Hospitals experienced the most job growth during the month, followed by the ambulatory health sector.
The healthcare sector once again is trending up in job growth, joining the government, social assistance, and construction sectors in the lead.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) latest employment situation summary, healthcare added 41,000 jobs in June, bringing the total number of jobs in the sector up to 16.8 million.
Hospitals saw the most job growth, adding 15,000 in the month, followed by the ambulator healthcare sector which added 13,800 jobs. Additionally, nursing and residential care facilities added 12,000 jobs, while home healthcare services added 9,000.
So far this year, the healthcare sector has added:
For the first six months of 2023, the sector has added an average of 42,000 jobs per month, similar to the average gain of 46,000 jobs during the first six months of 2022, according to the BLS.
Total nonfarm payroll employment added 209,000 jobs in June, barely changing the employment rate to 3.6%.
During the first six months of 2023, total nonfarm payroll employment added an average of 279,000 jobs per month. This is lower than the monthly average of 399,000 jobs added during the first six months of 2022.
Jennifer Gilkie shares the evolution of her role and how she helped lead the rebranding efforts of New Hampshire's only academic health system.
Editor's note: This conversation is a transcript from an episode of the HealthLeaders Podcast. Audio of the full interview can be found here and below.
Jennifer Gilkie joined what was then Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to serve as VP of communications and marketing in 2017. As the system grew and became an integrated academic health system, so did Gilkie's marketing and communications responsibilities. Gilkie became system VP of communications and marketing in 2021, and then most recently was promoted to serve as chief communications and marketing officer for the system, now known as Dartmouth Health, this past February.
In a recent podcast interview, Gilkie shares the evolution of her role and how she helped lead the rebranding efforts of New Hampshire's only academic health system.
She also shares her unique career journey and learnings taken from her experience in marketing and communications for NewYork Presbyterian, and outside of the healthcare sector with American Express and the New York/New Jersey 2014 Super Bowl Host Committee.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
HealthLeaders: What initially drew you to work in marketing and how did you become a marketing leader for Dartmouth Health?
Jennifer Gilkie: I think of myself not as just a marketing leader, but as a communications and marketing leader. I arrived in marketing more from a communications journey than a marketing background. I was drawn to the role because I often consider myself more of a generalist than a specialist because I've had a very circuitous career path. I had worked in healthcare previous to Dartmouth Health, but a lot of my experience came from outside the healthcare realm.
When we moved here to New Hampshire, it was about seven years ago, I wanted to stay in healthcare, and I wasn't sure where I would land. As luck had it, about a year and a half into our journey here, there was a position [with Dartmouth Health, and] this was one of the organizations that I had identified when we lived in New York that I thought I would really connect with; I thought 'that's an organization where I would really like to work.' [A] position became available, and I was so grateful that I could be interim vice president of communications and marketing. Then I ultimately became a permanent member of the team at a pivotal time in the organization.
I was drawn to Joanne Conroy as our CEO; I'd heard great things about her, and working for female leader, I was super excited to have that opportunity. She was beginning to carve out her vision for building a stronger integrated academic health system and I felt like the organization was full of communications and marketing opportunities.
One of the first things I did was identify that we needed a strong marketing leader on my team. I hired a fantastic senior director of marketing to help me and to partner with me in reshaping what we were doing around marketing.
HealthLeaders:What are some of the biggest learnings you've taken into healthcare marketing and communications from outside sectors?
Gilkie: I worked for the New York/New Jersey 2014 Super Bowl Host Committee, which is an organization so opposite of healthcare. A lot of people aren't aware, but it's similar to when a city is awarded an Olympics. The city that's awarded the Super Bowl by the NFL creates a host committee to host the Super Bowl, and it was a three and a half year position. I often say it was a once in a lifetime experience.
Part of what we did, and this is something I learned, was how to build an external facing brand. Nobody knew about the host committee or the Super Bowl, and we had to build an identity for it. We built it from the ground up: we had to have a logo built, we created a mission, we created a sub-organization that was called the Snowflake Foundation. We knew that we wanted to leave a mark on the region that would be long lasting, so we did a lot of charitable work. We partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to renovate swimming pools and we did a lot of work with nonprofits, as well as messaging to the community.
