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COVID-19 as a catalyst for telehealth: using public relations to assist in widespread public adoption

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COVID-19 as a catalyst for telehealth: using public relations to assist in widespread public adoption

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Content Callahan Copyright 2021

COVID-19 as a Catalyst for Telehealth:
Using Public Relations to Assist in Widespread Public Adoption

By Ruby Callahan

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL
OF COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS

May 2021

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Acknowledgments

A special thanks to my thesis chairs Burghardt Tenderich, Melanie Cherry, and Fred Cook for
pushing me through my paper, encouraging my ideas, and challenging me to go frther. Im
indebted to Dr. Kimberly Tilley, Karrie Hawbaker, and Dr. Adrienne Scherenzel-Curry for their
contributions to my research and willingness to participate. I am eternally grateful to my parents,
siblings, and friends for their continued support, late night encouragement, and interest in my
research. Many thanks to the teachers, TAs, and Professors ho took the time to listen and
nurture my ideas and interests. Lastly, a major thank you to Avi McClelland-Cohen for her
continued mentorship and initial encouragement into pursing my passions in academia.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... 1
Abstract: .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: Background ................................................................................................................... 1
Public Perception Pre-2020 ...................................................................................................................... 3
Telemedicine through the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve .......................................................... 5
Chapter 2: Rapid Adoption of Telehealth with COVID-19 as a Catalyst....................................... 6
Public Perception Post Introduction of COVID-19 .................................................................................. 8
Various Audiences .................................................................................................................................. 10
Concerns ................................................................................................................................................. 12
A Note on Wearable Devices ................................................................................................................. 14
Chapter 3:Industry Perspective ..................................................................................................... 15
PR/Marketing Perspective ...................................................................................................................... 15
Phsicians Perspectie .......................................................................................................................... 17
Insurance Perspective ............................................................................................................................. 19
Chapter 4: Suggested Practices ..................................................................................................... 21
Benefits of Telehealth/Remote Medicine ............................................................................................... 21
Communication Goals ............................................................................................................................ 23
Key Messaging for Consumer Groups ................................................................................................... 23
Audience Segmentation .......................................................................................................................... 24
Key Strategies ......................................................................................................................................... 27
Chapter 5: Ethics ........................................................................................................................... 31
Chapter 6: Conclusion................................................................................................................... 32
Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 34
Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... 41
Appendix B ................................................................................................................................... 42
Appendix C ................................................................................................................................... 47

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Abstract: The purpose of this white paper is to help public relations practitioners at major tech
and health companies to educate and promote to consumers, physicians, and insurers the benefits
of telemedicine and methods to enable widespread adoption of this technology. This paper will
provide analysis of the background into telemedicine, the catalysts for wider adoption, insights
into public perception, and suggestions for PR campaigns and practices to promote greater use
and adoption.
Definitions:

Telehealth/Telemedicine: Telehealth is the use of electronic information and
telecommunication technologies to provide care when the patient and the doctor are not in the
same location at the same time (The U.S. Department of Health and Services, 2020). These
technologies can be as varied as a smartphone or laptop camera, communications software (such
as Zoom) or a wearable device for continuous monitoring.
Consumers: Interchangeably used with patients throughout the paper, consumers are customers
of physicians or other healthcare services who engage with the healthcare space.
Payers/Insurers: A person or company that underwrites an insurance risk; the party in an
insurance contract undertaking to pay compensation.
PR Practitioners: Public relations professionals who actively work in the technology/health
sector and are involved in working with virtual care communications.
Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve: This model believes that there are five different states
of technology adoption that a market goes through from inception to total assimilation (Moore).

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Introduction
No one could have anticipated the level of world-shifting events that the year 2020
presented for the human race. The many twists and turns of the year led to nearly all educational,
social, athletic, workplace, and health care experiences being moved online or canceled. The
changes to healthcare practices would perhaps come as a great surprise, due to the nature of
doctors appointments, as ell as the indstrs notoriously slow adaption of new technology.
However, 2020 and the nature of COVID-19 have changed healthcare and the health technology
industry permanently, with the adoption of telemedicine and telehealth appointments across
America. It is up to public relations practitioners to ensure that those changes are enacted and
accepted by the general public and promoted within the industry. Given that most every other
aspect of the daily lives of Americans has been digitized- from banking to shopping to dating;
moving healthcare into the digital world is a natural progression that has suddenly grown in
popularity based on necessity. This paper will provide background information into telehealth,
and will discuss the catalysts for wider adoption, insights into public perception, and suggestions
for PR campaigns and practices to promote greater use and adoption.
Background
Telemedicine has existed for much longer than it is often perceived. In 1879 an article in
The Lancet discussed how using the telephone could potentially reduce unnecessary office visits
(Nesbitt and Institute of Medicine). A Radio News Magazine from 1924 envisions a world where
a doctor can attend to a patient via a video call (eVisist, 2020). While this was only a dream at
the time, the idea of using technology to simplify health communications has long persisted and
is slowly becoming a reality. Telehealth became much more established in the 1950s, 60s, and
70s, with the University of Nebraska becoming the first to establish video communication for

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medical purposes by setting up a two-way television to transmit information to medical student
across their campus (eVisit). Starting in 1971, NASA began a partnership between the Public
Health Department, the Department of Defense, and the Indian Health services to create the
Space Technology Applied to Rural Papago Advanced Health Care (or STARPAHC) that
provided Native Americans on the Pagao reservation in Arizona and astronauts in orbit access to
remote medical care such as x-ray photographs, electrocardiographs, and other important
medical information from the Public Health Service Hospital (Nesbitt and Institute of Medicine).
This innovative project helped grow research in the field of medical engineering, which led to
growth for telemedicine.
While adoption of telehealth has grown in medical settings, NASA, rural medicine, and
in the DoD; general adoption in the public has not, and has been stagnated for several years.
However, many believe that telemedicine holds the keys to the future of integrated medical care.
The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) sponsored a workshop for the
Institute of Medicine in 2012 dedicated to examining how the use of telehealth technology can fit
in the U.S. health care system (Nesbitt and Institute of Medicine). HRSA noted that current
technological developments, such as mobile health care, social networking, wearable devices,
and a push for electronic health records are changing the delivery of health care in both rural and
urban environments (Nesbitt and Institute of Medicine). They also note that barriers to telehealth
include issues related to reimbursement for insurances, workforce changes, and potential costs.
The workshop assessed the evolution of telehealth from 1996, when a report on
telecommunication for health care was released, which announced that better evidence of its
effectiveness needed for wider adoption. The findings from the 1996 paper to the workshop in
2012 demonstrated the leaps telehealth had made within those two decades alone.

