As far as healthcare crisis communications goes, the Columbia/HCA fiasco has provided healthcare communicators a brilliant and constantly unfolding case study in how not to handle a crisis involving a host of healthcare fraud charges. And with its new top brass at the helm, the jury is still out on how soon the tide will turn for Columbia's huge and mounting public perception problems (especially in states where the Feds are still hot on their trail), according to the crisis communicators we interviewed over the past few weeks.
Desperate Times, Extreme Measures
The highly publicized departures of former Columbia HCA heads, Richard Scott (chairman), David Vandewater (COO) and replacing them with Thomas Frist (new chairman and co-founder of Hospital Corporation of America-HCA) and Jack Bovender (new COO and Frist's former head of operations at HCA) definitely sent a strong "new day, new way of doing business" message, according to James Lukaszewski who heads up The Lukaszewki Group Inc. (White Plains, N.Y.), which handles crisis communications for 12 healthcare organizations.
But all eyes are on not only what they say but what they actually do about their serious "quality of care" blunders and volume-obsessed methods of doing business that have directly or indirectly impacted the whole healthcare industry on both fronts: the for-profits and the not-for-profits.
To recap, Columbia's newest overhaul initiatives for its 342 hospitals, 150 outpatients surgery centers and 570 home healthcare centers include:
Nixing its home health businesses and ending employee cash bonus incentives.
Ending its tug-of-war with federal government efforts to obtain investigation-related documents.
Standardizing Medicare laboratory billing and ending the controversial practice of selling doctors interest in Columbia facilities.
Frist unveiled these aggressive changes to national media outlets, nearly two weeks after taking the embattled healthcare giant over in mid-July. In a recent statement to USA Today (Aug. 7), Frist offers a sneak preview of what he envisions the new Columbia image to be: "I want to make changes that will clarify our company's business focus, institutionalize a corporate culture that emphasizes universal values of integrity, openness and cooperation." Never before has Columbia been so straightforward with the media.
Tell and Show
Unlike his arrogant predecessors, Frist seems committed to taking the government seriously, if for no other reasons than to get placate shareholders and investors who are more than paranoid about all of the fraud allegations that have branded Columbia and forced company shares to plummet. (As of this reporting, Columbia stock has nose-dived from more than $40 to the low $30s since mid-July when the federal probes widened.)
But what remains to be seen is how effectively they will handle the media on both a national and local level (which is arguably just as, if not more important). So far, Columbia's "no comment" approach to the media has gotten them nowhere fast, casting a far greater perception of "guilt" than if they had spoken up. And if their media relations approach to my inquiries for this article are an indication of how they intend to handle the media, the troubled healthcare chain will continue to get under the craw of reporters.
For a local perspective on how Columbia was handling its crisis, HPRMN contacted a Florida affiliate, since it is still being hotly investigated in that state. After repeated media inquiries on how Columbia Northwest Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale was handling the crisis, HPRMN was shuffled up the PR chain twice: once to a regional PR head then ultimately to corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. to Jeff Prescott, media relations manager at Columbia's head office. His media strategy to the local inquiry was to "seize all opportunities to announce major changes at Columbia." This strategy did not address the Florida situation.
Moving forward for hospitals that are not Columbia affiliates essentially means learning from Columbia's litany of media mistakes, according to Luckaszewski and Steve Wilson, president of The Wilson Group (Columbus, Ohio), which specializes in crisis management and media training for several healthcare organizations. "Learn to live with intense scrutiny.and know that the playing field has been changed for future mergers and acquisitions," offers Luckaszewski. While Wilson points out that for-profits "will have to play by a different set of rules," at least while the government is breathing down Columbia's back.
| In A Crisis, Don't Hide (they'll find you)
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As PR professionals, both Luckaszewski and Wilson emphasize being as preemptive as possible by taking steps to preclude regulatory intervention. These steps should include beefing up community relations efforts and fully advising management on the crucial importance of acting swiftly at the slightest hint of a regulatory probe.
For Columbia PR professionals, Wilson says that while its image problems are massive, they are not insurmountable. With its new leadership in place, he recommends that media relations on a local level become a greater priority and offers some key tips:
Don't take a "that didn't happen here" stance. Be forthright about new ways of doing business and back up claims with what Columbia's commitment to the community is.
Don't try to defend the entire Columbia name; speak for the particular hospital affiliate.
Look at ways to strengthen patient relations, and employee morale.
Make the CEO as visible as possible, communicating what each hospital's specific "quality of care" positions are. (Lukaszewski Group, 914/681-0000; The Wilson Group, 800/313-9424; Columbia/HCA, 615/344-9551)
What do you think?
As marketing and PR professionals, HPRMN would like to know your thoughts on how Columbia should forge ahead in its ongoing crisis, and also what healthcare communicators should do about the industry's latest blow to public perception? Fax or e-mail your responses to editor Ann McMikel at 301/340-1451; [email protected]. We will run the feedback in an upcoming issue.