When the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) was contacted by ABC-TV's "Day One" program in the fall of 1994 about an upcoming program focusing primarily on anesthesiologist fraud, AANA's board was a little nervous.
By the time the story was being promoted for the Jan. 26, 1995, program, it was titled "Anesthesia Mishaps" and the AANA was denied their request to be included in the program. As it turned out, the board had a reason to be nervous. Information they sent to ABC-TV concerning Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) was never aired.
CRNAs have been practicing for over 100 years and are certified to administer anesthesia independently. However, they are not anesthesiologists, who are medical doctors, and the relationship between the two groups of professionals always has been uncomfortable.
"Day One's" premise was that the common practice of "medical direction," or anesthesiologists legally billing for four simultaneous operations, left patients dangerously in the hands of less qualified and less reliable CRNAs. Even though the safety records of both groups are equal, said Betty Colitti Stuffers, director of public relations. with AANA, "Day One" used the personal opinions of anesthesiologists and isolated CRNA cases instead of factual statistics.
In order to counteract the upcoming program's anticipated negative characterization of their profession, the AANA chose to act fast. Before the airing of the program, AANA contacted Chicago-based PR firm Media Strategy to help organize a $73,000 campaign to educate the public about anesthesia as well as the safety of CRNA care.
An important factor in the success of the campaign that was crafted, "Ask Me About Anesthesia," was solid preparation. Because there was no way to know exactly what the contents of the piece would be, Media Strategy and the AANA sat down and formulated several different alternatives. Because AANA had few members in some states, Media Strategy aided the AANA in contacting local ABC stations and reporters from healthcare journals about the possibility of follow-up stories.
They also began to mobilize AANA members through a survey and planned a workshop that was conducted by Media Strategy in conjunction with the association's annual "Spring Assembly of States" conference in April 1995.
After the program aired, the association continued its aggressive campaign. Media Strategy helped draft a letter to ABC detailing 19 ways in which the "Day One" program had misrepresented CRNAs.
The AANA sent a copy of the letter, as well as other materials, to all its members and encouraged them to write their own letters to "Day One." All in all, ABC received over 1,000 letters in response to the program. As a result of those letters, "Day One" broadcast a rare "skim back" on Feb. 9 when they acknowledged the amount of correspondence they had received. Forrest Sawyer read excerpts from several letters, including the Media Strategy-drafted letter from Mary de Paolis-Lutzo, president of the AANA, and letters from several anesthesiologists.
The AANA also reached the public through national and local television (paid ads and public service announcements) as well as print ads.
The availability of cash to buy air time (the AANA spent about $30,000 on the CNN ads) as well as a little luck gave the AANA a lot more exposure: their three paid ads on CNN ultimately aired six times because of scheduling conflicts, reaching an audience of 1 to two million viewers.
According to Susan Silk, president of Media Strategy, the key to a successful PSA is "aggressive, in your face" marketing. Well-equipped with the materials they received at the training workshop, the members were persistent with the decision makers at the local networks.
Half-page print ads in the April 24, 1995, edition of The Wall Street Journal and the April 24 and 28 editions of USA Today featured a question and answer format about anesthesia and included the 800 number. According to Stuffers, the readership of those ads was around 16 million. Judging by the thousand-plus calls to the 800 number, Stuffers concluded that the campaign was a success. Callers were sent a letter from the president and brochures about anesthesia. In the long run, this campaign will continue as long as its members are willing to work at it.
According to Stuffers, AANA chapters in Florida, Louisiana and Missouri are still actively campaigning through paid air time, PSAs, brochures at state health fairs and shopping malls, and even signs on street cars. (AANA, 847/692-7050; Media Strategy 312/944-7398)