Archive: February 1998

Who: PacifiCare Health Systems acquired FHP on Feb. 14, 1997, and announces potential layoffs of 900 employees. When: First round of layoffs involving 700 employees occured in February, the second round involved 300 employees and… Continued

Crisis Communications Columbia/HCA Forms Compliance Committee Columbia/HCA’s besieged image suffered another setback when the FBI’s mission to uncover its alleged billing fraud schemes picked up momentum last week with the release of a comprehensive report… Continued

Contest for the Best PR & Marketing Campaigns of 1997 Healthcare PR & Marketing News is calling for entries for its second annual contest for the Best PR Campaign and Best Marketing Campaign. This award… Continued

To protect the "competitive and robust" Medicare turf in Denver, PacifiCare of Colorado (PC) mounted a public affairs showdown that sent the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) packing. Racing against the clock, the gutsy crisis… Continued

New Online Research Reveals Healthcare User Profiles Research firm FIND/SVP and healthcare communications expert Michael S. Brown released a "HealthMed Retrievers" report, last month, that discusses profiles of online healthcare information surfers. Brown, president and… Continued

Recognizing that women account for 80% of all healthcare decisions, Robert A. Becker launched its "Female Focus" division earlier this month that will specialize in crafting strategic, research-based communications to capture this market of healthcare… Continued

Health plan disenrollment rates are hovering as high as 40% in states like New York and California (hotbeds of HMO competition) making retention marketing a top priority. More and more health plans are putting some… Continued

Tools: “The Red Book” Hits the Streets The Public Relations Society of America has released "The Red Book – A Directory of the PRSA Counselors Academy," a 122-page resource that offers an alphabetical listing of… Continued

The Wilson Learning Corp., which is based in Minnesota, gives a Mickey Mouse watch to each staff member after three months of employment as a reminder to have fun while working for the company. And… Continued

It’s one thing to construct an entire PR strategy when the client’s product or concept is fully executed, and can be seen, photographed, touted on TV and blasted across the Web. And entirely another when… Continued