We Should Listen and Keep the Public’s (Patient’s) Demand a High Priority

I am pleased to spread this news! Today, new rules for visitation policies of hospital patients have been finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The CMS revised their rules after conducting research from thousands of patients, patient advocates, and hospital stakeholders. The new rules will be in full effect 60 days from today.

Hospitals now must inform all patients their right to provide or remove consent from any visitor, regardless of who that visitor is.

Two scenarios I immediately think of that demonstrate how this will benefit the patient:

1.) This furthers President Obama’s order from last April empowering same-sex couples, who have previously been denied hospital visitation rights.

2.) Victims of abusive marriages or family situations- it sounds like the patient has the right to withdraw visitation privileges to anyone at any time.

The rules will be in effect for any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding. These hospitals must have a written policy on patient visitation rights.

 

“Basic human rights- such as your ability to choose your own support system in a time of need- must not be checked at the door of America’s hospitals. Today’s rules help give ‘full and equal’ rights to all of us who choose whom we want by our bedside when we ware sick, and override any objection by a hospital or staffer who may disagree with us for any non-clinical reason,” said Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius. I couldn’t agree more.

It seems that the CMS has listened to the publics and granted their wishes. We cannot lose sight that it is all about the patient.

Millennials- We Think We’re the Cat’s Meow. And We’ll Do What it Takes to Prove it!

This week, I encountered an article titled “The Benefit of Millennials Entering Management” that shed light on an idea my brain had yet to encounter.

Apparently, employers make assumptions about employees based upon their age and the era they were born in.

“Great,” I thought. “All this time I’ve thought that the sooner I get my degree, the sooner I’ll be less likely to be a victim of negative ageism.”

However, thanks to our technological skill, ageism may work in our favor. Most millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) have worked with computers or other electronics from an early age. My first experiences with computers began at the ripe old age of 3.

American Population Break Down by Age

The article suggested that with a little guidance and experience, millennials are well equipped to become upper management in PR. As social millennials become thought leaders in the PR industry, brands will become better at engaging and influencing audiences. Our love of the Internet (and our practiced ability to scour the Internet for information) makes us experts at filtering information- we can detect what is worthwhile, what looks good, what is trustworthy, and what is complete crap. We understand that a new level of honesty is required in a connected world- everything is trackable. Truth must reign.

This is going to make us good at PR. Real good. We are able to fight through noise and focus in on who our audience is and who we are. We are savvy with tools that can help us reach niche markets for niche companies that 10 years ago would have been impossible.

We are enhancing the value of PR to business. We have begun and will continue to conquer emerging and profitable industries.

What makes me so confident? Well, the fact that I’m a millennial, of course. This site gives tips for managing millennials, and helps people of other generations understand the way we think.

We are great communicators. We seek feedback from our managers- and we aim to please. We have a “can-do”, positive, and happy attitude. We are good listeners and wish to learn everything we can, but with us it’s a two- way street. We love what management is doing, and we want to contribute, too. We request, and expect, that our suggestions be taken seriously by our superiors. Make us feel ignored, and you could be losing a hardworking employee.

PR practicing millennials just need the expertise, experience and charisma of our predecessors. The world we know is diverse, open, and far-reaching, a world that generations before never knew. We just need to find a depth of knowledge that equals the immense opportunity we have to influence.

“Deadly Spin” Potentially Deadly for Current PR Specialists, But Positive for PR Specialists in Training

According to PRWatch.org, a book titled Deadly Spin: An insurance company insider speaks out on how corporate PR is killing heath care and deceiving Americans will hit shelves next week.

The book is written by Wendell Potter, Center for Media and Democracy’s Senior Fellow on Health Care. As the former communications head for CIGNA, Potter’s deep knowledge of the industry means he’s very aware of what really goes on in corporate Healthcare PR.

The book discusses disinformation campaigns, corporate misdeeds and policy manipulation, fear-instilling rhetoric (like “socialism” and “death panels”), and other PR tricks that keep insurance premiums high and actual services rendered low.

I will certainly be following up on this book after it hits stores, and if the reception of it is interesting, look for another blog post about it!

If I practiced PR in an insurance company today I would be worried. Very worried. New legislation is increasing healthcare opportunities in America, and publications like Potter’s will shed light on the topic of corporate healthcare PR. I would be worried because if I were a GOOD PR specialist, I would have to change my entire way of doing things.

A GOOD PR Specialist doesn’t sweep criticisms under the rug, and does not blow off major accusations. And if I were a PR practitioner today, that means I would be stuck between a rock and a hard place- the rock being public perception and the hard place being my job!

Honestly, if this were the case, I don’t know what I would do. It would be a hard decision. Luckily, I do not have to make such a choice today. I still have this semester to finish and two more to go before I swim into the big pond of the fully adult world.

I find myself fortunate to still be learning about business, public relations and journalism ethics when light is dawning upon those who should rightfully be called “spin-meisters”, not PR specialists. I don’t have to make these decisions yet. Instead, I get to watch what happens, which will shape my views as I proceed in my learning.

This summer, as I was interning for Nology Media in Seattle, I was fortunate enough to meet two inspirational women who founded a PR firm called Communique PR.

Founding partners Colleen Moffitt and Jen Gehrt wrote a book titled Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR. I love this book. This book has been more educational than any required reading for a class.

One of my favorite quotes from the book states: “If you can’t be transparent about what you’re doing, simply don’t do it.”

A willingness to communicate openly and honestly is the only thing that differentiates a PR specialist from a spin doctor.