It was the first time [the Super Bowl] had ever been hosted in the cold weather climate—we had all of these firsts—so that was something that we really grabbed on to with our messaging. It was the first time two teams had hosted. It was the first time two states had had been part of the Super Bowl. Building that brand and the importance of creating a strong identity was something that I feel that I brought to Dartmouth Health, and understanding the importance of a positive association with a brand and what it can do for an organization.
When I worked at American Express, one of the things that I learned was the importance of events. That events work carried into my time at NewYork Presbyterian, because as we were building out their regional health system, one of the things that we went after to start to build the brand around NYP and the messaging around the expertise, was to go into the community. We sponsored a lot of community events or we partnered with community organizations to support their existing initiatives. In that way we were trying to drive the importance of community. We think of ourselves as a world class organization, but at the same time, we want to have a voice in the community and an identity in the community. So that was something else that I wanted to bring into my job at Dartmouth Health.
HealthLeaders:Can you share more about leading Dartmouth Health's recent rebrand journey?
Gilkie: It started before COVID and I really think of it as a journey. We were down the path of taking the time to reach out to the community; we did deep dive research, we talked to the community, patients, all of our organization members. We wanted everyone to have a voice at the table on what our new identity would be. We spent a lot of time talking to agencies. We had selected our agency [and] they had come up to start to do initial interviews with some of our leaders and then COVID hit. I will not say that we stopped the rebrand, but we certainly slowed it down. We had fits and starts just as the pandemic had fits and starts; there were times where it just had to sit and wait and then we could get back to it. It took a total of three years, which is quite a lengthy time for a rebrand. We did it almost entirely by Webex and Zoom calls because we had to. That was certainly a unique aspect.
The piece that was most important for us from a marketing perspective was around market research, and we're continuing to use that to understand what the perception and the awareness of the existing brand was, what we needed to change, and then are we being effective. We tested our tagline, the best where it matters most. We spent a lot of time with focus groups and formally testing it. And then we were lucky enough that it resonated and we are continuing to work with that.
We also joined Monigle in a national research study, The Human Brand Experience, because one of our goals with the rebrand was to build recognition and awareness of Dartmouth Health on a national level. We do some amazing and innovative work at Dartmouth Health in collaboration with Dartmouth and Geisel, and our clinical trials. So, we took a step back and we said we want to make sure that the region and the local community understands what a gem they have here. We really consider it a responsibility and a privilege to care for our local community, but we also want to make sure that we have an identity on the national landscape.
HealthLeaders: Earlier this year, the system announced your promotion to chief marketing and communications officer. How have your roles changed from when you first joined the system in 2017?
Gilkie: I would say that the role evolved and grew because we took on more work as we became a more integrated academic health system. It's really important for our health system that every system member has its own unique nuances and characteristics for their community. Each of our member organizations has its own unique conversation that they bring to the table, their own unique patient community, but at the same time, we're one organization and we want to figure out how we support one another. That's what led to the evolution of my role in building that bridge between the members, and the medical center, and the clinics.
HealthLeaders: What advice do you have for women and others who aspire to either be leaders in healthcare or marketing and communications?
Gilkie: One of my greatest influences and supporters was a male, Al Kelly, who was the president of American Express, and who I worked for. He was without a doubt the most amazing leader I worked for. At the same time, he was an incredible supporter and mentor for me as a woman and growing my career. In fact, he also worked for the Super Bowl, and I followed him. He was the one who pointed me toward healthcare and said 'maybe, you want to explore this area,' when we were winding down the Super Bowl Committee. He taught me a really important lesson, which is as a leader, you want to have people around you who are better than you in the areas that they specialize in. That's my example about hiring a really amazing [marketer], because I knew marketing, but I need somebody who would be a deep expert in this area to help us be effective. And he said to me many times, 'don't ever be afraid of having somebody who knows more than you do work on your team. That's what you want, to be successful.'
As a female, I would say I've learned along the way from a lot of really amazing women. Be visible in your organization and own your accomplishments. So often, I think women are a little hesitant. Early on in my career, I learned this was a common feeling, that you could feel a little bit like an impostor. Don't ever feel like an impostor. You should own your accomplishments. You should own your role. You should be visible.
As a leader, be transparent and vulnerable. It's okay to have emotion. It's okay to feel that you can relate on an emotional level. There's nothing wrong with that. I am honest and transparent with my team about how I'm feeling. I think that's important.
