Ethnic Media Family Weekend | University of Georgia Strengthening Coverage of Health and Health Care Matters of life and death in ethnic communities Richard

Ethnic Media Family Weekend | University of Georgia

Strengthening Coverage of Health and Health Care

Matters of life and death in ethnic communities

Richard QuartaronePublic Health Liaison CoordinatorGeorgia Division of Public Health


Taking Health from Marketplace to Consumers

• Healthcare Marketplace

• Health Coverage

• Health Consumers


Healthcare Marketplace

• The basics– Population– Demographics

• Healthcare brands

• The Business of health


The Market’s Basics






Adding Value to the Brand


Healthcare is a Business• All healthcare providers want:

– Loyal well-insured patients who can pay– Patients who want elective procedures– Patients who know how to use the system (educated health

consumers)– Coverage that supports their brand, market, and core

services

• Academic medical centers want– National, international recognition– Awe of local community– Donations from corporations and individuals

• Community hospitals want– Brand loyalty of community– Donations from corporations and individuals


Health Coverage:Moving health from neglected commodity

to core value

• What’s killing your community? – The burden of disease– Making data and science

relevant

• Finding trusted, relevant, and responsive sources


What’s killing your community?• Every local and state health department has data• Encourage policy change, prevention messages• Connect to national issues and studies• Personal stories add relevance and impact


Sources: Trusted, relevant, responsive• Academia

– Specialize in “expertise”– Stroke their ego – Follow their passion– If all else fails, go directly to the source

• Public health– Often dry, but trusted and credible– Must consider political sensitivities

• Community hospitals – How can your coverage improve patient mix?– Expect a more scripted “corporate” response

• Advocates/Special Interest Groups– Focus on a single issue– Gateway to passionate dedicated sources – Be wary of their credibility


Sources: Why should they care about you?

• Make sure your “reach” matches their market– Will your article be on the wire or shown

abroad – ex. Emory and China– Do you have an “influencer” audience

• Business, political, cultural

• Show that you care– Be heard - Respond to their releases– Be seen - Attend their events, meetings


Health Consumer

• Start with the basics

• Which services/resources to use when?

• Training and trusting your instincts


Start with the Basics• Keep a thermostat and first aid

kit at home• Practice hand washing and

respiratory etiquette • Take your medicine – even if you

don’t feel sick (TB)• Get vaccinated – school shots,

flu shots at grocery stores• Get checked – regular

screenings are critical


Which services/resources to use when?

• Address health issues before they get out of hand• Reactive medicine costs more• Save emergency rooms for emergencies

– Car wreck, broken bone, heart attack, child dehydration• Clinic options

– Urgent care– Rapid clinics in drug stores, Wal Mart– Low-cost, non-profit community clinics

• Find primary care providers that you trust– OB/Gyn– Pediatrician – Get care as a family– Go through advocacy groups to find providers


Training and trusting your instincts as a consumer

• Everyone is their own advocate for their health

• Read books, brochure, and websites• Reporters are the gatekeepers of health

information– Become your audience’s trusted source– Avoid “over reaction” of excessive risk or

over promising cures


Additional Resources

• Georgia Data– oasis.state.ga.us

• GA Public Health– health.state.ga.us

• Emory Health Sciences– whsc.emory.edu

• Assn. of Healthcare Journalists– healthjournalism.org


Thanks!

Richard Quartarone

State Program Coordinator

Public Health Liaisons

:: 678-618-4468

:: [email protected]


Healthcare Providers Common to Georgia• Academic Medical Centers• Attracts physicians who are driven to advance medicine, publish, and help people • Part of an academic institution, many physicians are tenured • Want the most complex patients and cases • Physicians have a great deal of freedom because of tenure• Physicians often separate from hospital operations• Teach next generation of physicians• Often motivated by national and international recognition for being on cutting edge of medicine• Want to be associated with “ground-breaking” studies • Examples – Emory University Hospital, Emory Crawford Long Hospital, The Emory Clinic, Mercer Medical School,

Medical College of Georgia, Morehouse School of Medicine • Community Hospitals• Usually private non-profits, but may include public hospitals and for-profit hospitals • Marketing to attract local or regional customers • Often focus of particular specialty areas – heart, cancer, surgery, maternity • Medical and operations more integrated • Most hospitals in Georgia are Community/Private Hospitals• Examples – DeKalb Medical Center, Piedmont Hospital, Northside Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Northeast

