Health Care Case Studies

Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention

Overview/ Objective
The Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, a subset of the Harvard School of Public Health, determined through its research that nearly half of an individual's cancer risk could be eliminated by simple lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise. The center hired Denterlein Worldwide to announce the results of its study.

Strategy
Denterlein Worldwide worked with center leadership to cull the report's basic news nuggets, train key spokespeople to interact with the media and to distribute the report to a wide variety of print and electronic news outlets. Denterlein also prepared a response to potential negative comments from the tobacco industry.

Results
The center received coverage in several notable media outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, Boston Globe, Associated Press and ABC World News Tonight.

Children's Hospital Boston — Cause for Wonder

Overview
Children's Hospital Boston, the largest pediatric research center in the world, sought to build positive awareness of its research mission and to leverage its outstanding research reputation in support of its Cause for Wonder fundraising drive. Children's hired Denterlein Worldwide to educate reporters and editors about the breadth and depth of the research conducted as Children's, as well as its implications for the treatment of childhood disease. It sought a series of stories that put a human face on the research — from the investigators who toil in the hidden labs to the children and their families who benefit from their efforts.

Objective
The main goals of the campaign were to:

	Elevate national presence through media coverage of the hospital, specifically commitment to innovation and research.
	Lay the groundwork for an enhanced national reputation.
	Build awareness among national donors to support the $200 million capital campaign.

Strategy
Denterlein Worldwide developed a national media campaign that began with an intensive media audit. We queried 150 reporters, editors and columnists across a wide array of national press outlets to determine prime areas of interest. We then hired a freelance science writer, combed 600 research studies, interviewed physician leadership for ideas, developed a list of 80 story ideas, interviewed 30 to 40 researchers and pared that list down to a working document of 40 research and pediatric advancement stories.

Results
Denterlein achieved Children's story goal within the first six months of the annual drive. Of particular note is that we were able to achieve this while the Gulf War, the Rhode Island nightclub fire and the SARs epidemic saturated the news. The day before the U.S. invaded Iraq, we arranged a three-hour satellite tour for one of our psychiatrists to discuss the best way to talk to children about war. Twenty-three major market stations across the country signed up for the interview, including leading outlets in Philadelphia and Chicago. A total of 3 million viewers tuned in and another 6 million listened via radio. We also were fortunate to have one of the world's true SARs experts on staff. We sent out an advisory on his availability and he appeared on 20/20, CNBC and NPR as well as several print outlets.

New England Baptist Hospital

Overview/ Objective
New England Baptist Hospital has long been considered a hidden jewel in the Boston health care community. A member of the CareGroup health system, NEBH specializes in orthopedics, as well as offering a full range of hospital services. Denterlein Worldwide worked with NEBH to boost its profile in the media and to increase public awareness of the hospital, particularly among key program areas.

Strategy
Denterlein Worldwide met with individual in a number of NEBH's key specialty areas. We used these meetings as a basis to craft story ideas and then reached out to a wide range of reporters to introduce them to NEBH. In addition to media outreach, Denterlein also counseled NEBH on several potentially troublesome issues, including labor issues and power shortages.

Results
Our efforts yielded two major results: a number of stories in both the print and broadcast media and an increased awareness of NEBH as a source for experts in the fields of orthopedics, sports medicine and occupational health therapies. As part of our normal outreach on both breaking news and possible feature stories, we regularly contacted all statewide healthcare reporters and broadcast producers on NEBH's behalf. As a result, there is a greater awareness of NEBH and its specialty areas among the media and there has been an increase in medical calls directly to NEBH, particularly among broadcast reporters.