Choose well: Health care communication and media responsibility during COVID-19
As a Coalition for Healthcare Communications Executive Board Member, I was asked to write about what was on my mind, which happens to be the long tail of this pandemic.
There are now more than 500 articles posted to the Healio COVID-19 Resource Center. Healio has reported on the disease from its first report in China through this week’s discussions about ramping up vaccine production capabilities. We have examined how the practice of medicine has changed almost overnight, with more than 50 COVID-era telehealth stories on our site, and how each specialty has been differently and uniquely challenged. I am proud to say, we have done it responsibly, honestly and with the best interests of our audience and public safety top of mind.
There is still more to come, including tracking new treatments, vaccine research and development, and the unknown costs of delayed and interrupted acute and chronic health care. As the nation begins to “reopen” in fits and starts, I wonder how many more stories are yet to be written. And I promise Healio will be there to write them.
COVID-19 communications response: Choose well
(previously published in CHC SmartBrief for Health Care Marketers on May 15, 2020)
"Look at the word responsibility – response-ability – the ability to choose your response." — Stephen Covey
Our “response-ability”" has certainly been put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have all had decisions to make – some tougher than others – regarding our personal, professional and societal responsibilities.
I'm impressed by how quickly and appropriately our Coalition for Healthcare Communication constituency has responded to the crisis, moving early to protect employees and flatten the curve, providing credible public-facing information and conducting "business unusual" just to keep the lights on.
Because keeping on is important. COVID-19 has affected every aspect and specialty in health care differently. The story has yet to be written of the price to be paid in morbidity and mortality due to interruptions in the delivery of non-COVID health care, from delayed diagnoses to interruptions in care for chronic illnesses.
The health care communications community certainly has an ongoing responsibility to support those on the frontlines of COVID care. We also have a responsibility to look beyond that and continue to address the informational and educational needs of health care professionals across all specialties as they adapt to a new normal in the practice of medicine in the time of COVID-19.
– John C. Carter
Chief Operating Officer, The Wyanoke Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-c-carter-a42aba11/
Twitter: @JohnCCarter
Disclosures: Carter is Chief Operating Officer of The Wyanoke Group®. Healio®, Healio® Strategic Solutions, Healio® Live and SLACK® Incorporated are wholly owned subsidiaries of The Wyanoke Group. He has been a SLACK Incorporated or Wyanoke Group employee since 1982. Along the way he has worked as editor, writer, marketer, product and project developer and manager. He also serves as a member of the Coalition for Healthcare Communications Executive Board.