By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    UV damage to eyes
    Warning Signs of Long-Term UV Damage to Your Eyes
    December 9, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    The Ultimate Healthcare Recruiting and Staffing Guidebook
    March 21, 2022
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    nursing program
    7 Tips to Picking the Best Nursing Program
    February 5, 2018
    Health Care: A Modern-Day Blade Runner?
    December 10, 2014
    Occupational Therapy Assistant | Medical Assistant | Home Health Aide
    In-Demand Healthcare Support Jobs
    April 16, 2016
    Latest News
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Seal the Deal: the Defining Role of Public Relations in Health Care Policymaking
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Public Health > Seal the Deal: the Defining Role of Public Relations in Health Care Policymaking
BusinessPolicy & LawPublic Health

Seal the Deal: the Defining Role of Public Relations in Health Care Policymaking

StevenShie
Last updated: September 17, 2013 8:07 am
StevenShie
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

As October 1st– the opening date of the Health Insurance Exchanges mandated by ObamaCare–is approaching, health care reform once again attracts a lot of media attention.

As October 1st– the opening date of the Health Insurance Exchanges mandated by ObamaCare–is approaching, health care reform once again attracts a lot of media attention.

The policy change is affecting every stakeholder in health care, from government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, physicians, insurance companies, medical device manufactures to hospitals. Some of the effects are imminent while others will be felt overtime. Working at one of the largest health care public relations (PR) firms in this country, it is fascinating to witness how PR is playing a vital role in navigating different parties through the convoluted health care world and transforming messages into public actions at this particularly interesting time.

If history is any indication, PR can be a defining force to influence health care policies.

More Read

history of Telemedicine
Telemedicine Is Expanding But Faces Obstacles
Why Doctors Don’t Want to Be Doctors Any Longer
Is Meaningful Use Working? How Can Innovators Encourage EHR Adoption?
Managing the Mobile Workforce
Medical School Debt and Primary Care

In 1945, President Harry Truman sent Congress a special message, advocating a national health care program. But the American Medical Association (AMA) stood out to block the proposal, suggesting anyone who supported the proposal must be a communist. AMA hired Clem Whitaker and Lenone Baxter, founders of the first political consulting firm in the U.S. and launched a 3-year long public relations campaign. Historian Jill Lepore from Harvard University has provided vivid details about the campaign in a New Yorker article published in September 2012:

At the beginning of 1949, Whitaker and Baxter, the directors of the A.M.A.’s National Education Campaign, entered national politics, setting up headquarters in Chicago, with a staff of thirty-seven. “This must be a campaign to arouse and alert the American people in every walk of life, until it generates a great public crusade and a fundamental fight for freedom,” their Plan of Campaign began…

…

As Whitaker and Baxter put it, in an earlier version of the plan, “Basically, the issue is whether we are to remain a free Nation, in which the individual can work out his own destiny, or whether we are to take one of the final steps toward becoming a Socialist or Communist State. We have to paint the picture, in a slogan: “KEEP POLITICS OUT OF MEDICINE.”

Pamphlets, public speakers, private contacts, volunteerism—then considered innovative PR tactics were used by Whitaker and Baxter to convince the physician community and then the general public that Truman’s program was “Socialized Medicine” and extremely dangerous.

The campaign completely shifted public opinion: in 1945, polls showed 58% Americans favored health care reform. But by 1949, the number had dropped to 36%. Whitaker and Baxter, as Lepore put it, “turned the President’s sensible, popular, and urgently needed legislative reform into a bogeyman so scary that, even today, millions of Americans are still scared.”

Whitaker and Baxter (photo credit: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/24/120924fa_fact_lepore)

Whitaker and Baxter (photo credit: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/24/120924fa_fact_lepore)

The legendary case is still relevant today when digital and social media has given PR even more power to bring impact on health care policymaking.

Media’s enthusiasm about ObamaCare suggests although the policy does not impact everyone to the same extent, the amplification of messages through mass media creates political rhetoric, depicting these discussions as equally important to all of us. From Benghazi, Snowden, Egypt to Syria, public relations, is often served as the ultimate strategy for interest groups to achieve political gain.

Compared to 1945, today’s media landscape is quite different—we have a well-connected global audience empowered by mobile devices and social networks. Stakes for a PR campaign can be extremely high—we see success or failure on a scale with global impact, something the industry has never seen in the past.

What does this mean for health care policymaking?

Effective PR is critical to transform policy into action.

Take obesity control for instance.

NIH has invested significantly to tackle the issue. However, the PR execution for some of the programs is poorly managed. For example, the NIH website where Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults are listed not only lacks basic web design but also includes a BMI calculator for “Palm OS,” a system that is no longer available.

Interestingly, a PR campaign by Coke that targets people who worry about their weight is well-conceived.

The video campaign, called “The Slender Vendor,” portraits how “the world’s thinnest vending machine” can make diet coke available in places that regular vending machines just can’t fit in–in the middle of a sidewalk, between two bowling lanes and even between two treadmills in a gym. The design of the vending machine is indeed thing, modern and sleek. The message: because there’s no sugar and calories, diet coke is “the perfect fit for your day.”

Which program will more likely to motive people to take action? Most people will probably pick the latter.

In the age of globalization and social media, if we can truly convince the public to choose one thing over another, that might just mean that “one thing” is indeed a better choice. To that end, PR professionals might agree that “PR is the last best hope of democracy.”

TAGGED:marketingPR
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025
recovering from injury
Rebuilding After Injury: Path to Physical and Emotional Recovery
News
June 22, 2025
scientist using microscope
When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
Global Healthcare
June 18, 2025

You Might also Like

How Technology Can Help Transition Patients From Hospital to Home

March 15, 2012
patient engagement cartoon
Hospital Administration

Does the Doctor-Patient Relationship Need Marriage Counseling?

January 30, 2015
Health careMobile Health

5 Key Healthcare Technology Predictions For 2019

April 12, 2019
BusinessPolicy & LawPublic Health

The Misconception That American Has The Best Healthcare In The World

February 8, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?