I would also say humor. Humor is to me, something that's very important, not just for leaders, but for all women, to be able to laugh a little bit at your foibles.
The changes could impact M&A transactions in healthcare and would require more information regarding proposed transactions.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with the Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a proposal this week that would make changes to the premerger notification form and instructions and premerger notification rules implementing the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Currently, the HSR Act requires premerger notification for transactions valued at $111.4 million.
The proposed changes include mandates as required by the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, which would "require filers to provide information on subsidies received from certain foreign government or entities that are strategic or economic threats to the United States," according to an FAQ page about the proposed premerger notification, reporting, and waiting period requirements.
These proposed changes would "enable the Agencies to more effectively and efficiently screen transactions for potential competition issues within the initial waiting period, which is typically 30 days," a "critical" part in the review process of merger and acquisition transactions where the agencies identify which transactions require an in-depth investigation on the proposed transactions potential violation of antitrust laws.
The changes proposed include provisions regarding transaction rationale details as well as details on investment and corporate relationships within the deals, information related to products or services in both horizontal and non-horizontal business relationships, projected revenue streams, and details about previous acquisitions.
Additionally proposed is the "disclosure of information that screens for labor market issues by classifying employees based on current Standard Occupational Classification system categories," according to the FTC.
Chairperson of the FTC Lina Khan, joined by Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya, released a statement in defense of the proposal to update the HSR Act for the first time since its creation 45 years ago in 1978, which they argue is in need of an update due to the size and volume of M&A activity that currently takes place. The HSR Act
"Much has changed in the 45 years since the HSR Act was passed. Deal volume, for example, has soared. The House Report for the HSR Act estimated that the statute would "requir[e] advance notice" for approximately "the largest 150 mergers annually." Today, the agencies often receive more than 150 filings each month. Transactions are increasingly complex, in both deal structure and potential competitive impact. Investment vehicles have also changed, alongside major transformations in how firms do business. The HSR form, meanwhile, has largely stayed the same.
"This proposal is designed to ensure that we can efficiently and effectively discharge our statutory obligations and faithfully execute on the mandate that Congress has given us," the statement concludes. "We look forward to the public comments."
Public comment regarding the proposed changes are due on or before August 28, 2023.
The country's healthcare system is almost always defined as "complicated"—but changing it doesn't have to be, according to one healthcare executive.
R. Lawrence Moss, MD, FACS, FAAP, who serves as president and CEO of Nemours Children's Health in Florida, recently published 'Finding Health by Looking in the Right Place: How Understanding What Actually Creates Health Can Fix U.S. Healthcare.' In the ebook, Moss shares thought leadership on shifting the healthcare system with three "simple" steps.
Moss recently spoke with HealthLeaders about these steps that healthcare executives and others can take to start taking the complication out of healthcare and to create a better system.
HealthLeaders: What inspired you to release your book with information about fixing the healthcare system?
R. Lawrence Moss: What inspired me more than anything else is the refrain I keep hearing: Healthcare is so complicated; we'll never figure it out. My viewpoint is: fixing healthcare is not complicated at all. The complicated part is summoning the collective will to do it and overcoming all the perverse incentives that have existed in our country for decades that stand in the way of us doing the right thing. My inspiration for not only the content of the book but the layout and the images and the whole ambiance it portrays, is that solutions are simple. The book is my effort not to simplify something that's complicated, but rather to articulate to people that it is simple, that we actually all do understand it, and we all can participate in fixing it. We just need to have the will to do so.
R. Lawrence Moss, President and CEO, Nemours Children's Health. Photo courtesy of Nemours Children's Health.
HL: What are the steps in which leaders, patients, consumers, and the general public, alike, can take to help the current healthcare system?
Moss: It's really simple. We've got to do three things:
1. Understand what health is.
Good medical care is really important to health. It accounts for about 20% of health. However, 80% of health is not medical care. It's outside the hospital and outside the physicians' office. It's safe housing, food security, freedom from violence, good education, all of those many things that create health. A fundamental problem with our approach to healthcare in this country is we equate it with medical care. We think if we just spend more and more on medical care, then we'll get better and better healthcare. But what we're doing is spending an excessive amount on the 20% and not nearly enough on the 80%.