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In a 2019 survey conducted by American Well, a Boston-based firm that provides
telehealth services for physicians, health systems, and employers found that in 2015, only 5% of
physicians reporting using telehealth to see their patients but by the end of 2018, nearly 22% of
physicians were using telehealth in their practices (Devitt). The survey also found that
phsicians willingness to try telehealth in their practices increased from 57% to 69% during that
same time period. The survey results also revealed that physicians believed telehealth helped
improve patient access to care, reduced overall costs, and was a more efficient use of their time.
In 2017, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers published a report on how
medical care has been focused on in-office eperience for far too long, and that remote hea lth
care is the ftre of medicine specificall focsing on the potential for net -generation
deices to become integrated into a fll remote healthcare monitoring sstem ( Sprinkle). This
article reveals that not only were medical professionals starting to embrace technology, but the
designers behind technological devices (mechanical engineers) were also starting to shift their
focus to the future of healthcare moving to virtual platforms.
Public Perception Pre-2020
Even though the medical community is slowly starting to come around and embrace
telemedicine, the public perception has grown stronger and stronger over the last decade. In late
2019, American Well released their Telehealth Index: 2019 Consumer Survey, which showed
that 66% of Americans were willing to have a telehealth visit with their doctor. Their findings
showed that convenience and faster service drove most consumers to embrace telehealth, with
financial savings being the second driver. However, while 66% of respondents said they were
willing to embrace telehealth, only 8% of respondents had actually had a telehealth visit with a
doctor at the time of the survey (American Well). In 2015, Beckers Hospital Review found that
consumers of all ages were interested in telehealth, but millennials expressed the highest interest

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at 74%. Beckers Hospital Review also found that consumers were more interested in a video
consultation prior to going into an in-person appointment ((8 Findings on Consmer Telehealt h
Preferences)
In 2018, consulting firm Deloitte found that consumers where overwhelmingly on board
with virtual health options but showed that the healthcare industry at the time was unable to
deliver telehealth support (Abrams and Korba). Their report showed that while 77% of
consumers have never tried a virtual health care visit, 57% of respondents are willing to try and a
further 75% of consumers were interested in using digital assistants to receive medication alerts
and to monitor health. Deloittes insights also showed that outside of healthcare, most consumers
use technology in almost every other major facet of their lives, including online banking,
shopping, and fitness, meaning that the transition of healthcare into a digital service would not
necessarily be a major adjustment (Abrams and Korba). However, one of the major concerns
facing consumers in using telehealth, according to this survey, was the quality of care received,
with 53% of consumers who tried telehealth reporting that the health care professional they saw
was as professional or as knowledgeable as someone they would have seen in person. Those
concerns were shared among consumers from the 2019 America Well consumer study as well,
with concerns regarding quality and lack of awareness being cited as key issues deterring
consumer adoption (American Well).
American Well found in their 2017 edition of the Telehealth Consumer Study that nearly
20% of respondents would switch their primary care provider if another primary care provider
offered telehealth visits for convenience (AmWell). Parents with children under the age of 18
were even more likely to say they were interested in switching, with 74% interested in seeing
their primary care physicians through telehealth. A key takeaway from the 2017 study is that

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consmers are clearl interested in conenient access to healthcare Not onl that, bt
consumers are willing to try telehealth for many needs from chronic conditions to post-
discharge follow-up (AmWell).
Clearly, prior to COVID-19, consumers were interested and open to the idea of
telemedicine. In an age of easy-to-access technology and daily integration to technological
devices into everyday lives, it is easy to see how healthcare would be the next step. Consumers
were already using wearable devices to help monitor their fitness levels, and a natural
progression would be into health and wellness. However, it is not just telehealth that has had to
accelerate remote engagement due to COVID-19. Most major school systems across the nation,
from elementary to the university level, had to suddenly shift to a remote learning model for the
indefinite future, with students in nearly 40% of school districts across the United States being
fully remote for nearly eight months since March of 2020 (CBS News, School Matters). In April
of 2020, nearly 51% of Americans reported that they were working remotely due to restrictions
on businesses in an effort to curb the spread (Brenan). Many of these industries were forced to
quickly adapt to the changing news and safety concerns that arose with COVID-19. Without a
major incentive, telemedical integration would have been a gradual and eventual change, not a
sudden shock to the system. However, with the arrival of COVID-19, the industry was forced to
change quickly for the betterment and safety of both their consumers and health care
professionals.
Telemedicine through the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve
For the purpose of this white paper, researchers will be approaching the adoption of
telemedicine through the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve, which places consumers into
five different groups with distinguished buying habits and describes the adoption or acceptance
of a new technological product or innovation. The Technology Adoption Lifecycle is a bell curve

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with the five consumer divisions equivalent to where standard deviations would fall (See Figure
1) (Moore). The consumer groups are divided into five profiles: Innovators (Tech Enthusiasts),
Early Adopters (Visionaries), Early Majority (Pragmatists), Late Majority (Conservatives), and
Laggards (Skeptics) (Moore).
Innovators, or Tech Enthusiasts, are the first individuals to adopt the new innovation and
are willing to take risks, while Early Adopters will adopt an innovation or new technology after
weighing the benefits of early adoption in helping them maintain a strong position within their
community (Business To You). The Early Majority adopt an innovation after a varying degree of
time and is longer than both Innovators and Early Adopters. Late Majority will adopt a new
innovation after the average member of society and will often approach the innovation with a
higher degree of skepticism than the majority of society, while Laggards are the last to adopt an
innovation and are typically averse to change (Moore). Digital marketing notes that Laggards
typically tend to be advanced in age, which will be a concern in adopting Telemedicine due to
the high level of benefits remote care can offer the elderly (On Digital Marketing). Later in the
paper, potential key messaging that could be used for each of these five consumer groups will be
shared in an effort to help inform public relations practitioners about the best practices to take
when advocating and advancing telehealth (Moore).
Rapid Adoption of Telehealth with COVID-19 as a Catalyst
What was once a slow and steady acceptance of telehealth for both consumers and
physicians across the country was suddenly pushed into overdrive with the emergence of
COVID-19 and the immediate shutdown of many industries and mandatory stay-at home orders.
It could be suggested that COVID-19 has changed the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve of
telehealth, as it has practically eliminated several stages of the model by instantly creating a

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market-ready majority due to the rapid changes that have occurred within the industry. For many,
COVID-19 has become the catalyst for widespread adoption of telehealth and has significantly
shortened the adaption timeline for providers, physicians, and payers. According to the Rural
Policy Research Institute:
The coronavirus pandemic precipitated significant but temporary changes
in telehealth policy and the use of telehealth services to ensure access to needed
health serices dring a pblic health emergenc Prior to Janar 2020, major
reports and stdies shoe d a lo leel of telehealth adoption and se ( Koonin).
This report showed that telehealth use has expanded significantly following both policy and
payment changes designed to expand access to services during this pandemic.
Fortnes Brainstorm Health Conference, hich took place virtually in July of 2020,
focused on the variety of ways the pandemic has changed the healthcare industry forever, with a
key feature being the use of telehealth and their belief that the trend will soon become a
permanent addition to healthcare (Mukherjee). Dr. Vivian Lee, Verily Life Science president of
health platforms, sees the benefits of virtual care in both virtual physician appointments and
chronic condition care platforms, hich hae enabl ed people to care for themselves in even
better as ith adances in digital diabetes platforms a prominent example (Mukherjee). Dr.
Steven Corwin, President and CEO of New York Presbyterian, found that the demand for
telehealth has surged in most of the nations prominent health systems. In his own hospital, only
4% of outpatient visits were telehealth visits prior to the pandemic. However, during the crisis, it
has risen to nearly 85% of all outpatient visits, with 95% of all outpatient psychiatry visits now
being conducted virtually (Mukherjee).

