Intro: The following SHSMD Podcast is a production of DoctorPodcasting.com.

Bill Klaproth (host): On this edition of the SHSMD Podcast, we have another session preview for you. Title of this session, How We Built a Thought Leadership Engine to Amplify a Rural Healthcare System. Thought leadership, rural healthcare, it is needed right now. And Jason Lowry and Laura Sanders are going to be speaking on this topic during this year's SHSMD Connections Annual Conference in Denver, October 13th, through the 15th. Have you registered yet? No? What are you waiting for? Get on that, would you? So, let's get to Laura and Jason right now.

This is the SHSMD Podcast, Rapid Insights for healthcare strategy professionals in planning, business development, marketing communications, and public relations. I'm your host, Bill Klaproth. In this episode, we talk with Jason Lowry, Director, Public Relations and Reputation Management at ECU Health; and Laura Sanders, Associate Vice President at Jarrard, Inc., a division of Chartis. Jason and Laura, welcome to the SHSMD Podcast.

Jason Lowry: Hey, Bill. Thanks for having us.

Laura Sanders: Yeah, happy to be here. Thanks for having us.

Host: Absolutely. Well, Jason and Laura, we are looking forward to your session at SHSMD Connections 2024 in Denver. It's going to be a great conference, as it always is. So, we're looking forward to your session, How We Built a Thought Leadership Engine to Amplify a Rural Healthcare System. Laura, tell us about your session.

Laura Sanders: Yeah. So really, I just wanted to talk about the mechanics behind the work that we've been partnering on for the past almost two years. And through this work, we'll really amplify ECU Health as a leader in this space, which is rural healthcare.

Host: Very interesting. So, Jason, why did you have the vision of ECU becoming the national model for rural health and wellness? Why did you want to embark on this thought leadership program?

Jason Lowry: Yeah, I appreciate the question, Bill. ECU Health is a large academic health system serving a very difficult market in the country. And, you know, similar to other rural health communities, we just have unique challenges and really opportunities. When you think about looking at the data, we have higher burden of disease.

So, when you look at cancer and heart disease and stroke and diabetes, rural communities just have a much more difficult reality to deal with. And then, we certainly have traditionally underserved communities. We have a higher government payer mix. So, when you think about our patient population, Medicare and Medicaid patients, they're just unique challenges in terms of payers. And then, we have a vast geographical landscape. So, when you just think about a patient trying to get access to care. It's just oftentimes more difficult for that patient to get to their appointment.

So, given these realities, it's been an interesting opportunity for ECU Health to create a very unique model to address those issues and to overcome those challenges. And so, we're unique in a sense that we have a large academic medical center in Greenville, North Carolina, which is in the more urban area of the region. We are closely aligned and partnered, in fact, and clinically integrated with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, which allows us to train and educate the future generations of providers. And then, we have close partnerships with the ECU School of Nursing and community colleges. So, given these unique challenges and realities and then creating a unique system to deal with it, it really became our vision to share that model with others.

Host: So, it sounds like you saw an opportunity to lead when it comes to becoming a model for rural health and wellness. So, how did you go about doing this, Jason?

Jason Lowry: Given those challenges and realities that we deal with, we really don't have a choice as a health system, but to advocate for rural healthcare. So to have our leaders at the national level, state level, local level, talking about rural healthcare, advocating for the resources that we need, not only in Eastern North Carolina, but also for really all of rural healthcare. So, we need our leaders to be engaged. We need them to have a voice. They have to be a part of the conversation. So, the way that we've done that is we've leveraged, and really what we're here to talk about today, a process or a program, a thought leadership process that gives our leaders a path to really get their voice heard and to be a part of that conversation. So, we're very intentional in working with Jarrard to create a thought leadership program to elevate our leaders into that national conversation out of necessity.

Host: Yeah. I like how you say it's a thought leadership process. I think that's really interesting in giving your physicians, doctors, administrators, leaders a voice in this. So, Laura, we hear thought leadership a lot. "Oh, thought leadership that," or "Thought leadership this." So, can you tell us in your own view, you know, what is thought leadership and how you make it tangible, quantifiable? And I know Jason said that you've embarked on this the last two years. But generally, how long does something like this take?

Laura Sanders: Sure. So, thought leadership is essentially when you have an organization or an individual that is exceptionally knowledgeable or successful in a specific area, and they demonstrate that knowledge by promoting their content online and sharing their opinions and expertise in the media or public forums like LinkedIn. And at ECU Health, our leaders are experts in rural healthcare and truly understand the unique healthcare needs of those in rural communities, particularly those across eastern North Carolina.

