Healthcare Reform and B-M ... Good Business?

Now that the Health Care Reform Bill has passed and the bill has been signed by President Obama one can assume there will be a flurry of business for everything “healthcare”, from medical plans, to pharmaceuticals, to doctors and their specialties. Everyone will need a lobbyist or Public Relations agency to help them with the image reconstruction that this new era of healthcare entails. There are endless possibilities on how to attract the interest of the public and try to interpret and explain the bill for the benefit of clients in the healthcare industry.

I can think of several areas: pharmaceuticals, physicians, hospital corporations, where image and crisis management will be needed as this new health care bill is introduced to the American public. As Mark Penn, CEO of B-M, wrote in an article for the Huffington Post, “The Health Care Jam”, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-penn/strategy-corner-the-heath_b_488064.html) the American public’s support and acceptance of this bill is less than desirable. The article expresses that during the time of other momentous legislations, like the Civil Rights, the public’s acceptance was at 60% even when the legislation was considered contentious. With the Health Care Reform Bill the public either does not understand the implications of the bill or does not comprehend it enough to feel comfortable about its passing. It will be up to savvy Public Relations agencies, which have extensive experience in Health Care practice, to serve the different interest groups, which are impacted by this legislation. Business could boom for PR agencies who have established themselves as experts on this field. Strategic planning and concerted media campaigns will be needed that are public-friendly and can assuage the fears of the impending changes to the American healthcare system.

It did not go unnoticed that Burson-Marsteller is already getting ready for the changes that are to come. This week it announced the hiring of Helene Ellison as Chair of Global Healthcare Practice (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100316006554&newsLang=en). Penn said during the announcement, “Helene has proven herself to be one of the leading communications counselors in the healthcare industry” Ellison, a former BMer, was onboard during the Tylenol Crisis in the early 1980’s and was VP of Healthcare when B-M represented more than twenty pharmaceutical therapies.

Is B-M ready for Health Care Reform? I think it is!