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In April of 2020, only one month after COVID-19 had been declared a pandemic in the
United States, business journals were already writing about the surge in demand for telehealth
companies and products. The LA Business Journal noted how many telehealth companies were
having to rapidly adjust their business models to help seize the opportunity the pandemic
presented, with many companies shifting their telehealth segments from the sidelines to the
center of their businesses (Fine). The co-founder and COO of SteadyMD Inc., said that in the
first fe eeks of the pandemic, their bsiness has seen abot 10 ears orth of change in
telehealth and that man proiders epect these changes to become a permanent staple of the
healthcare industry (Fine). Global consulting agency McKinsey and Company found that
consumer adoption of telehealth has skyrocketed in the U.S. due to massive acceleration from
COVID-19. In 2019 only 11% of U.S. consumers used telehealth. By May 2020, 46% of
consumers were now using telehealth to help replace cancelled healthcare visits. McKinsey also
found that providers have had to rapidly scale offerings and were now seeing nearly 50-175
times the number of patients via telehealth than they did pre-Covid (Bestsennyy et al.). Pre
COVID-19, the total annual revenues of major U.S. telemedicine players were around $3 billion,
however, with the rapid acceleration of consumer and provider adoption of telehealth, McKinsey
estimates that up to $250 billion of U.S. healthcare spend cold potentiall be irtalied
(Bestseenyy, Gilbert, Harris & Rost, 2020).
Public Perception Post Introduction of COVID-19
The public perception of telehealth following the arrival of COVID-19 has largely been
positive, and many consumers are relieved that they can easily access their medical providers or
manage their chronic conditions from the privacy and safety of their own home. In a survey
conducted by Medical Economics during the pandemic, 42% of respondents have used a
telehealth service since the beginning of the pandemic, with 65% of respondents who have used

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a telehealth services saying that visits are now more convenient and worry free (2020). More
importantly, the survey also found that 51% of respondents believe that they would continue to
use telehealth services due to convenience and choice of physician (Reynolds).
In a report published by the CDC analyzing trends in the use of telehealth during
COVID-19, researchers found that the 154% increase in telehealth visits during the emergency of
the pandemic correlated to positive consumer sentiment about use of virtual appointments
(Koonin). Penn Medicine found that nearly 67% of their patients viewed their video and
telephone appointments held during a peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as positive and
acceptable substitutes to an in-person appointment (Penn Medicine).
IT Vendor Sykes surveyed over 2,000 adults from across the United States to assess their
perceptions and experiences with telehealth during the pandemic. This study found that over
two-thirds of the respondents have said that the pandemic has increased their willingness to try
telehealth (Siwicki, 2020). Respondents cited convenience, safety, and same-day scheduling as
main reasons for continuing with virtual care. However, the study also highlighted several
concerns, including a general lack of awareness of telehealth and concerns about the quality of
appointments (Siwicki, 2020).
Overall, the pandemic has catapulted the exposure and usage of telehealth to a higher
position than previously seen in the last decade. The swift change to telehealth due to COVID-19
has caused consumers to become more friendly to the idea of using virtual or remote care. In
order to help this consumer comfort level to continue to grow and resonate, PR practitioners
must take advantage of the newfound exposure and help work with medical companies,
physicians, and consumers in order to integrate this medical technology into daily life.

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Various Audiences
It would be remiss to not mention that the impact that telehealth will have on consumers
lives will differ due to different adience s background and experience. Although in need of
further study, research has shown that various audiences often have different perceptions of the
effectiveness and usefulness of telehealth and remote medicine. Age and race/ethnicity were the
two biggest mitigating factors in determining consumer perception, and are often mentioned as a
concern for consumer adoption and integration.
A major audience concern, repeatedly mentioned throughout literature, is that telehealth
and remote care are inaccessible for elderly consumers. Often viewed as technically illiterate,
Seniors would be considered Laggards or Skeptics in the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve.
Generally, most studies have highlighted the fact that younger consumers within the 18-24 age
range are most likely to already be using telehealth or are the most open to making the switch
(Beckers Hospital Reie , 2015). Penn Medicine, in an internal survey of patients during the
pandemic who used their telehealth services, found that while patient satisfaction was high
overall, older patients rated telemedicine appointments lower than their peers. Penn Medicine
points to older patients unfamiliarity with video visits and some of the different technologies
available as potential causes (Penn Medicine). Healthcare advocates worry that low income
seniors may not be able to afford the devices or have technological literacy could be vulnerable
to slipping through the cracks with remote healthcare (Konrad). However, not all evidence points
to doom and gloom with seniors. Deloitte found that while older consumers tend to be less
interested in using technology for health care than younger consumers, some seniors are
increasingly technology-savvy and are interested in using technology for future health care needs
as it is a minimal disruption for daily life (Abrams and Korba). Although adaption might take
longer, there is still hope that elderly consumers can and will integrate virtual care into their

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medical routine. Messaging for this audience will have to focus on creating the easiest possible
technological experience, while focusing on the benefits of minimal exposure and ability to
access high qalit care from the comfort of ones on home.
Race and ethnicity played another factor into consumers perceptions and experiences
with telehealth both pre- and following the introduction of COVID-19. Penn Medicine found
(similarly to seniors) that patients who identified as Black rated their telemedicine appointments
loer than peers, casing for the stds first athor, Maria Serper to call for frther
inestigation into the reasons h these particlar patients dont feel telemedicine meets their
needs to the same etent as their peers (Penn Medicine ). In 2012 the International Journal of
Telemedicine and Applications found that while both Black and Latino participants perceived
and appreciated the access to physicians via telehealth, Black participants expressed more
concerns about confidentiality, privacy, and the physical absence of a specialist than Latinos.
Researchers attributed those differences to reflect lower levels of trust in new healthcare
innovations among Black participants resulting from the legacy of past medical abuses in the
U.S. medical system. Racial inequalities in the healthcare system are not new and have been
continually documented in racial/ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged
patients, and participants may have feared that new innovations would continue to widen the
chasm between better quality of care (George et al. 6). Additionally, economically
disenfranchised people historically have less access to broadband internet. According to Pew
Research, older, less educated, and poorer Americans are much less likely to be online due to
cost concerns and unreliable access (Stansberry et al.). Lower-income Americans typically have
fewer options for online access at their disposal (such as a tablet, a phone, and a computer), so

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many rely on smartphones as their only source of broadband internet at the home (Stansberry et
al). These issues help create even more barriers for access to telehealth and medical literacy.
The Institute of Medicine reports that medical illiteracy and distrust of technology are
critical barriers to the implementation of telemedicine in urban underserved settings, highlighting
a need for better communication efforts in order to reassure patients that previous past abuses do
not will not continue to define the medical industries future (Nesbitt and Institute of Medicine).
However, the study did find that both Black and Latino participants perceived that the reduced
waiting time, immediate feedback on a diagnosis and course of action, increased access to
specialist and multiple medical opinions to be advantages to telemedicine compared to traditional
methods.
Concerns
Many of the studies and findings on telehealth both prior and during COVID-19
addressed the many concerns with implementing telemedicine on a wide scale for permanent
prominent inclusion in the healthcare industry. While some of the concerns directly involve
things outside of the realm of public relations, such as broadband issues and technological
access, many of these concerns directly informed the development of the key public relation
suggestions for strategies, messages and tactics for widespread use and integration further in this
paper.
Fortnes Brainstorm Health Conference highlighted several key concerns that must be
addressed by policymakers, physicians, and PR practitioners so that widespread adoption is
possible. A main concern discussed was the issues that rural communities, which already have a
shortage of hospitals, would face should they turn to telemedicine simply because the broadband
infrastructure needed to support virtual visits must be built. Another concern addressed were
issues with insurance coverage, but according to Dr. Lee, those concerns are slowly being