So, we are working to position them as subject matter experts that can influence others based on their perspective and working to establish them as that key resource for a reporter or media outlet, statewide, regionally, and nationally where we can. But by elevating our leaders in this way as authorities on healthcare issues that are impacting those in rural communities, we're also highlighting ECU Health by extension so that ECU Health becomes known as an authority on rural healthcare.

In terms of how we're making it tangible, I'd say it helps to create an understanding of the connection between promoting and marketing yourself as a thought leader and promoting the organization through your work and experiences. There can be hesitancy sometimes among leaders to self promote, but it helps for them to understand what they're accomplishing through this work and that it's not just wholly about promoting themselves.

In terms of the quantifiable piece, it helps to track your progress. I know in our work on the back-end, we've kept a record of where we've been. So, what awards and opportunities we've put ourselves forward for, ensuring that we capture all proposals and submissions and the results along the way. On the front-end, we're also gauging our reach on things like LinkedIn posts. And the more momentum you have in terms of speaking opportunities, conferences, and events, that creates more fodder for LinkedIn posts and sharing your opinions and experiences. So, it's sort of cyclical in that way. The more you post and share your viewpoint and illicit feedback, the more interaction you'll have. So, the more you grow your online network, the further your reach, because then you'll have more people to be interacting with what you post.

And lastly, I'd say in terms of how long it takes, it can vary specifically based on how savvy a leader might be with, and also their philosophy on marketing themselves and their work for the good of the organization. If they're already promoting their work and their viewpoints and doing it well, then there's less training and education involved to get them started on the work in the front-end. Jason, anything you want to add there?

Jason Lowry: Yeah. I think just in terms of a thought leadership program is you really got to think about it as being ongoing. It's long-term. It's not something that you do and that you turn off, right? It's something that you're continuing to operate. You're maybe adjusting that thought leadership program depending on the leadership that you're speaking to. So, I think just thinking about it in terms of it being an ongoing and long term process is important.

Host: Yeah. I think that's a really good point. So, Laura, you were saying people don't generally want to promote what they do. They don't want to get into self-promotion or things like that. So, I know you'll go into this a lot deeper in your session, but maybe you can kind of give us the cliff notes here. How do you put a plan like this together and how do you get buy in among senior leaders for thought leadership work? And what did you ask them to do? Especially, as you said, some people just don't want to self-promote.

Laura Sanders: Sure. And I would say just off the bat, it's truly a team effort and a partnership. And our plan is based on best practices and what we've seen work well thought leaders at other organizations, but then it's tailored to ECU Health and incorporating feedback from their leadership.

You know, at the beginning we provided education on what the work entails, what thought leadership is, and what our strategy is, and how our leaders can get involved to help us elevate the organization. We've also provided personalized training for each of our thought leaders that is truly tailored to their area of expertise and key messaging and also based on their level of self-promotion today, like how active they are in the conference circuit, how active they are on LinkedIn, if they even have a LinkedIn presence, if it's up-to-date, those sorts of things. But, you know, as Jason mentioned, this continues to be an evolution based on the needs of the organization and when opportunities arise, so our plan is certainly fluid and flexible. And I'll let Jason speak to how we gained buy-in for the plan.

Jason Lowry: Yeah. So, in terms of buy-in, for us, it's been extraordinarily helpful to have an executive champion engage, so a senior leader in the organization that naturally engages in thought leadership work that's out there in the conversation, whether it's at conferences or various, meetings or other opportunities. And for us, it's Dr. Julie Oehlert, who's the Chief Experience Officer for the health system. So, she gets thought leadership, she's passionate about it, and she has an opportunity to have conversations with other senior leaders to encourage them to really buy in to what we're trying to accomplish and to get involved, to get engaged on LinkedIn, to participate in conferences.

So, I would highly encourage anybody that's pursuing, putting together a thought leadership program to really have a key executive or somebody that understands the importance of thought leadership. And then, some leaders are more naturally gifted at this work and kind of naturally elevate their own personal profile and carry that message where others are not. And so, part of our work in the thought leadership space is to work with Julie, Dr. Oehlert, to encourage thought leaders to participate and then allow us to help support them, to give them best practices, to work with them, to elevate their profile.

And then, the last point really I'll buy in is just, again, just reinforcing the need for flexibility and the need to think about each thought leader as a unique individual with different levels of experience and then adapting that program to meet their needs.

Host: Yeah. So, it sounds like if you get an early adopter, somebody to lead the way, that definitely helps for other leaders to follow, so that's a good idea. So, Laura, I know you'll go into this again. Like I said earlier, more in depth in your session, I'm sure you will be able to share examples too. So, what should be in a thought leadership plan? Can you briefly tell us what tactics you're using and how you do amplify the ECU Health vision and strategy through the voice of your leaders? Again, I know you'll show examples in the session, but maybe you can give us a little bit of insight into that, which you'll share in the session.

