Medical Staff

Face a public relations challenge head-on

Executive Briefings Digest, January 6, 2003

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The multiple crises that faced Tenet Healthcare Corporation last year taught health care executives several things-among them, the importance of public relations (PR). For companies that hold several facilities, such as Tenet's 113 hospitals in 16 states, communication to all involved parties can be a hefty challenge.

PR strategists offer the following tips for health care executives to minimize credibility damage in the wake of an ethics controversy:

  • Prepare your employees for these crises in advance. Add follow-up training sessions to your initial education roll-out on ethics standards and procedures.

  • Create a communications strategy with one message, and then appoint ethics officers to relay the message in training and workshops at your different sites.

  • Establish a truthful stance from the outset. Adopt a tone and terminology that will be credible and persuasive to your employees, shareholders, and others.

Source: Health Governance Report,
http://www.hcmarketplace.com/Prod.cfm?id=163&S=EEBD



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