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addressed as Medicare and other large health programs have begun to cover technologies and
programs that help patients virtually (Muckherjee, 2020).
McKinse and Compans Telehealth report cited similar concerns. Their research fond
that providers concerns focused on security issues, workflow integration, and reimbursement.
For consumers, key concerns were lack of awareness, education on types of care needs that could
be met virtually, understanding of insurance coverage, and a gap between consumer interest in
telemedicine (76%) and actual usage (46%) (Bestsennyy et al). The report also noted that the
broadening access and integration of technology along with improvements in information
exchange will be crucial to the long-term success of telehealth in a post-pandemic world.
In 2012, the National Academy of Sciences also began researching the benefits and
challenges in telehealth. While some of their concerns from their panel discussion are dated due
to technological advances, many of their concerns remain even now. Reimbursement was cited
as a major barrier for widespread adoption of telemedicine, with restrictions implemented due to
previous fears that telemedicine will allow proves to abuse the healthcare system or would lead
to patient overutilization (Findlay). The actual adoption by both health care providers and
consumers was another concern from the panel with researchers pondering whether resistance to
innovation in telemedicine would cause competition and slow usage. The New York Times cited
reimbursement and concerns of quality of care as two of the biggest reasons preventing
widespread adoption by hospitals and the government alike (Abelson). Some patients have
concerns that virtual health visits are limiting access due to language communication barriers and
technological difficulties setting up video calls, which are necessary for most virtual
appointments. For some patients who will not consider a future telehealth visit, skepticism

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around the quality of care and inability to get a proper treatment or diagnosis virtually were the
main deterrents (Wicklund).
A Note on Wearable Devices
Virtual and remote care could not be possible in some cases without the use and
implementation of wearable devices. While not the main focus of this paper, wearable devices
present an opportunity to scale up remote patient monitoring while allowing greater lines of
communication between patient and physician. Additionally, large companies are taking note of
the possibilities and are quickly moving into this space, creating a need for PR practitioners to
help craft messaging for public appeals of trust and security for widespread integration.
Alphabet, Fitbit, Apple, Medtronic, and Amazon have all become major players in both in
invasive and non-invasive wearable devises designed to both monitor and communicate health
and wellness updates for patients and providers.
Similarity to the rise in usage seen in telehealth during the pandemic, wearable devices
have also seen an increase in purchase and use as a way to help detect COVID-19 and as
communication reminder for preventative action against the disease. According to Marketplace
Podcast, wearable technology companies have transitioned to using their data to predict COVID-
19, and currently many wearable devices are undergoing major clinical trials to get a better
picture of their medical utility (Ryssdal 12:10). The newest Apple Watch software and hardware
updates included features that consumers will appreciate for their potential usage during COVID-
19- a handwashing reminder and timer, as well as a blood oxygen saturation monitor (Farr;
Orellana). Oura smart rings were included in UCSF studies to test if body temperature, heart rate
and respiration can detect early onset of COVID-19, and were used religiously by athletes
throughout the pandemic (Kent).

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Due to the increase in usage and prominence in the media, wearable devices must find a
strategic place in the telehealth and virtual/remote care new age. With growing use and an uptick
in features designed to be integrated into daily life, wearable devices will have to communicate
to consumers core messages of quality, reliability, benefits, and accessibility in order to see a
permanent change in consumer behavior post COVID-19. Technology and health companies are
investing heavily into wearable and remote devices, and without expert communication support,
the science, intent, and benefits of those innovations will be lost and growth significantly scaled
back (Poynter). 2020 alone has shown great divisions in scientific trust, so competent, accessible,
and confident communication will be critical for the growth of this industry. Not every consumer
will be a die-hard technology fan, determined to buy into every new available device. Many will
need consistent messaging, proof, and accessible literature on the benefits and possibilities
before purchase or integration.
Industry Perspective
This paper gathered information directly from the source to help inform the suggested
solutions for strategic messages, strategies, and tactics. Pulled from physicians, insurance
industry analysts reports, and expert medical and technology communicators, these insights will
help future PR practitioners develop stronger messaging surrounding telehealth.
PR/Marketing Perspective
Health communicators across a variety of companies will need to examine past successful
practices and campaigns to create effective messaging and strategies for the widespread public
adoption of telehealth. While some audiences will be easier to persuade than others, it is vital
that all audiences are reached out to and informed about choices available for receiving medical
care. According to Karrie Hawbaker, Account Director at Health and Commerce and a seasoned

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health PR practitioner, the most successful public relations tactics for health technologies include
a coordinated and integrated approach to communication, with no one tactic standing above the
rest. Creating a campaign that reaches audience members through the publications they are
reading, as well as, through social media and consumer media, helps create an integrated
campaign that meets audience members where they are. Hawbaker highlights the importance of
doing deep audience research in order to find compelling insights and understanding the attitudes
and opinions of the audiences that practitioners are trying to reach to create really great and
compelling content. Hawbaker notes that for communicators to reach select audiences, they can
no longer afford to solely be focused on media relations and traditional PR tactics. Instead,
communicators must be willing and able to work on integrated campaigns and innovative
practices to effectively reach these audiences. Taking advantage of the new mediums available-
such as Instagram Stories or TikTok, will help reach a wider audience and provide tangible
feedback into the success of the PR campaign.
Additionally, Hawbaker believes that for PR professionals to create a strong health
technology PR campaign, they should analyze well-executed campaigns created for consumer
technology devices. Particularly looking at the common strategies and tactics that were
successful in reaching new audiences for such brands as Apple, Samsung and HP will help
develop effective strategies. After working in diabetes wearable technology, Hawbaker saw the
importance of sharing individual stories and celebrating the users as a great way to draw in new
consumers and to highlight the various benefits that that piece of technology has to offer. By
showcasing the products integrated in daily life and the sers personal story, diabetes wearable
technology companies were able to create personal stories that comforted potential consumers
and showed the variety of benefits the product had to offer.

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Hawbaker touched on the important role that ethics plays in medical communications,
noting that regular consumer products do not necessarily need to make efforts to reach audiences
that are not their primary target. However, in healthcare, Hawbaker believes that PR practitioners
have an ethical responsibility to provide companies with at the bare minimum the option to reach
non-target audiences, since the product is a potential for greater health benefits. In changes to the
standards of care, Hawbaker stresses the importance of making a good-faith effort to reach all
groups and connecting with multi-cultural marketing and public relations organizations in order
to reach various audience with proper cultural-sensitivity. When analyzing Early-Adopters,
Hawbaker does agree with the importance of reaching and targeting this audience as they can
help drive adoption into the larger society.
Phician Peecie
PR practitioners could not do the critical communication work needed for telehealth
without consulting those who actually use and provide their services through the virtual care.
Although initially slow to adapt, physicians have been critical in ensuring that their patients
receive quality access to medical care throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forced to make the switch practically overnight, some physicians have found new additional
benefits to the practice, as well as some concerns that must be addressed for greater adoption and
integration.
Faculty Physician and Co-Medical Director of USC Student Health Dr. Tilley M.D.
helped direct the transition to virtual care for both faculty and students, starting in March of
2020. USC Student Health was already planning on creating a virtual care portal for students and
had executed several meetings earlier in the year to discuss the potential roll-out and strategic
planning that needed to occur in the fall of 2020. However, those plans were changed overnight