Laura Sanders: Sure. And I can't reiterate enough how important it is to start with that education piece. It really is impactful to ensure that your identified thought leaders fully understand the objective of the work and that they're engaged enough to be active online and at identified events to promote their work. And we're supporting them along the way by identifying those opportunities as well. We are proactively researching events and opportunities for each leader, like conferences, local events, awards that we can put them forward for, and ensuring that we keep up with it regularly to ensure we're not missing any of those deadlines.

But it's also helpful in terms of tactics to keep a tracker or spreadsheet to gauge our progress and track results and lessons learned along the way. Jason, do you want to talk about the vision and strategy?

Jason Lowry: Yeah. I think in terms of amplifying the message, I want to hone in on that, because it's important that you have the right message. So, you want to make sure that what your leaders are delivering makes sense. And it's accomplishing your overarching strategy. So, our thought leadership messaging when we work with senior leaders is to make sure that we hone in on exactly what they're saying and then how that connects to the actual work that they're doing. So when we talk about building the national model for rural healthcare, we need them to talk about actually building the model. So, we really hone that message. And then, when you look at all of our thought leaderships, we need to make sure that, you know, each message is unique to that particular thought leader and it's all interconnected and supporting the overarching message in our strategy. So, we spent a lot of time engaged in that part of the process.

And the, in terms of just really amplifying the message, we look at various platforms and outlets and mediums that we can leverage to amplify those messages, so various lists and awards. So we'll submit leaders for awards, conferences, speaking opportunities. And importantly on this, we look at every level of whether it's government or various partnerships, so the local, the state, the national. Because when you think about rural healthcare and all of those unique challenges that I talked about at the beginning, it's really about partnership. And yes, we're building the model, but we're doing that with other partners across the spectrum, so really leveraging every opportunity we can to amplify the voice of our leadership.

Host: Yeah. It sounds like you're kind of flooding the zone there. As Laura was saying, you know, you're looking for content for online events, opportunities, and then you mentioned you're always looking for new platforms, outlets, mediums. And then, the partnership and the collaboration aspect, I think that's really important as well. So, Laura, what have the results been so far?

Laura Sanders: As Jason mentioned, we've been partnering on this work for about two years now. And our work began to bear fruit at the end of '23. It was some of our senior leaders being identified on a handful of Becker's lists and named for awards. And some of our programs have been recognized at the state level. But, as we continue to mention, you know, it continues to be an evolution for us, although we are starting to see even more momentum. But there's more to come in this important work, and we're looking forward to sharing more details about that and our results at the SHSMD Connections Conference in October.

Host: Yeah. I think this is going to be a really great session for anybody that wants to improve on thought leadership or wants to go through the thought leadership process such as you are doing. This is going to be a really important session. Well before we wrap up, if I could get additional thoughts from each of you, that would be great. Laura, anything you want to add?

Laura Sanders: I just wanted to reiterate that we're excited to connect with folks at the Connections Conference in October, and I look forward to presenting this framework and sharing how other healthcare professionals can develop their own thought leadership program at their organization.

Host: Yeah, absolutely. And Jason, how about you? Final thoughts?

Jason Lowry: Yeah. Just really excited to, you know, to present and to share and connect with others. And I would say that no matter what your mission is or what your objective is as an organization, there's certainly an opportunity for thought leadership to play a role and to amplify and elevate that mission that you're engaged in. So, we're excited to connect with people and share our experiences and then also, you know, just recognize that we're going to learn from others as well. So, yeah, again, just really appreciate and excited about the opportunity.

Host: Absolutely. Well, the session is How We Built a Thought Leadership Engine to Amplify a Rural Healthcare System. Look for it on Monday the 14th at SHSMD Connections in Denver, October 13th through the 15th. Jason and Laura, thank you again. We appreciate your time.

Jason Lowry: Thank you. Appreciate it, Bill.

Laura Sanders: thanks for having us.

Host: And once again, that's Jason Lowry and Laura Sanders. They will be speaking at this year's 2024 SHSMD Connections Conference in Denver. Get registered now just go to shsmd.org, that's S-H-S-M-D.org/education/annualconference. Get registered today. And if you've found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and please hit the subscribe button so you get every episode chock-full of goodness people. And to access our full podcast library for other topics of interest to you, visit. shsmd.org/podcasts. This has been a production of DoctorPodcasting. I'm Bill Klaproth. See ya!.