Gulden Mesara

🔬 Delve into the pivotal role of Immedia in shaping the narrative surrounding the groundbreaking Human Genome Meeting. Learn how our strategic PR approach elevated understanding and dialogue around the ethical, legal, and societal impacts of genome research, driving innovation in medicine and beyond in our new Results blog. #Genomics #MedicalInnovation https://lnkd.in/eQVPMTcp

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Last week, I had the chance to attend the PRWeek Healthcare Conference in NYC with my colleague, Theresa Liddy Dolge. I enjoy this conference every year, not simply because it’s fun to reunite with former colleagues and clients, but we get to hear from and connect with industry leaders on some of the most pressing health issues. Here are some of the biggest learnings we took away: 👩‍⚕️ Women’s health was a hot topic, with period positivity serving as the opening keynote. While progress has been made in how we talk about and treat menstruation, women in the US – more than in any other country – still face shame and restrictions related to their periods, including a lack of free period products in schools. Brands have an opportunity to lean into existing gaps to address women’s health head on and educate consumers in a positive way. 🤝🏼 Authenticity is key in creating partnerships to advance health equity. Organizations that meet communities where they are can make a bigger, more positive impact. 🔓 Weight stigma and bias are pervasive in our society. Although we’re seeing significant innovations in how we treat excess weight with anti-obesity medications, they are out of reach for many people living with obesity due to high costs or supply issues. It’s clear we can’t simply educate about obesity and weight health – we have to support and advocate for systems that ensure greater access to treatment. 👩🏾‍🤝‍👨🏻 What we say and how we say it is critical – particularly when trying to reach historically disregarded communities. From grassroots organizations to advocacy at the state level, it’s important for healthcare communications to be backed and informed by research and have set KPIs to maximize impact. As healthcare continues to evolve, our mission at Inizio Evoke Comms remains the same, to make health more human. I’m proud today and every day to be part of a forward-thinking global agency that supports clients in advancing health and wellbeing for patients and communities around the world.  #PRWeekHealthcare #Pharma #Communications 

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Erin here, back again with a Real Chemistry readout of the health policy discussion few are talking about from last night’s VP debate with Leslie Isenegger, MPP.   Over an hour into the debate, Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz were asked about the cost of healthcare. The back and forth mostly focused on who has done more to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (Vance seemingly countering efforts by the Trump administration to weaken the law). But Vance echoed Trump’s vow to repeal the ACA and touted pre-ACA high risk pools, which led to a sharp rebuke from Walz.     On drug pricing, it’s no surprise that Gov. Walz highlighted the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program as key to VP Harris’s efforts to bring down costs. Vance claimed the average increase in drug prices under the Trump administration was 1.5% compared to a 7% increase under the Biden administration.     Vance appeared to be citing a HHS report tracking drug prices from 2017-2023. He may have conflated a 7% average price increase on single source drugs from 2022-2023, which was due to price increases on higher priced drugs, with a different statistic that showed 1.6% increase in the consumer price index from 2017-2018. Interestingly, neither candidate mentioned the $35 insulin cap despite both candidates taking credit for that measure.      This debate demonstrated that both candidates would plan to make drug prices a priority of their administrations, despite reports that Congressional Republicans are targeting Medicare price negotiation as a target for repeal in 2025.   https://lnkd.in/dHssXaPe

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Mark your calendars! So excited to offer this free 3-part marketing webinar TA series this fall in September, October, and November. If you’re in HIV, public health, or just interested in how to better market for social good, come join us. You can join for one, two, or all three sessions. #marketing #publichealth #advertising #HIV #socialgood #technicalassistance #onlinelearning #datavisualization #graphicdesign #communications #publichealthcommunications

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Valuable insights from WE Communications health team detailing the connection between corporate reputation and physician's prescribing decisions. Also goes deeper into the different layers of corporate reputation, from corporate to disease-specific and product level nuances.