18

when the university decided to execute a trial period of online classes prior spring break. Once
the magnitude of the pandemic was realized, the university moved all classes and health
appointments online with little sign of returning to in-person before fall 2021 semester.
For Dr. Tilley, switching to virtual care for students provided significantly more
advantages than challenges, and was an easier switch than previously anticipated. USC Student
Health has been able to enormously expand their access to students by providing longer hours
and weekend appointments due to only needing a physician to conduct the appointment virtually,
as opposed to needing a front desk staff, attendings, and other office care support staff. Students
now have access to more resources and physicians, and have all of their concerns and questions
addressed faster and in an easier fashion than previously. An unexpected benefit Dr. Tilley has
found is that the general population of patients she is servicing are younger, and therefore have
greater access and understanding of technology, making it easier to conduct appointments and
allowing for physicians to provide greater levels of care which allows for more students to be
seen and have all medical concerns addressed. Not having to have students come to a physical
location, park, and find their office has diminished students being late or missing appointments,
which is an unanticipated benefit for providers as well.
One interesting benefit that USC providers have made note of is that students actually
seem more comfortable communicating with physicians over Zoom, and have been more
forthcoming in conversation regarding sensitive medical topics that they might not otherwise
have disclosed or felt comfortable with in person. For transgender and non-binary students, Dr.
Tilley highlights the benefit of only interacting with the physician, who has access to their
medical chart and preferred names and pronouns, as opposed to in-person appointments where
students interact with a multitude of support staff who might misgender or deadname them

19

without realizing. Most telehealth appointments consumers interact solely with the physician,
minimizing risk and allowing for trans or non-binary consumers to feel safe and establish trust.
Dr. Tilley believes that without COVID-19, the medical industry would have eventually
caught up and embraced virtual medicine, however with COVID-19 as a catalyst, she would
have seen that transition to be extremely slow and un-embraced by all aspects of the medical
field. For example, without COVID-19 forcing appointments online, USC Student Health would
have never offered physical therapy (PT) appointments virtually because they did believe it
would be possible to conduct. However, since COVID-19 forced their hand, they have come to
realize that PT appointments can successful be conducted virtually with the same level of care.
Some concerns that Dr. Tilley had regarding fuller integration of telehealth included a
lack of access to technological devices needed for virtual care, as well as privacy and security
concerns for users. Not all potential consumers have a secure location to conduct their
appointment, which causes concerns regarding patient privacy and care. Dr. Tilley also
acknowledged that with virtual care, invasive testing procedures for illness such as cancer are
impossible to do over a screen, and must be conducted in-person. While there are limitations to
what virtual care can do, overall Dr. Tilley has felt that the support provided by virtual care has
granted greater access, than ever before, and views this as a positive change.
Insurance Perspective
Insurance companies have taken note of the rapid changes and expansion to telehealth
and remote healthcare with some trepidation. A major concern for much of the healthcare
industry in America is whether or not insurance companies will adapt their policies for full
reimbursement of virtual health appointments, which has long stymied potential growth for the
remote care industry (Findlay). However, while there are some concerns that the insurance

20

industry is not ready to fully commit, there are other positive signals that indicate long-term
change is finally occurring within the industry.
One signal from the insurance industry that change is on the horizon is the bi-partisan
support for making permanent changes to Medicare to fully cover a broad range of virtual
services. Members on both sides of the isle have drafted legislation or voiced support or
continuing with broad telehealth coverage and reimbursement, with nearly 20 telemedicine bills
being brought to the house and senate floor since May of 2020 (Abelson). Many are hopeful that
priate insrers, hich initiall folloed the federal goernments lead into epanding coerage
for telehealth appointments during the early stages of the pandemic, will continue following their
lead as they make some of their coverage solutions permanent. Many of the nations biggest
insurers, such as UnitedHealthcare and Anthem, have not yet decided on permanently adopting
any of the policies put into place during COVID-19. Some experts believe that to convince
insurers that paying for virtual care is beneficial, doctors must be able to demonstrate that they
can move beyond treating simple easy to diagnose ailments to helping manage chronic
conditions such as diabetes or depression (Abelson).
However, the ability to demonstrate that management of health conditions can be done
virtually, communicators need to set up telehealth and remote care up for widespread adoption
and success so that the effects can be greater studied and legislatively supported. The good news
is that in some states where telemedicine was widely adopted pre-pandemic, insurers have
determined that the technolog sed to treat patients ia telemedicine as indistingishable
from a face-to-face isit in part becase of rapid adances in enabling telehealth technologies
(Herman). Technological advances and consumer and legislative support will help create lasting
change to the telehealth industry.

21

Suggested Practices
As the above research supports the ability to integrate telehealth into our daily activities,
the following practices are a natural progression towards that outcome. To make these changes to
the telehealth industry permanent, medical communicators need to be strategic in their promotion
and explanation of telemedicine and remote care. Highlighting the benefits followed by easy to
understand communication and repeat reminders will help bring telehealth to the forefront of
consmers minds and encourage continued use.
Benefits of Telehealth/Remote Medicine
While the concerns regarding telehealth must be addressed, the potential benefits for
both consumers and physicians provide a clear rational for widespread implementation. All
different parties (consumers, doctors, and insurers) benefit from the potential reduced cost and
reduced waste of unnecessary medical office visits. Consumers have the ability to see specialists
that might otherwise be costly and time consuming to visit in other locations across the country,
providing for greater access to medicine. Additionally, telemedicine provides physicians with
more integrated access to patients, and will be critical for rural areas lacking specialists or
localized medical care.
Virtual care offers physicians the opportunity to expand their practice outside of just
local patients- practices could extend throughout the state or even nationally for critical
specialists. While telehealth not only offers consumers better and more choices, it also provides
physicians with an expanded patient base and greater capacity for patient processing. For
physicians managing patients with chronic conditions, telehealth can help improve patient
quality outcomes by enabling easier chronic health management via remote technology (Provider

22

Tech). Given the heightened risks that COVID-19 poses for those with chronic illness, telehealth
both minimizes consumers health risk while still providing the medical attention they need.
Parents benefit from telehealth with same-day appointments and the ability to see a
provider at difficult hours -- a huge support for parents of sick children in the middle of the
night. For many, telehealth comes with the opportunity to choose the physician a patient has a
relationship with and removes awkwardness over uncomfortable subjects by having the
participants be in separate spaces. Many consumers struggle with social anxiety, and having
health care appointments conducted through video calls or virtual chats can help mitigate those
concerns and remove fear of judgement. Lastly, the connivence of telehealth will help consumers
integrate virtual care seamlessly into their daily lives, allowing for critical health questions to be
resolved faster. John Hopkins Medicine highlights comfort and convenience as two key benefits
for consumers, noting that consumers no longer have to take time off of work or arrange for
childcare in some cases (Hassefield). Hopkins also notes that man consmers conslt their
doctor with a family member or trusted person to help ask questions, take notes, and corroborate
information. Telemedicine allows for trusted members to be included in appointments no matter
their location and time difference, providing some comfort for nervous patients (Hasselfeld).
Remote medicine and wearable devices allow for greater consumer autonomy and control
over their health journey, and provide a critical information flow for both physicians and
patients. Telehealth is a huge ally to wearable devices, which are seeing arise in popularity and
use. Wearables help empower consumers to both monitor and improve their health by keeping
tabs on sleep patterns and exercise habits, while also monitoring vitals and providing instant
feedback (McGrail). The rise in remote care means that for many consumers, wearable devices
will provide their physicians with the most accurate information available and cut down on the

