During the MHSCN Spring Conference & Awards on Friday, April 20, more than 70 healthcare communicators, marketers and public relations professionals gained inspiration as they explored how to influence and engage on many topics.
"I love attending conferences. Good presenters, interesting people, compelling topics and new and creative ways of tackling problems get me energized and thinking about how to integrate new ideas into my work, " said Paul Fiore, MHSCN president-elect. "Two or three cups of strong coffee to get the day going doesn’t hurt either."
During spring conference 2018, Fiore felt energized by the "diverse line-up of speakers covering a variety of topics. I can’t do justice in this space to try to recap all of the great information that was presented at the conference, but the following are a few nuggets I came away with."
To download a presentation, select the topic title.
Holly Sullivan, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Spectrum Health and Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) Board member offered a compelling look at the future role of the healthcare strategist, based on the SHSMD publication Bridging Worlds.
Within her presentation, Holly reviewed a number of dynamics that are reshaping healthcare delivery, such as consumerism, advances in technology, new competition, behavior change, and many other factors. These emerging trends result in five significant implications on how we position our organizations, and ourselves, for the future.
- Be nimble and exceed the rate of change.
- Create consumer experiences, and tell powerful stories.
- Integrate and co-create.
- Erase boundaries of business.
- Generate data-driven insights.
Holly offered an overview of how the insights gathered to create Bridging Worlds can be used to help your organization succeed, lead your team, and also serve as a personal roadmap for growth and development.
Holly Sullivan is a healthcare executive with nearly 20 years of business development experience. Holly currently serves as director of strategic partnerships for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich., where she identifies and develops external partnerships that will offer both traditional and non-traditional strategic growth opportunities for the organization. She also helps to analyze and develop solutions for the organization's (twelve hospitals, health plan and medical group) most complex opportunities/challenges.
Prior to this, she was senior vice president for Hammes Company, a national healthcare consulting firm, responsible for business development and marketing activities nationally.
Holly currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) of the American Hospital Association.
Culture can be a make or break proposition in healthcare. Somewhat intangible, and tough to measure, a strong culture can turn good care to great, and engage employees to go above and beyond for their patients, colleagues and organization. Wendy Jerde, Meghan Dingmann and Dawn Koeniger from CentraCare get this, and so does Ken Holmen, CentraCare President and CEO, who identified this project as the organization’s #1 priority.
The CentraCare team provided a great overview of their employee culture campaign "Our Best Begins With Me."
- The challenge – engage over 12,000 employees located at 64 sites spread across Central Minnesota
- The solution – a well-developed campaign with common themes delivered across multiple platforms throughout the organization
The use of frequent messaging, relevant content and engaging communications carried their message. They also utilized internal Culture Champions, facilitators and leaders to consistently assist in implementation. Of their many tactics, I thought the closed Facebook group and microsite for employees were great elements leading to shared engagement.
Meghan Dingmann, marketing specialist, CentraCare Health, holds a BS degree in marketing communications from Bemidji State University, and an MBA from Southwest Minnesota State University. She has been with CentraCare Health for three years and supports the marketing work of the CentraCare Health Foundation, Kidney Program, Home Care & Hospice and the Our Best Begins With Me culture campaign.
She enjoys Starbucks coffee, long strolls through Target (alone), wrangling her toddlers and coordinating their school and social calendars. In her next life, she wants to be a cake decorator with her own TV show on the Food Network.
Dawn Koeniguer, marketing specialist, CentraCare Health, is a native of Monticello, Minn. She holds a BS degree in mass communications from Bemidji State University. She has been with CentraCare Health for 18 years, and she supports the marketing work of Neurosciences, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation, Behavioral Health, Emergency Room, Urgency Center and the Our Best Begins With Me culture campaign.
In addition to her full-time health care work, she moonlights as a mother to three amazing daughters and spends many hours chauffeuring. In her free time, she enjoys a hot shower and a cold glass of wine. In her next life she wants to be a pirate.
Wendy Jerde joined CentraCare Health in 2017 as director of communications. She has more than 20 years of healthcare communications experience, most of which was spent leading public relations, executive communications counsel, community relations and service line support for North Memorial.
