Capabilities 2003
The Future of Healthcare?
“The problem with predictions of the future of
healthcare is that the future of healthcare only
exists on PowerPoint. We seem to have
jumped from one future to another without
implementing any of them.”
Ian Morrison
Senior Fellow Institute for the Future
and author of
Health Care In The New Millennium
Outline
• Communications environment
– Overview
– Patients, Physicians, Media
– A study in contradictions
• Corinth Group
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Philosophy
Experience and capabilities
CGC advantages
Personnel
Communications In The Current
Healthcare Environment
• Public interest in healthcare has never been
higher
– It is the single most prominent and volatile public
issue
• The interaction between patients, physicians
and the pharmaceutical industry has never
been more complex or contested
– The promise of medicine is discussed
simultaneously in terms of hope and derision
Communications In The Current
Healthcare Environment
• To be heard in a competitive communications
environment public relations support is more
important than ever
• Bashing the pharmaceutical industry sells:
– “Inside: what the corporate-owned media aren’t telling you
about pharmaceuticals in the third world,”advertising on
direct mail envelope from The Nation
Patient Perspectives
• 75 percent of patients don't comply with their
doctors’ orders in taking medications
• 80 percent of patients who ask for a particular
prescription brand get it
• Patients deluged by information
– Direct mail accounts for more than half of all mail
– A woman was diagnosed with diabetes and, three
days later, received marketing materials for a
diabetics service in the mail -- true story
Physician Perspectives
• In nine out of 10 decisions made between doctor and
patient in routine office visits, the doctor did not
discuss the issue thoroughly enough for the patient to
make an informed choice
• One in four primary care doctors worry that they are
treating complicated conditions better left to
specialists
• Fewer than one in six US physicians surveyed feel
they are providing better care than five years ago
Media Perspectives
• The leading health reporter at USA Today receives
roughly 25,000 press releases each year
• “The vast majority of information I receive directly
and indirectly from the pharmaceutical industry is of
no use,” reporter NY Times
• “The words solution, leading and revolutionary are
misused to the point that they are no longer
reasonable terms,” editor Venture Wire
A Study in Contradictions
• HIPAA
– HCFA estimates that HIPAA will save the healthcare
industry $1.5 billion in the first five years
– Healthcare executives estimate they will spend three times
as much preparing for HIPAA implementation as they did
for Y2K
• eHealth
– More than 60 percent of patients in a recent survey said
they planned to use the Internet as a medical resource in
the future
– Only four percent were advised by a physician to research
the Internet for healthcare information
A Study in Contradictions
• Direct-to-consumer advertising
– Total pharmaceutical promotional spending between 1994
and 1998 rose 630 percent, more than half of that increase
went to television ads
– Of the nine commercials for prescription drugs the average
consumer watches every day, 80 percent receive a ‘dislike’
rather than a ‘like’ response. The percent who believe that
DTC provides reliable information has dropped from 69
percent in 1989 to 45 percent this year
• Costs are shifting for payers
– Hospital utilization has dropped 4.2% to 230 days per
1000 members Prescription drug costs jumped 27.8% to
$24.61 per member per month
The New Economy
• Diverse audiences access information from the the
same sources:
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Doctors
Patients
Financial/Investors
Social/Political/Activists
• Every message must work across several platforms:
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Print
Television
Radio
Internet
Information Paradox
• A message that resonates across audiences and
outlets has a wider scope but a significantly limited
focus, however,
– All news is local, if not geographically then certainly
intellectually. How do you create broad messages with
immediate appeal?
– In an incredibly busy information environment, broad
messages have less impact
– Conflicting audiences need different messages and respond
differently
• What are the strategies that allow companies to make
each communication challenge an opportunity?
Public Relations
• What PR is:
– The ongoing effort to create and maintain an image for
your company that reflects your competitive strengths
• Why is it important?
– 75% of dot com executives surveyed by the Global
Financial Communications Network felt that public
relations was more important than advertising for the
success of a dot com.
• What does it take?
– Hard work and commitment to strategic positioning
How do you define strategic?
“I never skated toward the puck, I tried to skate
where the puck was going to be.”
Wayne Gretzky
“You got to be careful if you don't know where
you're going, because you might not get
there.”
Yogi Berra
We Define Strategic By
• Diligent research
– In the gap between how messages are delivered and how they are
perceived lies the single greatest opportunity in public relations. If
you don’t know what your competition and constituencies have said
and how their message was perceived among your key audiences, you
can never be strategic
• Consistent messaging
– Define who you are. You need to create and maintain an identity,
don’t expect anyone else to get it right, not even your name:
• “eHealth INSIDER E-MAIL UPDATE, October 23, 2000, ADVENTIS
ACQUIRES MYDOC ONLINE. Drug giant Adventis Pharmaceuticals
(Parsippany, NJ)”
• Flexible tactics
– The beliefs that define you should never change, but the ideas you
employ to communicate them should never be static
Experience/Capabilities
• Product Support
– We have worked on the approval, launch and promotion
of major drugs in several disease areas including:
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Cardiology
AIDS
Pain management
Diabetes
GI
Depression
Women’s health
Oncology
Respiratory disease
Envenomation
Experience/Capabilities
• Image Development
– We have helped interests from e-health start-ups to the
Massachusetts Medical Society, publishers of The New
England Journal of Medicine, with identity campaigns
• Experienced writers
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Speeches
Byline articles
White papers
Editorial letters
Experience/Capabilities
• Issues Management
– Wall Street Journal Health Care Summit for the last two
years
• Primary consultants on agenda design
• Selected and invited participants
• Created roundtable questions
• Medical education/scientific writing
– As experienced scientists and professionals, we have
background to quickly and accurately create the materials
you need
– We have spearheaded projects for dermatology, birth
control, diabetes, GI disorders and glaucoma.