23

number of follow up appointments without sacrificing the quality of care (Poynter). Physicians
have also found that continuous monitoring provides insights that allow for the personalization
of treatments that then improve patient outcomes (Pisipaty). Telehealth and wearable devices go
hand in hand in providing benefits for consumers and physicians, and must be taken into account
when creating messaging regarding telehealth. The numerous benefits to telehealth are key
communication points to help reach all of the different target audiences.
Communication Goals
The overall communication goal is to assure Americans (including physicians,
consumers, and payers) of the overall validity and quality of telehealth and promote the adoption
and integration of virtual healthcare into consumers normal health routine. Although our
communication goals might become personalized depending on the audience segmentation, the
overall key goal still stands as the highest-level communication outcome desired.
Key Messaging for Consumer Groups
Four key messages have been developed to guide the overall messaging to audiences
regardless of their status on the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve. These messages will help
to bring overall awareness to telemedicine and help consumers better understand the
opportunities virtual and remote care provides. While these messages will vary by audiences, the
core pillars and intent behind the messaging will remain the same. They are as follows:
1. Telehealth is a viable virtual alternative that is comparable to an in-person visit in
terms of quality and professionalism and is an option available to most consumers in
the United States.
2. Telehealth offer consumers greater accessibility to physicians and specialists in
locations that might be cost or time prohibitive.

24

3. Telemedicine will easily be able to fit into consumers current lifestyle and can help
provide greater autonomy and control oer ones medical care.
4. Telehealth is a safe and secure technology option that protects consumer medical
information and confidentiality.
Audience Segmentation
Based on the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve, there are different types of
audiences that we will need to address. In addition, we have identified three key audience
differentiators and discuss a variety of ways to tailor specific messages and strategies for each.
However, many of these adiences experience overlap, but the reasons why they might be
reluctant to adopt and embrace a new medical technology are vastly different. In Figure 2, a
sample messaging map based on audience helps simplify the suggestions given.
Moore identifies five different consumer divisions and provides a few suggestions for
how to tailor messaging to each. While the Innovator and Early Adopter are crucial in gaining
early success, in the case of telemedicine the rapid advancement of COVID-19 places the curve
firmly in the Early Majority phase (see Figure 1). For both the Innovator and Early Adopter,
messaging that highlight the convenience and ability for personal medical autonomy will be
sufficient for convincing. For the Early Majority, Late Majority, and Skeptics/Laggards audience
segmentation, different, more specific messaging will be critical for embracing virtual care.
Crucially, identifying gaps in information to create audience specific messaging will be
necessary in order to specifically tailor messaging (Moore). For Late Majority and
Skeptics/Laggards, Moore suggests repeated consistent messaging over time to help build trust
(Moore). Additionally, creating messaging that is consistent with lower medical and technical

25

literacy will be important for those two groups as often technical illiteracy translates to
skepticism and concerns over elitism.
In addition to the consumer groups that Moore has identified, there are three main
audience differentiators that will require additional messaging and strategic thought. Many of
these communities have suffered under previous medical injustices in the past and struggle with
trusting health care officials. Others have socioeconomic factors that prevent telehealth from
creating a real impact without additional help and resources.
For Black audiences, medical distrust is higher than others due to a history of horrific
racial injustice in the United States (Kirtz). As previously discussed, while both Black and Latino
participants perceived and appreciated the access to physicians via telehealth, Black participants
expressed more concerns about confidentiality, privacy, and the physical absence of a specialist
than Latinos (George et al. 6). Messaging for Black audiences must reinforce the similarities in
quality and care via telehealth and highlight measures that physicians take via telehealth to
maintain patient confidentiality. For Latino communities, those concerns still existed but were
supplemented with additional concerns of the qualifications of their physicians. Without seeing
their physician in-person, Latino audiences had higher levels of concern and distrust (George et
al. 6). Messaging for Latino audiences must reinforce the quality of education that all physicians
go through, and provide additional language to the qualifications that each physician has.
Emphasizing that the quality of physicians will stay the same whether remote or in-person is
critical to building trust within these communities. Offering these messages in a variety of
language and dialects will help provide additional opportunities for education and further build
trust from medical institutions and patients. Culture and health communication go hand-in-hand
in eliminating health disparities, and it will be vital that all messaging is tailored specifically for

26

each cultural group targeted while acknowledging the difficulties those groups undergo when
reeving medical attention (Thomas et al.).
Older audiences will have additional messaging challenges that PR practitioners will
have to take into consideration. As previously mentioned, Penn Medicine found that older
patients rated telemedicine appointments lower than the other audience members. Penn Medicine
highlighted older patients nfamiliarit ith ideo visits and different technology as potential
causes (Penn Medicine). According to the Telemedicine Journal and e-Health, elderly patients
perception of telehealth was impacted by perceived usefulness, perceived security, computer
anxiety and phsicians opinion (Cimperman et al. 787). For many patients, computer anxiety, or
the apprehension of using a computer was the most common predictor of negative impact on
attitude and intention to use technology with elderly patients. Many patients do not trust their
technological device to be a secure private alternative for in person visits, and were skeptical of
the potential benefits. Most importantly for communicators, elderly patients were found to be
incredibly receptive to the recommendation of ones physician for using the internet as a
resource for medical information (Cimperman et al. 787). By extension, health communicators
can infer that shold elderl patients phsicians recommend sing rem ote healthcare, elderly
audience might be more receptive to embracing the technology and allay their fears over security
and perceived usefulness. Messaging for older audiences must target these concerns, and provide
easy-to-navigate instructions without using inclusive, condescending language (Cimperman et al.
787). Older audiences must be reassured that they will be receiving similar quality care more
conveniently via a new technology, and highlight the usefulness of integrating telehealth into
their medical care needs.

27

An additional audience differentiator are religious minorities. With different cultures and
customs integrating spirituality and medical care, messages and strategic approaches will have to
be carefully constructed in ways that religious leaders and trusted community figures can
become prominent disseminators of medical innovation. Previously, religious minorities have
often lacked a voice in medical care and the integration of spirituality and medicinal care
mocked. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recognized the impact that
trusted messengers have in religious communities, and previously scheduled prominent Hasidic
singer Shulem Lemmer to speak at health events relating to coronavirus to reach the broader
Hasidic community (Kirtz). While they eventually did not move forward with the Hasidic singer,
authorities have the right idea. Using key messengers who are engaged and active in their
community is a necessary step in ensuring that information can be reached through trusted
channels. However, rather than using celebrities as the speaker, health authorities should
collaborate with key speakers AND prominent health officials (such as physicians or public
health workers) to develop an informative and accessible information approach. Health
information should always come from health officials, but using a celebrity platform or religious
leader as an outlet can a crucial way to disseminate information. Key messaging for religious
minorities must be created collaboratively with religious leaders and disseminated through trusted
channels in order to be effective. Health communicators must treat each religious community
differently than another, and apply similar tact and strategic messaging to each.
Key Strategies
The key strategies will become the guiding principles for achieving the desired
communication goal, in this case, the widespread adoption and integration of telehealth into
consumers and phsicians health care practices. Strategies will include a variety of approaches,

