Public Relations and Communications in Health Care Settings Credential

June 10 – July 15, 2025

The 2025 Public Relations and Communications in Health Care Settings credential course introduces the latest trends, strategies, and case studies designed to elevate your communications expertise. Featuring expert faculty, this interactive series emphasizes a use-case assignment as a cornerstone of learning, enabling you to develop an actionable plan tailored to real-world challenges in your role.

What You’ll Learn

Explore internal and external communication strategies for today’s health care landscape.
Understand the evolution of the digital workspace and its impact on communication.
Master brand journalism and content strategies across earned, owned, and paid media.
Build a strategic communications framework and learn how to measure its impact.
Gain strategic insights to position yourself as a trusted senior advisor and influence meaningful organizational change.

The Use-Case Assignment: Your Core Takeaway

Throughout the series, you’ll select a real-world challenge directly relevant to your role and engage in collaborative exercises with fellow learners and expert faculty. This hands-on approach ensures you’ll engage with the course content and apply it to a real-world example from your own organization.

Dates and speakers will be announced soon. Module descriptions may be updated as details are finalized.

Module 1: The Evolution of Internal Communication

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | 12:00 p.m. -1:30 p.m. Central

Trends in internal communication—new skills, new roles.
Communication models for driving effective change.
Leaders and managers as conversationalists.
Storytelling and purpose-driven communication.
Trends in channels/Intranets.
Trends specific to health care professionals today.

Speakers:
Kim Dwyer
Corporate Communications Director,
Marketing & Public Relations Department
Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Donna Teach
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Module 2: Reliable external communications practices for today’s unpredictable world

Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Central

Why adopting a crisis mindset is critical for health care organizations in today’s communications environment
How to keep your brand part of the conversation while avoiding discussion of sensitive topics
The state of health care journalism including the top topics that journalists want to cover today
Why creating content is not enough: Learn the tricks to amplify your message across multiple channels and win at the integrated external communications game
Measurement must-haves—how to show the value of your work to the C-suite

Speaker:
Lisa Arledge-Powell
President & Founder
MediaSource

Module 3: Strategic Frameworks for Communication Professionals

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 | 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Central

Framing Strategy
Goal Setting
Principals of Evaluation – measuring impact of communication efforts
Practical approaches to research and evaluations.

Speaker:
Donna Teach
Chief Marketing and Communication Officer
Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Module 4: Addressing Complex Public Relations and Communications Challenges in Health Care

This module explores complex PR communication challenges through real-world case studies and facilitated discussions. Participants will gain insights into how industry professionals tackle pressing issues and develop effective strategies.

Friday, June 20 | 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. Central

We Have Been Changed for Good: How Managing Change Transformed Our Internal Communications
What happens when the organization fulfills its strategic vision through an acquisition, but internal communications are not in place to handle massive change? Learn how the City of Hope team rallied to address a situation that had the potential to put employee engagement, retention and recruitment at serious risk. In this interactive presentation, we will demonstrate how listening, data analysis, and developing specially tailored communications channels helped us succeed. We’ll present concepts that can help any communicator faced with great organizational change ultimately end up with a stronger, more technologically advanced and far more effective and efficient communications program.

Develop a successful internal communications strategy and structure that includes listening, data, channels, brand and technology to increase employee engagement, even in the midst of significant organizational change.
Identify the technological requirements necessary for effective internal communications systems – even when underlying IT systems are not yet integrated. Learn how to successfully socialize operational changes to gather buy-in and adoption.

Speakers:
Heather Goowin
System Executive Director, Internal Communications
City of Hope

Sarah Andrews
System Director, Internal Communications
City of Hope

Module 4: Powering Partnerships: Strategic Communications and Marketing in Health System Partnerships

Thursday, June 26 | 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. Central

Explore the communication and marketing strategy behind the Henry Ford Health and Ascension Southeast Michigan joint venture. This session highlights key principles like transparency and audience-centric messaging, marketing to patients, and innovative tactics to foster engagement. Learn how a “push and pull” model ensured consistent updates, built trust, and created alignment across diverse stakeholders, including team members, physicians, and patients. Gain insights into addressing sensitive topics, crafting effective campaigns, and enhancing the patient experience. Designed for healthcare communications and marketing professionals, this session provides actionable strategies to navigate large-scale integrations with clarity and confidence.

Develop strategies for tailoring communication to address the unique needs of diverse stakeholder groups, including leadership, employees, patients and external audiences.
Identify key principles of effective communications, such as audience-focused messaging, and understand their role in fostering trust and alignment during organization change.
Apply practical tools and engagement tactics, such as storytelling, feedback channels and sensitive topic management to create communication plans that inspire and drive engagement and retention during health care integrations.

Speakers:
Hannan Deep
Director, System Strategic Communications Operations

Jennifer Day
Director, Service Line Marketing
Henry Ford Health

Module 5: Participant Case Studies

Throughout the series, you’ll select a real-world challenge directly relevant to your role and engage in collaborative exercises with fellow learners and expert faculty. Hear from your peers and present your own project. This hands-on approach ensures you’ll engage with the course content and apply it to a real-world example from your own organization that you can use.

Check out this SHSMD podcast for a successful example of how one of our learners turned their case study into a meaningful and creative project through this course.

Module 6: Empowering Health Care Organizations: Proactive Publicity and Crisis Response Strategies

Tuesday, July 1, 2025 | 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. Central

In today’s rapidly changing health care landscape, organizations must be equipped with proactive strategies to control their narrative and protect their reputation. This session empowers health care leaders with tools to navigate crises, engage stakeholders, and align publicity efforts with organizational goals. Attendees will learn to craft strategic messaging that resonates with diverse audiences, address social determinants of health, and adapt to evolving challenges. Through interactive exercises, role-playing, and actionable feedback, participants will gain the confidence to manage high-pressure situations and maintain trust while positioning their organization for success in an uncertain future.

Craft culturally competent and audience-specific messaging that addresses social determinants of health and engages diverse populations, ensuring effective communication in an evolving health care landscape.
Develop tailored crisis communication strategies that enable health care organizations to navigate high-pressure situations, maintain trust, and align messaging with organizational growth priorities.
Enhance media and stakeholder engagement skills through actionable feedback and role-playing exercises, equipping participants to control their narrative and proactively build public trust during times of uncertainty.

Speaker:
Amanda Peterson Martin
Director, Public Relations
GAVIN