Image by pearson0612 from Piaxabay
Hospitals and health systems made great strides in leading and engaging their communities through the teeth of the first wave of the pandemic, and establishing themselves as the credible source of information and resources, communities, who responded positively for the most part.
Once the first wave passed, most healthcare organizations moved
away from the pandemic messaging and quickly reverted to pre-pandemic marketing
efforts. It was too soon to completely
drop the pandemic community leadership and patient messaging activities, as I
have written before.
Now with SARS-CoV-2 infection rates skyrocketing daily across
the country, thousands of deaths per day, and hospitals at or near ICU capacity,
and canceling elective surgeries, hospitals have a high stake in the success of
the vaccination efforts now underway.
As reported in The Hill, "About
half of Americans willing to receive COVID-19 vaccine, AP poll finds"
only 47 percent of the American public state they will get vaccinated for
COVID-19. A more optimistic poll by Gallup on December 8 reported in The Hill, "Willingness
to get COVID-19 vaccine up 13 points since September," found that
63 percent would get vaccinated. For the sake of discussion, let's split the difference
then and assume that at least 50 percent of the US public will get vaccinated.
The surveys indicate that willingness to get vaccinated
rates are not high enough to achieve the promised land of community herd
immunity and some semblance of normalcy.
With the Pfizer-BioNTech
COVID-19 vaccine receiving FDA emergency use approval, and the vaccine
shipping on Sunday, December 13, it's time for hospitals and health systems to
get off the fence.
There is so much false and misleading information, the hospital
needs to reestablish itself and the credible source of information and lead patients
and the community to get vaccinated.
It is not the time to say the government or others have the responsibility
on our behalf to step-up with informational vaccination campaigns.
Your patients and community need a credible, trusted source of information about vaccination and education on the need to vaccinate.
Why?
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Image by PDPics from Pixabay |
Because the public has an apprehension and fear of the
unknown, much of that is because of false facts, historical mistrust of
government, foreign misinformation campaigns, anti-science lying political
leaders, and the anti-vaccination people. I also
understand that some individuals, for medical reasons, may not be able to
either.
We all want some semblance of normalcy in our lives after
the last year. The healthcare industry that responded in unprecedented ways with
speed, new efficiencies, and change to combat the pandemic's first wave needs a
return to some normalcy.
You have a significant stake in the success of the vaccination, the effort to get to herd immunity, and a normal return.
Be the credible source of vaccination information and community
leader again and bring this pandemic to a swift end.
Please.
Michael is a healthcare
business, marketing, communications strategist, and thought leader. As an
internationally followed healthcare strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare
Marketing Matters is read in 52 countries and is listed on the 100 Top Healthcare Marketing
Blogs & Websites ranked
at No. 3 on the list by Feedspot.com. Michael is a Life Fellow, American
College of Healthcare Executives. An expert in healthcare marketing
strategy, digital marketing, and social media, Michael is in the top 10 percent
of social media experts nationwide and is considered an established influencer.
For inquiries regarding strategic consulting engagements, you can email me at
michael@themichaeljgroup.com.
Connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Flipboard, and Triller. The opinions expressed are my
own.
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