Wendy also knows the media side of communications, where she served as a producer for KARE 11 News for five years.
How are Americans' views of health care changing? Where is reform occurring? Congress, the states, Trump administration? Staying informed of legislative issues involving health care can seem daunting. Our speaker took us through some of the more significant legislative issues that we need to pay attention to in the coming months.
Scott Keefer, vice president of public affairs and policy/legislative affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, leads Blue Cross’ engagement with key stakeholders. This includes outreach to state and federal legislative and executive branch officials, thought leaders and interest groups. He is responsible for developing integrated public affairs strategies to influence public policy, build a strong reputation and advance the organization’s mission of making a healthy difference in people’s lives.
Scott joined Blue Cross in 2010 after working on public policy and health care for 15 years in Washington, D.C. He served most recently as Vice President for Policy at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). Scott also worked as a congressional staffer for 10 years, including as the legislative director for U.S. Representative Harold Ford, Jr., and served in several health-related positions in both the private and public sectors.
Scott is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, and received his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, PA.
And for those of us that are so Minnesota nice we can’t admit we are nice, Richard Dodson presented The Art of Tactful Self-Promotion: How to Get the Recognition You Deserve.
Richard helped the audience rethink how we present ourselves, including reframing how we reference ourselves in conversations. A couple examples:
When someone asks you what you do, don’t just provide your title. Tell them what you actually do, by identifying how you add value to your organization and identify your unique gifts and the contributions they allow you to make.
When someone asks you how you are doing, don’t respond with, “Well, OK, I guess.” Tell them how excited you are by the results of a recent project, or how enthusiastic you are about what you are currently working on.
These simple strategies help position you as someone who is making things happen and fully engaged in your work and the outcomes.
He tactfully mentioned that his book, Power Your Career: The Art of Tactful Self-Promotion at Work, co-authored by Nancy Burke, is available to purchase online.
Richard Dodson uses his writing, speaking and consulting skills to empower careerists and entrepreneurs to raise their visibility, unlock opportunities and earn more recognition and reward.
After years as a vice president with Lee Hecht Harrison, where he coached more than 1000 clients through tough career challenges, he recently launched Artisan Digital, an agency focused on digital publishing, e-commerce and launching experts into the digital space to increase their impact and income.
Richard’s career began at age 14 with his first paying job as a magician!
Professional communicators know research represents a critical resource in developing and delivering effective audience engagement. Unfortunately, the time and budget to conduct communication research evaporates before anything can be done.
Based on his experience with nearly 300 student research projects, many from major local corporations, our speaker covered ways to leverage tools and resources already within reach.
Dr. Mike Porter, APR, serves as distinguished service faculty and faculty director of the Master of Health Care Communication program at the Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas. He previously was director of the Master of Business Communication Program.
Prior to joining the University of St. Thomas, he spent more than 25 years in business, marketing and communications. Mike has participated in creation and implementation of a broad spectrum of successful strategies and tactics, primarily for entrepreneurs, and continues to consult. He also sits on the boards of both profit and non-profit organizations.
Mike holds a doctorate in leadership, policy and administration from the Graduate School of Education at the University of St. Thomas. In addition, he has an MBA in marketing from the University of St. Thomas and a BS in mass communication from Bemidji State University. He also earned accreditation from the Public Relations Society of America.
Sadly, active shooter awareness is growing in this country. We need only open the pages of our newspaper, turn on the television or log onto a news feed to find new evidence of active shooter activities.
A security expert from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shared how to prevent, protect, mitigate, and respond to the possibility of an active shooter at a healthcare facility in our communities.
Glenn Sanders, protective security advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security represents the DHS in Minnesota. He also serves as a liaison between the DHS and the private sector, as well as with federal, tribal, state and local mission partners.
As DHS’s on-site critical infrastructure specialist, Glenn provides assistance and support as appropriate for all-hazards prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery to enhance infrastructure security and resilience.
Glenn retired from the U.S. Army after a 24-year military career that included 18 years in Special Forces.