2. Pay for health.
Our country's health system is a $4.1 trillion annual enterprise and essentially every penny of that goes to the opposite of health. We incentivize volume of medical care and complexity of medical care, so that's why we have the highest volume, most complex care delivered in our country. We don't incentivize health and we don't get health in this country. By every measure of health you want to look at, we're far behind our peer countries because we don't pay for health.
3. Start with children.
People tend to think of children's healthcare as being about kids, and it is partly about kids, but it's also the key to overall health of the country. Children become the next generation of adults. Understanding health, paying for health, and starting with kids is the key to a vibrant, productive economy with good workforce productivity and national security.
Childhood is the time when a small investment can make a big difference. We talk about diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, as the major health problems that plague our society, and we think of those as adult diseases. They are, but if we start to address the roots in kids, we can throw a bit of resources at those things and change that trajectory through adulthood. I don't want people to think of investing in children as only returning benefits to children, it actually returns benefits to all of society.
Healthcare isn't [just] a problem for doctors, for healthcare CEOs like me, for people involved in the delivery system; it's an opportunity for everybody in this country and we should all care more and be involved more. We all have a seat at the table, and we all have a voice.
HL: What steps can children's hospitals take to further help with health equity efforts in the communities that they serve?
Moss: I'm pleased and gratified to see the increasing focus our country has had on health equity in the last few years. I don't believe it's possible to have a healthy population without health equity and I do believe that children's hospitals have a major role to play.
The lens of health equity is yet another opportunity for looking at health as something much more than medical care. There are inequities in medical care, and Nemours is committed to playing a major leadership role in addressing that. But the inequities in the other components of the other 80% that determines health … are enormous and make the inequities in medical care pale in comparison.
The first step is to rigorously measure and track and then ultimately report our outcomes stratified by race, gender, and other categories related to health equity.
You can't fix a problem if you don't know it exists, and we're in this process at Nemours. It's a learning curve for us, just like our peer organizations, but we're committed to the journey, and we're committed to following through. I foresee the day in the not-too-distant future where we publicly report our outcomes stratified by equity measures. Where we're not doing well, we need to know about it, and we'll hold ourselves accountable to fix it.
HL: What advice do you have for healthcare executives about this work? Moss: I believe very strongly that our country's children's hospitals should be the stewards of the health of our children, not just the institutions that deliver medical care. When kids get sick, we should deliver medical care, that's part of being the overall stewards of child health. But there's so much more than that. At Nemours, we're in the business of creating health, not just in the business of treating disease.
I would like to see my peers and my colleagues join me in thinking of our job as health, not just treating disease. I realized that that's more complicated and more expensive and more nuanced in the adult world than it is in the children's world, but I still think it's possible.
Hospitals saw a 70% increase in hospital CEOs making role changes year over year.
The hospital sector was the third highest sector to experience CEO turnover last month, according to a new report from Challenger, Gray, & Christmas Inc.
Following large amounts of CEO exits in the government and nonprofit sector (58) and technology sector (21), the hospital sector saw 18 CEOs make role changes in May.
"Hospital systems are struggling in a number of areas post-pandemic. Talent shortages, retention, and wages for staff are an issue, while cost of care is rising," Andrew Challenger, SVP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. said in a statement. "Many systems are struggling to operate, and new leadership is needed to attempt to turn things around."
So far this year through the end of May, 80 hospital CEOs exited their roles, a 70% increase from the 47 hospital CEOs who made exits through May 2022.
224 CEOs made exits across all sectors in May, hitting the highest total of exits for a single month on record since the firm started tracking CEO exits in 2002.
This is a 52% increase from the 147 tracked exits in April 2023 and a 49% increase from the 150 CEO exits that were tracked in May 2022.
"It is certainly significant that so many CEOs are leaving, especially since the last time we saw numbers this high was just prior to Covid-19 lockdowns," Challenger said. "Certainly, companies are dealing with some uncertainty heading into the second half of the year surrounding recession concerns, disruptive technology, and high interest rates."
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., 789 CEOs left their roles across all sectors between January and May 2023, an increase of 18% from the 668 CEOs who made exits during the same time period in 2022.
Alastair Bell, MD, MBA, has led the system as interim CEO since March, and president since September 2022.
The Boston Medical Center Health System (BMC Health System) board of trustees named the system's president as the organization's permanent CEO, this week.
Alastair Bell, MD, MBA, who was appointed as president in November 2022 and has served as interim CEO of the nonprofit, academic health system since March, will continue to lead the system's performance and strategic growth.
