Nearly every doctor and manufacturer of medical devices believes they have a made-for-television story, and most are right.
But what’s made-for-television is not necessarily the doctor herself, or the breakthrough technology the company has developed. It is the patient who is anticipating an upcoming treatment.
It is often fairly easy to identify a patient who, after a successful medical procedure, is willing to talk about his experience on television. But what a TV news producer really wants is the ability to broadcast a live procedure.
TV viewers stop changing channels and pay attention to live procedures, or the drama building up to a treatment. As a result, TV producers will often push back on a story pitch about exciting medical technology and hold out for a prospective patient. To increase the likelihood of success, we prefer to have a compelling patient case in-hand as we’re pitching a technology story. Doing so lends validation and timeliness to the story that is difficult to reproduce. Interestingly, while live procedures are tailor made for television, we’ve found that print journalists prefer them as well. Seeing a procedure first-hand can lead to a more accurate and colorful explanation of complex technology, which can ultimately result in a more readable story.
This Fox News Story is a great example. A male patient suffering from varicose veins shows how varicose veins are not just a “woman’s problem,” and how treatment is not driven by vanity. The bulging veins are a symptom of a progressive disease that can significantly impact a person’s health and quality of life. In the video, Dr. Gina Louie of Advanced Vascular Solutions treats the patient with VenaCure EVLT technology, made by AngioDynamics.
But it’s the patient, Brian, who is the focus of the piece and it’s his story that animates it.
Public Relations
Most reporters don’t want to talk with you.
Most reporters don’t want to talk with you. They want to talk with your customers.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch recently featured Stereotaxis on the front page of its weekly health section. The story led with an anecdote:
About eight years ago, John Rhoads of Godfrey began experiencing atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rate that causes poor blood flow to the body.
At first, it wasn’t too bad and prescription drugs helped. But it kept getting worse. The episodes, which left Rhoads weak and tired, became more frequent, sometimes every other day.
“As soon as I felt better, I would have another. I was worn out all the time,” he said. “It makes you feel like you’re going to pass out.”
Finally, on March 26 at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Rhoads, 74, had a radiofrequency catheter ablation in which energy is used to destroy tissues causing the problem.
The rest of the story is available here.
This is a classic example of the key role that patients play in medical device storytelling. But it goes beyond this one industry.
Customer-to-customer referrals are typically the most powerful. Customer-to-reporter referrals are the same.
Journalists at consumer-facing news organizations in particular are not inclined to interview the company behind the black box. They already know you think the product is great. That’s not news.
In healthcare PR, journalists prefer access to patient stories first, then input from doctors, or other experts if the subject is in a different industry.
They then prefer to speak with activists, clinical associations, or other third-party observers. In order of preference, the company is often last. This is especially true on television. Note the example from Good Morning Virginia’s discussion of the overactive bladder treatment by Uroplasty, and ABC News‘ presentation of Apieron’s technology for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma.
Even with a hard news hook, garnering local television and print media for any service-oriented business often requires the company know its customers well enough to identify those that can bring forward stories made possible with its product.
Social media is another matter entirely, requiring a different level of customer engagement. On that, stay tuned.