Georgia Medical Center, WellStar Health System• “Hybrids”• Community Hospitals partnering with Academic Medical Centers to provide physicians• Examples – Emory Johns Creek Hospital, Grady Memorial Hospital, Children's at Egleston• Trauma Centers• Part of a state-wide system to provide care to individuals involved in a traumatic injury such as a gunshot, car

wreck, fall, burn, etc. • Examples – Grady Memorial Hospital (level 1), Floyd Medical Center (level 2), Gwinnett Medical Center (level 2),

DeKalb Medical Center (level 3)• Independent Private Providers• Single or multi-physician practices• Provide primary care and/or specialty care• Often have “admitting rights” to hospitals• Operate much like a small, community-focused business • Urgent Cares/ “Doc-in-a-Box”• Low cost, walk-up clinics• No appointment needed, often offer extended hours• Care often provided by PA or NP • Popular among individuals without a regular primary care provider


Richard Quartarone• Richard Quartarone is the director of the Georgia Division of Public Health’s Public Health Liaison

Program, where he uses his unique background in marketing/communications, public health and academic medicine to engage healthcare community in the state’s emergency preparedness efforts.

• As a senior account executive at MS&L Atlanta, Richard served clients such as Merial, the Georgia Pharmacy Association’s Academy of Independent Pharmacy and BioSouth. Richard’s specialties include media relations, public affairs, public health, stakeholder outreach, risk communications and social and traditional marketing.

• Prior to joining MS&L, Richard was director of media relations for Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center. He coordinated the media activities for Emory’s consumer and scientific health programs. While at Emory, Richard was involved in seasonal and pandemic influenza response and preparedness, response to Hurricane Katrina, and strategic planning to increase Emory’s prominence in cardiology.

• The core of Richard’s healthcare experience is in public health. For two years, he was the Georgia Division of Public Health’s director of communications, where he was the state’s point person for all of the most important public health issues of the past several years, including bioterrorism preparedness, West Nile virus, smallpox vaccination of health workers, SARS, and many other infectious and chronic diseases. In addition to supervising a small central staff, he managed 19 district communication officers across the state.Richard first entered public health at the DeKalb County Board of Health in Atlanta, where he was responsible for developing and launching the agency’s website, developing and managing its graphic image, and coordinating media response and strategy. At DeKalb, Richard was also the project leader for metro Atlanta’s West Nile virus communications. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Berry College in Rome, Ga., where he served as editor of the award winning student newspaper.


Richard Quartarone is the director of the Georgia Division of Public Health’s Public Health Liaison Program, where he uses his unique background in marketing/communications, public health and academic medicine to engage healthcare community in the state’s emergency preparedness efforts.As a senior account executive at MS&L Atlanta, Richard served clients such as Merial, the Georgia Pharmacy Association’s Academy of Independent Pharmacy and BioSouth. Richard’s specialties include media relations, public affairs, public health, stakeholder outreach, risk communications and social and traditional marketing. Prior to joining MS&L, Richard was director of media relations for Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center. He coordinated the media activities for Emory’s consumer and scientific health programs. While at Emory, Richard was involved in seasonal and pandemic influenza response and preparedness, response to Hurricane Katrina, and strategic planning to increase Emory’s prominence in cardiology. The core of Richard’s healthcare experience is in public health. For two years, he was the Georgia Division of Public Health’s director of communications, where he was the state’s point person for all of the most important public health issues of the past several years, including bioterrorism preparedness, West Nile virus, smallpox vaccination of health workers, SARS, and many other infectious and chronic diseases. In addition to supervising a small central staff, he managed 19 district communication officers across the state.Richard first entered public health at the DeKalb County Board of Health in Atlanta, where he was responsible for developing and launching the agency’s website, developing and managing its graphic image, and coordinating media response and strategy. At DeKalb, Richard was also the project leader for metro Atlanta’s West Nile virus communications. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Berry College in Rome, Ga., where he served as editor of the award winning student newspaper.

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Ethnic Media Family Weekend | University of Georgia Strengthening Coverage of Health and Health Care Matters of life and death in ethnic communities Richard