"Dr. Bell will continue to lead our longstanding mission of exceptional care for all patients and members, as well as advance our system strategy of growth, innovation, health equity, and performance excellence," Mark Nunnelly, the BMCHS Board Chair said in a press release. "He has a deep and unwavering commitment to our mission and is passionate about healthcare reform that eliminates systemic inequities. The board is confident that Dr. Bell is the right leader to ensure that BMCHS continues to be a thriving healthcare system that improves the health of our communities."
The system includes Boston Medical Center (BMC), a 514-bed nonprofit academic medical center; WellSense Health Plan which provides Medicare and Medicaid health insurance for members in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; Boston University Medical Group; Boston HealthNet, a network affiliation of the medical center; Boston Accountable Care Organization (ACO); and Clearway Health, a specialty pharmacy program.
Bell joined the system in 2012 to serve as COO of BMC, and has since led the hospital's strategic financial success, led the hospital's strategy and operations through the COVID-19 pandemic, was involved in the expansion of the system's WellSense Health Plan through the ACO program, and helped with the creation of Clearway Health.
Prior to joining BMC, Bell led the North American Payor and Provider Practice at McKinsey and Company where he advised national and international healthcare organizations on large scale transformation programs.
"I'm truly honored to serve as president and CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System and feel a great responsibility to the people who place their trust in us," Bell said in a statement. "I am fortunate to work alongside such a talented and committed group of people at all levels of our BMC Heath System as we seek to reshape how we deliver care, from cutting-edge clinical treatments and research in our hospital to unique partnerships in the community. The way we think about the health of our patients and members extends beyond traditional medicine to environmental sustainability and issues such as housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility, as we study the root causes of health inequities and empower all of our patients and communities to thrive."
The Healthcare Advertising Awards recognized creative execution and overall excellent advertising from healthcare organizations.
The Healthcare Advertising Awards announced this year's winners, including healthcare organizations that took home the "Best of Show" award, which recognizes advertisers' outstanding creativity in their marketing and branding efforts..
In its 40th year, the annual awards campaign received 4,300 entries from healthcare organizations looking for recognition for a variety of advertising campaigns and mediums. A national panel of judges chose winners based on creativity, quality, message, effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design, and overall impact, according to the website.
The judges recognized 19 healthcare organizations as "Best of Show," which included 13 hospitals and health systems winning in that category for their outstanding creativity and breakthrough advertising.
Additional awards were presented to healthcare organizations, including 530 gold awards, 352 silver awards, and 238 bronzes.
Best of Show Winners List
Atrium Health
Total advertising campaign: Atrium Health Brand "Live Fully"
Catholic Health
Radio advertising-single: Brand 2.0
Agency: Real Chemistry
Children's Health
TV advertising-single: "Incredible. Together." anthem
Agency: Colle McVoy
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Outdoor: Fred Hutch brand campaign
Agency: Cronin
HCA Healthcare
Total advertising campaign: HCA Healthcare enterprise "We Show Up" campaign
Agency: BPD Advertising
Mass General Cancer Center
TV advertising-single: Cancer Center
Agency: BoatHouse
Penn Medicine Basser Center for BRCA
Integrated marketing campaign: Basser Center for BRCA: "Do You Have It?"
Agency: TILT
Richmond University Medical Center
Installations: "Clean hands start here" kiosks
Agency: DavidHenry Marketing & Media
Silver Cross Hospital
Special event: Inaugural "Silver Social"
UChicago Medicine
Integrated marketing campaign: UChicago Medicine Corner Children's Campaign
Agency: SPM, part of SPM Group
University of Maryland Medical Center
Magazine Advertising-single: "Shock Trauma," Gala program advertisement
Wellstar Health System
Installations: Vehicle rebranding—pediatrics
White Plains Hospital
Website: White Plains Hospital Website
Agency: Coffey Communications
A new report from the AHA examines the factors driving physician practice acquisition.
Physicians attribute the need for practice acquisition to ongoing financial challenges, payer policies and practices, and demanding regulatory requirements, according to a new report from the American Hospital Association (AHA).
A recent survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the AHA found that 94% of physicians believe that it has "become more financially and administratively difficult to operate a practice." This can lead to physicians finding alternative management avenues and driving physicians to seek practice acquisition and other alternatives, such as seeking employment elsewhere.