28

themes, and digital touchpoints in order to create an integrated campaign that provides multiple
opportunities for messages to resonate.
One key strategy will include the localization and personalization of messaging
depending on location and determined access to telehealth and remote care. Localization is the
need to be responsive and flexible to host-market conditions and host-adiences expectations
and needs in a particular regional area, while the personalization of the key strategies and
messaging will help tailor messages and strategies to different audiences in a more appealing and
understandable way (Jackson). Using local authorities, such as prominent state or county health
officials, well known doctors, and health experts known to a majority of consumers will be key
in helping to dispense information to a wider audience while still maintaining integrity and
authenticity. Addressed earlier in the paper is the important need to reach Black and Latino
audiences with messaging that resonates with them. It is absolutely vital to create images and
videos that audience members can identify with. Spokespeople must be representative of the
audiences intended. As stated previously, medical information should come from trusted medical
experts, and when reaching Black and Latino communities, efforts must be made to use
physicians and health experts that reflect those communities. However, this raises a broader issue
of the lack of diversity in medical institutions, and health companies should make efforts to
rectify that mistake by providing funding and addressing medical inequality in America.
Media must reflect the reality of America today, and that America is a diverse blend of
cultures, ages, ethnicities, and religious practices. Creating media reflective of native languages
spoken at home will help bring more information into homes and communities as well (Thomas
et al.). Partnering with well-known and credible third party media personalities that resonate
with each targeted audience to help create platforms for medical professionals to speak can help

29

build trust within communities and create greater opportunities for medical education. Dr.
Adrienne Scherenzel-Curry, Senior Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Bulls,
stated in an interview that the NBA has a policy to not use players as medical messengers during
the pandemic, but rather as community members with large platforms from which medical
eperts can etend their messages reach into target commnities. She highlighted the successful
Tyler Perry segment on the COVID vaccine as one such example. In the segment, called
COVID-19 Vaccine and the Black Community: A Tyler Perry Special, which aired on BET,
Perry sat down Brady Health Sstems Dr. Carlos del Rio and Dr. Kimberly Manning to discuss
safety concerns, vaccine efficiency, racial injustice in healthcare, and ultimately decided to
proceed with the vaccination on camera (CBS News). Dr. Scherenzel-Curry highlighted how this
segment provided trusted messengers (physicians) a wider platform ith Tler Perrs adience
and used Tyler Perry as a citizen with questions- rather than capitalizing on his celebrity and
having him provide the information. Dr. Scherenzel-Curry stressed the importance of using
medical personnel as messengers rather than celebrity figures due to their high positions of trust,
years of medical education, and the ability to speak from experience.
Another advantage of the Tyler Perry segment was the fact that it was not a traditional
news media segment, but rather a TV special accessible on YouTube and on BET. This provides
another opportunity to reach additional communities and audiences. A sample strategy based off
of this segment would be an Instagram Live interview with a celebrity from the desired
community and a medical expert from the same racial background. Given the widespread distrust
in the media, using a variety of channels will also be critical for the dissemination of information
(Edelman). While social media will be an important channel, Americans are most likely to get

30

their news from websites, apps and search engines on digital devices, providing a wide variety of
opportunities for PR practitioners to push messages (Shearer, 2021).
Another key strategy will be to tailor all messaging and information depending on an
audiences medical literacy. In some communities, medical literacy is extremely low, and
disinformation is rampant. By creating inclusive messaging that meets consumers at their current
medical literacy level without being condescending, public awareness and trust will be built. In
communities with lower health literacy, there are higher levels of distrust in institutionalized
medicine as a source of information over social media, friends, or blogs/websites (Chen et al.
725). It will be imperative to create messaging and content for those alternative channels because
for many communities those outlets are there most trusted sources of information.
To reach the public effectively, PR practitioners must help integrate the telehealth and
virtual health experiences through other online touchpoints, such as an online portal, to allow for
follow through and easy access. Consumer friendly digital touchpoints, like a home base website
that contains medical information, login information, and how-to video tutorials will help create
an easier experience for consumers using both portable devices and a home computers. Making
the process as simple and streamlined as possible, as well as gamifying the process, will
encourage consumers to use and provide an additional opportunity for key messages to be
communicated.
Communicators will need to focus the key messages of the campaign on authenticity and
quality of service to reassure consumers of the adequate medical attention they will receive
virtually. Additionally, shifting the themes focus away from the organization itself and instead
focusing on the personal stories and societal issues that telehealth resolves will bring an authentic
note to strategies and campaigns. Centering stories around the personal experiences of users will

31

demonstrate the ease of virtual care, and other benefits, which will encourage new consumers to
try telehealth.
Ethics
The job of PR practitioners is to communicate to various audiences how telemedicine and
remote health are palatable, safe, and easy to use by all. The other role is also ethical. PR
practitioners must strive to convince various audiences that a classic marketing curve would
prefer to ignore (given the nature of the product), that the messaging is not a sales pitch for a new
toy or gadget, but rather a critical system to improve their health and ease of access to healthcare.
Even though telehealth presents a lucrative financial enterprise, a sincere effort must be
made to reach groups who might otherwise be ignored. Given the lack of medical literacy in the
United States, PR strategies and campaigns must cater to and personalize messaging efforts to
help provide a thorough explanation of the benefits and opportunities that virtual and remote care
offers. For many practitioners in technology public relations and marketing, messaging a product
towards elderly audiences, marginalized communities or audiences with less technological and
financial savvy presents more challenges than potential rewards. However, health PR
practitioners have an ethical duty to create messages for all consumers regardless of their
comfort and understanding. 2020 has shown that consumers are looking towards businesses to
step up and fill gaps where governmental leadership is lacking, and tech companies will make
significant strides for medical equality by making strong efforts to reach marginalized and
underserved communities (Edelman). Not only are consumers more likely to choose companies
with stronger ethics and values, this will also be an opportunity for companies to expand their
consumer base beyond expected (Schaverien). In recent times, technology and healthcare

32

companies have strived for a greater legacy and purpose- what better opportunity than telehealth
to both cement a compans status as a driver of medical opportunity while striving for equality.
Conclusion
Telehealth has had a slow and steady history of growth in the United States that needs a
greater incentive from the public to become a generally accepted practice. With the spread of
COVID-19, overnight hospitals and health practitioners had to rethink the best ways to reach
their constituents. While initially only intended to be a temporary fix, telehealth and virtual care
have shown more and more the benefits of becoming a permanent fixture in medical practice.
From offering patients greater access to specialists on a more convenient schedule, to allowing
physicians to increase their patient base outside of their geographical location, the benefits of
telehealth have proven to be a valuable addition to healthcare.
However, for telehealth to become widely adopted, technology and healthcare companies
must be strategic in their attempts to reach and assure consumers regarding the quality of care
provided virtually. PR practitioners must look to physicians and previous successful health
campaigns to craft messages that authentically appeal to, inform, and persuade audiences.
Viewed through the lens of the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Curve, technology companies
have been handed a large mainstream market audience who are for the most part eager and
willing to try new products. However, the wide variety of audiences means that messages must
be tailored to meet a variety of needs. Some of those needs are the result of years of medical
malpractice and distrust, and PR practitioners must work with local communities and medical
staff to create messages that resonate with and relate to those communities. By centering their
strategs focs aa from the organization itself and onto the individual stories and societal

33

issues at hand, PR practitioners will create authentic messages that will resonate across a variety
of audiences.
While telehealth is a business opportunity, it is also a way to provide affordable and
accessible healthcare to the masses, bring medical literacy into homes, and create the opportunity
for greater dialogue between patients and physicians. COVID-19 has wreaked devastation upon
so many facets of society, and yet has presented those in the medical communications field with
a rare opportunity to encourage the adoption of a newer medical practice that provides so many
benefits. PR practitioners must embrace the opportunity and provide a thoughtful, well executed
communication approach in order to reach a wide audience and help modernize the health care
experience for all Americans.