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Want to get reporters' attention at the next health tech conference? Check out the results of Innsena's survey of healthcare reporters, which digs into our journalist friends' preferences on which conferences they attend, how they spend their time on site, and how to get their attention during these notoriously chaotic shows. Bottom line: Be helpful, not self-promotional View the news release here: https://lnkd.in/dwywMp5p Check out our sweet infographic, with some more context stats: https://lnkd.in/dh-_TYDv

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Time and time again, we see social media influencer campaigns promoting healthcare topics or brands miss the mark 🤦‍♀️ but as a mom [and millennial swiftie...IYKYK 💁‍♀️], this one hits different.   At Inizio Evoke Comms, we pride ourselves in developing authentic and compliant activations that tap into the power of influencers to help improve health and wellbeing. Being a mom, I empathize with Brittany and the parents of kids with life-threatening food allergies. In this case, she deserved better counsel and her followers deserve complete and accurate health information – especially when it comes to their kids.   This feels like another missed opportunity. When #InfluencerMarketing in healthcare is done well, you can change the trajectory of someone’s life for the better. You can help someone learn about a new community where they finally feel seen, give them the confidence to have a difficult conversation, or direct them to learn more about a potential medicine or reach a diagnosis they’ve been searching for. We can do better! What healthcare influencer campaigns have you seen flop, or even better, which ones have you seen hit the mark?   Here’s the story 👇

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>>>> 81% of surveyed physicians say corporate reputation influences their perception of medicine value at least moderately. (I can't get 81% of my family to agree to a pizza topping, so this is a staggering number!) Our latest #WEBrandsinMotion health report, "Reputation Rules: Unlocking Physician Prescribing Power," has a TON of fascinating, actionable takeaways for pharmaceutical companies, like the stat above. The full #ReputationRules report is at this link and is very much worth your time: https://lnkd.in/g3VcQzJv Kudos to my WE Communications Global Health colleagues on this powerful report!

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My colleagues in healthcare PR may think I’m nuts, but one milestone I’ve always loved creating strategies for are FDA Advisory Committee Meetings. The Ad Com is up there with an approval, in terms of the number of media scenarios to plan and content assets to create, and how arduous the process is, but I love it. If you’ve ever sat in a room at the FDA watching an Ad Com, you’ve seen the real-time reaction to evolving conversation. It can change a thousand times and shift in a thousand directions, and PR pros like us are charged with deftly navigating one of the most unique intersections in communications. There aren’t many moments in time like an Ad Com - when science and data anchor a (sometimes contentious) discussion involving corporations, independent physicians, industry watchdogs, government regulators, and the voice of the people…and public health outcomes are at stake. What could possibly go wrong? Still, I love the opportunity to strategize ways to capitalize on this dialogue and contextualize the news with a compelling story that demonstrates how a company may solve a critical healthcare problem. Communications strategy is pivotal to anticipating how media could contextualize information and how external audiences may be influenced by the coverage they consume. At an Ad Com, reporters are poised to react almost instantly, making the job of the PR pro exponentially more challenging. Having sat in that room at the FDA many times, here are a couple of considerations for focusing your strategy planning and ensuring your company or client is set up to drive the conversation and incorporate their perspective into coverage throughout the news cycle. 1/ Map the Influencer Environment - Plan for stakeholder-specific scenarios; account for how each group needs to be engaged - Consider all audiences; media, analysts, patients, and KOLs are key, but advocacy groups, investors, payers, and internal colleagues should also be a focus  - Anticipate the public comment roster; plan for who may speak, so you know if any watchdogs, detractors, and citizen-journalists with social media followings might pose a threat 2/ Define the Story & Be Creative with How You Tell It  - Don’t just announce the vote. Calibrate understanding of why that was the outcome and plan to activate KOLs, patients, and advocates as supporters - Be willing to be non-traditional; partner with Medical/Legal/Regulatory and create a protocol for onsite material reviews, so you can issue near real-time responses via social channels that will add important context for reporters who are shaping their stories during the Ad Com  Are you also a PR pro who’s enjoyed time at FDA headquarters? Are you currently planning for an Ad Com and want to talk strategy? Or perhaps you’re someone who enjoys an aspect of your work that others tend to shy away from. I’m curious to hear what it is and why you find it exhilarating, while others find it terrifying. Let’s connect and talk PR. 