Physicians reported that policies and practices put in place by health plans have caused issues, even leading some to seek employment outside of their own practice. 81% of physicians surveyed said that commercial insurer policies and practices have "interfered with their ability to practice medicine," and 84% of employed physicians said they have had job interference from commercial payers.
But it's not only commercial payers that have brought forth challenges. Public payer regulatory requirements have also been a burden to physicians. Programs such as the Promoting Interoperability Program requires physicians to make EHR information accessible to patients, other providers, and public health data reporting. And the program also requires "eligible professionals to demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology in order to avoid payment penalties," the report says.
The increase in costs has further taken a toll on physician-owned practices, with reimbursement rates not keeping up. This can drive physicians to find jobs in other practice settings. 75% (three of our four) physicians reported that low reimbursement rates from public payers (Medicaid and Medicare) created barriers around their ability to practice medicine.
"Despite efforts to paint hospitals and health systems as the sole cause of physician practice pattern changes, the truth is that commercial insurance policies, such as prior authorization, are creating unworkable environments forcing physicians to prioritize administrative duties over caring for patients," the report concludes.
"The result is increased burnout among physicians with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Physicians are searching for alternative practice settings that reduce these burdens and provide adequate reimbursement, while allowing them to focus on caring for patients. While hospitals and health systems are a natural fit for many physicians, commercial insurers are increasingly leveraging their considerable capital to lure physician practices."
The VP of operations and critical care for Maine Medical Center will lead Southern Maine Health Care's operations.
Southern Maine Health Care (SMHC), a nonprofit health system that is a part of the MaineHealth system, recently announced it has found its next COO.
Kathryn Cope, who currently serves as VP of operations and critical care for Maine Medical Center (MMC), the flagship hospital of MaineHealth, will lead the system's operations.
"Kathryn is an experienced health care executive with more than 25 years of experience in acute care clinical operations, finance, and service line strategy," Joel Botler, MD, chief medical officer and interim president of MaineHealth's Southern Region, which includes both SMHC and MMC, said in a statement. "Her experience as a community-oriented collaborator with proven skills in advancing innovative solutions to complex challenges make her a perfect fit for SMHC."
Cope has served as VP of operations and critical care at Maine Medical Center since 2019. Prior to that, she served as VP of neuroscience and critical care service lines for Maine Medical Center, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Cope succeeds Nathan Howell, who was selected to serve as president and CEO of MaineGeneral Health, a nonprofit health system affiliated with MaineHealth. He begins his new role on July 1.
In other recent leadership news, the president of MaineHealth Southern Region, Jeff Sanders, announced he will be departing the organization this summer. Currently, Botler serves as interim president.
"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve the patients and care team members of Maine Medical Center and MaineHealth," Sanders said in a statement. "As a Mainer with close connections to MMC, I am proud to support this community and the timing is right for my transition to pursue new opportunities."
Northwell Health's SVP and chief marketing and communications officer was recently named to the Ad Council's board of directors, an accomplishment that he is shocked and delighted by.
Ramon Soto, who has led Northwell Health's marketing and communications since 2015, was among 19 new members added to help guide and support the Ad Council, a nonprofit media company that uses marketing to bring awareness to and solve social issues.
"Our Board is instrumental in empowering the Ad Council to drive measurable impact on our country's most pressing issues," Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council," said in a statement. "Whether they are lending their individual expertise, providing the unparalleled support of their organizations or motivating the communications industry at large to create meaningful purpose-driven work, I am ecstatic to welcome these incredible leaders and collaborate with them to create lasting positive change."
Soto, recently sat down with HealthLeaders to talk about his new board of director's seat and Northwell's ongoing success in tackling public health issues through their innovative marketing strategies.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
HealthLeaders: What was your initial reaction to being named to the Ad Council's board of directors (BOD)?
Ramon Soto: I am a combination of shocked and delighted. If you think about the Ad Council, it's such a storied organization. Born in World War II to help the US government raise funds, specifically bonds to fund the war, for its roots and patriotism, trying to drive important change in society that benefits society.
These are the people who created the iconic Smokey the Bear content. These are the people who help bend the curve on automobile accidents and deaths, who've gone headlong into tackling social issues, drug issues, creating a more equal society. They do absolutely amazing work.