Experience/Capabilities
• New media
– All aspects of Internet outreach from design to campaign development.
– Recent healthcare web sites
• www.hippocrates.com
• www.medplanet.com
• www.remedypms.com
• www.nejmadsales.com
• Small company specialists
– We understand the unique needs of emerging companies
• Reasonable rates with flexible billing and cash/equity splits
• Experience and contacts in the venture capital sector
Healthcare Clients
• Healthcare Clients
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New England Journal of Medicine (www.nejm.org)
Hippocrates (www.hippocrates.com)
Altana Pharma (www.altanapharma-us.com)
LifetecNet (www.lifetecnet.com)
Rxaminer (www.rxaminer.com)
TargetRx (www.targetrx.com)
Healthcare Outlook/LifeScience Portfolio
Wall Street Journal Healthcare Summit
CareGain (www.caregain.com)
Savage Laboratories (www.savagelabs.com)
Conventional PR Model
SVP
Group Head
Time spent
working on
account
VP
AS/SAS
SAE, AE, AAE
Talks to you
Talks to media
Conventional PR Model
• Problems
– Disconnect between strategy and implementation
– Media relations are left in the hands of the least
experienced staff
– Inefficient model, results in extensive and unproductive
internal communications
– Designed to service big clients, the model is not modified
to meet the unique needs of small and medium sized
clients
– Best at pushing stories that are meant to be covered or
creating news too far from product
Corinth Group Approach
• Our approach
– Communications strategy and media relations are handled
by founder and account manager/director
– Medical expertise and background is at the core of the
offering
– Small experienced team, efficient and relevant use of
budgets
– We were founded to help small and medium sized
companies
– We create news for clients that is close to the product
Combine business, health and medicine
Founder
“What does
this mean
for the
company as
a brand, as
investment
or potential
partner?”
Strategic
Communications
Program
Medical Director
“Will this address
the needs of
healthcare
professionals and
consumers?”
Account Manager/Director
“How will this build sales for the product?”
Competitive Advantages
• Contact to senior personnel
– You get the people we promise and the people you pay for
• Cost
– True and honored estimates of fees and out-of-pocket costs
– No overrun of estimates without notification, consent and
prior approval
– Smarter use of technology and limited bureaucracy allows
us to work at half the price of other agencies
• Commitment
– Core group is the Corinth Group. We aren’t going
anywhere, no agency turnover
Corinth Group Bios
Russell LaMontagne, President & Founder
Russell oversees all aspects of Corinth Group Communications business. He has several years of
healthcare and technology communications experience in agency and academic settings. Previously
he was a research scientist and freelance writer. Russell earned a BS, Magna Cum Laude, from the
University of Massachusetts and an MS in geology and geophysics from Yale University.
Janene Ferrara, Vice President
Janene oversees new business and development of existing brands for Corinth Group. Prior to joining
Corinth Group, Janene was at Cohn & Wolfe where she worked on both healthcare and consumer accounts.
Janene has a BA from the State University of New York at Geneseo and an MFA in writing from Long
Island University, Southampton College.
Danielle Briscoe, Account Manager
Danielle oversees the development of the annual Lifescience Portfolio conference private equity platform.
Before joining Corinth Group, she managed healthcare events and editorial services at Technologic
Partners. She has a BA in Middle Eastern studies from New York University and is an MPH candidate at
Hunter College, focusing on community health education and infectious disease. In addition to her role at
Corinth Group, she also works with the director of community development at Project Achieve, an agency
involved in community education and clinical research for preventive HIV vaccines and other, non-vaccine
interventions.
Corinth Group Bios
Sifor Ng, Medical Director
Sifor is a consultant with extensive medical writing/editing experience. He has organized thought-leader
advisory boards for GI products, written slide atlases on GI topics, edited textbooks in GI and oncology,
developed journal seeding programs, and prepared multimedia exhibits. Recently he summarized a 5-day
HIV/AIDS conference for the National Institutes of Health. Sifor has a BA from Columbia College.
Mary Carney, Senior Healthcare Consultant
Mary brings a diverse clinical background to her role as senior healthcare consultant. Recent appointments
include clinical instructor in mental health at Northeastern University. Mary earned a BSN and MS in
psychiatric nursing from Boston College and a NP from Albany Medical College.
Matthew Shakespeare, Development Consultant
Matthew has has extensive experience in corporate relations, planned giving and campaign management. He
was director of major gifts at Harvard Medical School for four years, prior to which he was director of
corporate and foundation relations at the University of Texas. Matthew is a graduate of the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst and Harvard University.
Michael LaMontagne, PhD., Senior Scientist
Michael has two decades of practical research in biological sciences. His background includes research and
education and he has served as a biology instructor at Boston University and Lake Forest College. His recent
appointments include postdoctoral fellowships at Michigan State University and the University of California
Santa Barbara. Michael earned a BS in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a
Ph.D. in Biology from Boston University.
Contact Information
Corinth Group Communications
425 West 13th Street, Suite 602
New York, NY 10014
Phone 212.255.5340
Fax 212.219.5376
www.corinthgroup.com