made into a package for the 9 p.m. news.
Czink invited the audience to “send visuals to help us learn more about the potential story. Give me a taste. That is a nice luxury!”
Diane Dungey
Editor, Daily Herald
ddungey@dailyherald.com
Health and medicine, the Cook County criminal courts and education are among Dungey’s many previous reporting beats at The Daily Herald, a suburban daily with a circulation of more than 150,000. It was a logical extension for Dungey to create and become the editor of the paper’s weekly Health & Fitness section, which this year received the Illinois Associated Press and Chicago Headline Club awards for stories about a family’s dilemma over genetic testing in the face of a Huntington’s disease diagnosis. She now oversees the publication’s features sections. In addition, the newspaper also offers a Spanish-language publication, Reflejos, as well as an online edition.
As far as defining “what is local,” the map of the Herald’s geographic coverage is posted on their Web site, but Dungey noted, “there is a tightening circle of what is considered local. Keep in mind, we now have a 24-hour news cycle, with opportunities compressed by the time frame.”
One thing Dungey has noted is the “shakeout taking place in healthcare, with people falling through the cracks.” In this changing healthcare environment, the Daily Herald is focusing on “getting personal stories,” she said, observing that, “as people are losing their jobs, they are losing their healthcare coverage, as well. The mental healthcare avenues are especially overburdened, while we’ve received a drop in cosmetic surgery pitches.”
A problem with some of the stories is that “many people may not want their names associated with a story,” Dungey said. “If you have someone who will talk to me and put that in the subject line, that’s gold!”
Business is built on relationships, something Dungey values. “If I get a cold call at 6 p.m. and don’t recognize the number, I may not even pick up the phone.” If she’s built a relationship with the PR person, she often even provides her cell number to the person and will know they won’t abuse its use.
She also appreciates knowing which physicians are skilled at talking to the press. “Some speak a sound bite a minute, and others are not as helpful.”
The Daily Herald rarely uses videos provided, as it prefers to shoot its own footage. From her perspective, “I don’t even like [e-mail] attachments,” Dungey said. “I get about 120 e-mails an hour and try to read and get rid of them.” If someone wants to gain her attention, “Grab me with your words and your subject line.”