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"In our business, without buy-in from practitioners, patients, and healthcare staff, even the best-laid strategies can falter," says Benjamin Yu, founder of LPI Physical Therapy. While business strategies and advancing technologies are key elements for driving change, I believe that the relationships we foster within our organizations will ultimately determine our success as change management leaders. By prioritizing trust, communication, and intentional practices, leaders can genuinely engage with their employees while creating an environment where employees feel valued. This approach is key to driving change by building a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. #Leadership #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalDevelopment

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At Bayer we talk a lot about "patient-centricity" - putting the patient at the centre or everything we do. Seems obvious, right? But it's easier said than done and it's something we work at every day. And then, you wake up one morning and it's World Patient Safety Day and your colleagues share this simple book. A story, designed to help children and their families through a time of uncertainty... a story with no sales target, a story with no business goal, and you know that patient-centricity is more than just good talk... Happy World Patient Safety Day! #TeamBayer

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Congress's #healthcare legislative work before the elections is nearly complete. But as Foley Hoag LLP policy adviser, Eli Greenspan, tells POLITICO, "a stopgap spending bill that runs through the middle of December instead of a shorter-term patch would indicate that lawmakers are more seriously eyeing a substantial end-of-year package." From #telehealth to #PBM reform, Read on for the top healthcare issues facing a lame-duck #Congress and how we could pay for new policies. 👇

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🇺🇸 As we approach the 2024 U.S. #ElectionDay, North American businesses are facing two very different potential realities. From manufacturing to healthcare, tech to energy, industries are preparing for shifts that could reshape their strategies and operations. The USMCA will continue to play a major role, but the outcome of this election could redefine stability in North America. 💼 What’s at stake for your industry? Find out more on out latest publication at #LLYCIDEAS 👇🏻 https://ow.ly/jKWb30sHKmM

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I am so honored to have contributed to FINN Partners' #MentalHealthMatters series by interviewing the incredible Laura Erickson-Schroth, M.D., M.A., Chief Medical Officer at The Jed Foundation (JED). We chatted about JED's latest report which investigates the barriers that teens face when considering seeking help. Dr. Erickson-Schroth's biggest takeaway from the research? "Teens want to reach out to adults in their lives, and our job is to create environments where it feels safe to do that." Read the full Q&A here: https://lnkd.in/gpZrirDK

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Last month, Johnson & Johnson announced that it now supports more than 100 community-led organizations in marginalized neighborhoods with the goal of advancing quality health care in the U.S. A part of the company’s $100 million "Our Race to Health Equity” initiative, this outreach includes cooperation with hyperlocal community organizations, medical professional organizations, universities, historically Black fraternities and sororities, food banks, among others. Taking a grassroots approach rather than one that is top-down is precisely what I hope to see more of in the corporate sector. Here’s why: This is more than just philanthropy. By focusing its investments on local groups, J&J can ensure that the funds are used with community input – and leverage a network of organizations already equipped with valuable insights into the needs and challenges of underserved communities. What’s more, this is how partnerships between businesses and communities develop and grow. By engaging directly with established community advocates, corporations can create mutual trust and meaningful two-way communication with communities, ensuring lasting benefits that extend far beyond an initial investment.

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This one goes out to all those who love reading scientific journal articles: I've been fascinated watching this exchange of ideas play out in the responses to a NEJM evidence paper published in February this year. You can read the published pieces here: https://lnkd.in/dNMeE9dw The original paper published was an analysis of several studies that looked at the health effects of e-cigarette use and dual use, and concluded that health risks were higher than commonly understood. Two responses pushed back, and brought up questions of sample size and bias in the studies analyzed, and ultimately questioned the validity of the original papers' conclusions. As a reader with a background in science communication, I see this as an interesting question the practice of science in general. Science is supposed to be without bias. By extension, people who call themselves scientists are supposed to be able to accept new data as they are -- albeit with the careful checks that protect against quackery. But knowing the original authors' previous work and understanding the concerns of peers, it seems to me like the original authors had a clear agenda they want to push -- which goes against the pursuit of knowledge overall. There's no doubt that all researchers in this exchange are seeking to improve public health. But there's no way that public health will benefit when research carries a particular agenda. All of us -- not just scientists -- have to be humble when evaluating new products and research. That means being wrong sometimes, and moving quickly to correct the record. That's part of the learning AND scientific process.

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From South Park to Oprah (and everyone in between), the potential of GLP-1s to revolutionize obesity care is generating buzz around the globe (major understatement!) Cast your vote using PanelPicker, so Real Chemistry can bring the topic of #obesity care at #SXSW, in a way that inspires industry leaders to work with consumers, clinicians, and change agents to unlock a more productive healthcare system: https://bit.ly/3LRrchU

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