They became aware of some of our efforts with gun violence and we invited them to one of our thought leadership summits on the topic where we showcased some of our campaign work. They were super interested and realized that healthcare had an opportunity to contribute more to what they were doing, and it was a lane that was untapped for them.
I'm looking forward to helping them think through this particular channel, and then contributing in the smallest of ways to this bigger chapter: How do we leverage an impartial voice to get America to a better place? And I mean that in its broadest sense. We seem to be drifting towards this place of intolerance. All these issues popping up; these knock on effects of COVID, these unintended consequences. There's just so much to do, and it's one of the things that attracted me to healthcare: a purpose driven approach to how we go to market and how we get everybody to experience better health.
HL:According to the press release, the BOD will work with the Ad Council's leadership to "spearhead the communications industry's efforts to address gun violence, mental health, the drug overdose epidemic, and racial justice." How do you currently address these issues through Northwell's marketing efforts?
Soto: An interesting thing happened in 2019 and it wasn't the pandemic. It was that guns became the leading cause of death for children in the United States.
With Northwell leadership, and specifically Michael Dowling, our CEO, [we] decided to do an enterprise brand level campaign at very high media weights in the New York market to alert parents that there's this new thing lurking that they have to protect their kids [from]. I shared that with colleagues and other health systems across the US and they were all very interested in participating in the campaign. So, we created a national effort with 157 health systems to leverage the creative work that Northwell had developed, so that they [could] use in their markets [and] their brands, and we made it available gratis.
Through that effort, we built up a huge repository of research. We have a lot of market validation on our approach. We were able to bend the curve, at least getting parents aware that guns are now the leading cause of death for kids, and to take action.
That will be extended to another campaign, and we're talking with the council about how we complement all that work with a national effort that would be driven through their organization. We're very early stages of the council and how we execute that, but it's certainly collaborative in nature. I think they appreciate the work that we've done and the body of knowledge that we can use to advance their own efforts.
Regarding behavioral health … you have the intersection with behavioral health and gun violence. And you see it almost every day, unfortunately. We have to get that to a different place. Our marketing effort is a bit more nascent there, but we're taking a slightly different approach. We've partnered with a major film distributor and created a documentary that will be launched later this year. It highlights one of our mental health programs that we have for college students. Specifically, we plan to [have a] filming crew observe one of our programs in action and individuals coming in at their most vulnerable. This intake of somebody who's not in the right frame of mind and a follow through a deep intervention, and it showcases how through the appropriate clinical engagement, we can do better for society. We can get these people better. We're exploring potentially with a national campaign on early identification of behavioral or mental health issues, because all the data suggests that the earlier we identify this individual, the better the outcome, [and] the better that that individual will get.
HL:You've led innovative, out-of-the-box marketing and communication efforts for Northwell since 2015. What are some of your favorite campaigns you've helped lead?
Soto: The gun violence work, specifically, because of its impacts. Before we launched that campaign, only about 14% of people knew that there was this hidden danger and that they had to ask the question, 'is there an unlocked gun in the house?' when they were visiting another household. After we launched that campaign, parents in particular, skyrocketed to 70% [saying] they were prepared to ask that question. What was particularly rewarding about it was we saw the move on the data side.
I honestly think for these big societal issues, it's not one big or small act that's going to bend the curve; it's hundreds of big and small acts. And this is just one of the stepping stones in getting society to the right place.
The second project was our most recent Netflix documentary [series]. It's called Emergency NYC. I just got the Nielsen data: it is the fifth most popular streaming show of all streaming platforms in the country. It's got millions and millions of minutes viewed of the content. Particularly with Netflix, it's a platform where you can invite people in to see what happens behind the glass in this really intimate way. It's great content, but you can take the journey with them. And it allows you to engage with consumers in a very different fashion.
We'll be doing more of these things. This is what actually led to the behavioral health documentary. We have another project in the pipeline. But it's a different way of marketing. And we're finding its creating really interesting dividends helping us create not just a national brand, but an international brand.
That's kind of our secret sauce. So much of healthcare targets consumers and speaks about the transaction. The social side of health becomes this really interesting territory that we're choosing to look at and build brand association, and we're finding it's creating brand value and the engagement part of it, like interacting with individuals well before the health event, so that they're predisposed to use their service that is fundamental to how we go to market. All the brand data suggests that we created a juggernaut in our marketplace.