34

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41

Appendix A
Figure 1

Figure 2
Sample Message Mapping
Below is
Audiences Messages Sample Channels
Seniors Telehealth technology is secure
and can be adapted into everyday
life with ease.
AARP Magazine, Social Media, Senior
Center Leaders, National News Papers,
Phsicians office pblications
Black/Latino
Communities
Telehealth is secure and
confidential option to reach
highly qualified and educated
physicians with easy integration
into everyday life.
Community Leaders, Celebrity-hosted
Social Media Events, Community
Medical Experts, Social Media-
YoTbe, Instagram Lie
Religious
Communities
Telehealth is safe, reliable, and
easy to integrate with spirituality
and religious practices.
Religious Leader Round Table Events
(featuring Medical experts),
Conferences, Related Media Outlets

42

Appendix B
Interview with Dr. Kimberly Tilley, Co-Medical Director, Faculty Physician, Internal
Medicine and Researcher Ruby Callahan

Ruby: Hi, Dr. Tilley? Yeah, can you hear me? Yes. Your phones were in, I think. How are you?

Dr. Tilley: Sorry for being a few minutes late.

Ruby: Oh, you're totally fine. I really appreciate you meeting with me in general... Are you
comfortable with me recording this? Yes.

Dr. Tilley: Is it already? I'm not in a private office, so... Is it all right if I have the face Mason?

Ruby: That is totally fine. I'm not using this for any publication purposes, I really just so I can
go back and try everything. Yeah, so I just wanted to give you a brief intro of me and
what I'm doing... So I am a masters student at USC Annenberg. I'm doing my thesis right
now, so in my second year, and I'm primarily focusing my thesis on telehealth and
telemedicine, and from getting my degree in PR and from a PR perspective, what we can
do to ensure the widespread adoption of telehealth. So it's more like a white paper than it
is a research project, and I am also trying to approach it from a medical standpoint too,
why our doctors... cause it was kind of forced embrace, but also, is it going to be a long-
lasting change? What are your thoughts on that? cause obviously, I can write from my
own perspective as a patient or as a PR practitioner, but I can't write from a medical
standpoint, and so I have a few questions that I wanted to ask you and... We might have
to do a story. I don't know what to send, so were... We might have to do a follow-up
interview if I have any other things that come up. But you were recommend to me cause I
emailed Sarah, cause I literally didn't know how to reach out to at USC, and I was like,
spread some inside of this, so I'm very grateful for you agreeing to me and... Yeah, we'll
just get started. And please let me know if you have any questions or concerns or
comments. And so I guess the biggest question, or at least, let's just start, what was your
role in USCs adoption of telemedicine, or did you not have a role in that.

Dr. Tilley: Did have a role. We were actually dabbling, I should say, in doing telemedicine,
before the pandemic, actually, we had convened a telemedicine committee to see what
kind of opportunities we would have to do a really soft small roll-out, and we had
actually convened that committee and I was to be one of the co-chairs of that committee
with one of our operations personnel in February of 2020, and we actually had our first
meeting, I believe it was either February 29th. They're like March second, right before
the pandemic, and it became clear, it was clear to us at that point, so that we were going
to major disruption and we were going to need to change, and that was our one and only
meeting, and at that meeting, we actually had prepared slides saying, Hey, let's do a soft
roll out, this is the way we could see this happen, we're gonna roll out... We were gonna
roll out in the fall of 2020 in a few small areas, and at that meeting, we just said, Hey,
there's a slide set, let's go through it, but I think we're gonna have to make this big. And
we need to start getting ready. And then we did.

43

Ruby: Okay, so you were like... Right. On the forefront right there. Yeah, yeah. So I guess this is
a fairly easy question, not easy, but this is a really basic question, but what are the
challenges to using telehealth in general that you are specifically with students that you
might not see in in general practice?

Dr. Tilley: The challenges for students that you may not see in a general practice, in general,
with students, there's more advantages and challenges than what you would see for
multiple reasons that we can discuss. I think we're... I think that the big challenges in
general is some things just require an in-person visit, some procedures... A lot of the
major cancer screening procedure that we do in the college health population and cervical
cancer screening, and you cannot do that through telemedicine, and so there are some
limitations and things that we just cannot do, but that would probably exist across the
spectrum, whether it's college health and not college health.

Ruby: can you speak on what the biggest advantages have been then.

Dr. Tilley: So the benefits have been, number one, we've really increased our access because it
gives us the ability that normally to increase hours, things like that, you have to... As you
imagine, you have to front door staffing and security in the lab and radiology, all these
other components that are in the medical center, but for this, we've been able to expand
our access so that Monday through Thursday, we're 70 AM to 7 PM, and on the
weekends we've expanded were 830 to five, because really the only person you need is to
be able to adjust the physician and physician assistant schedules as opposed to adding all
of the support staff around that, so it's given us the ability to provide longer access, which
really improves the access for the students. And we can do that pretty easily. The second
thing has been, I think we've learned, and especially in the student health population, that
students are pretty comfortable using Zoom and the video monitor and so forth, that we
can handle quite a bit of people's concerns over the video. And we don't necessarily need
people to come in, and a lot of students find that to be a lot easier in terms of their classes
and support that they can just in class and not have to do all of the walking the parking,
the providers have liked that students are actually on time to their appointments, because
normally, again, like I said, and that would be anything, just all the traffic parking that
makes people late, people are on time, which has been... Both parties have liked... The
other would be some providers have actually found, which was something that was
surprising, or is that some people feel more comfortable talking to the person on the
video camera as opposed to the in-person and sometimes even talking about things that
are more personal. For some people, not everybody, but for some people, it's easier to do
that over zoom in the telemedicine appointment, then to do that in person. So that was
something that our providers have noticed and brought up that... That was something we
didn't expect.

Ruby: In general, do you think that the medical industry would have eventually moved to
telehealth without covid 19 as a widely adopted practice?

44

Dr. Tilley: Yes, but at the same time, it was pretty slow, we've had telemedicine as an option for
years, and it hasn't moved that direction, and one of the things, even with us when we
were thinking about moving towards this, there were areas that we never would have
been... I don't think ever would have been on the table, we wanna have ever thought that
you could do physical therapy on telemedicine, or even that you could do women's health
appointments on telemedicine, and yet we found that even in those avenues, even though
we do have to bring in some people, for the physical exam, it doesn't work for everyone,
that for quite a few students actually, it does work. And again, it's expanded access,
'cause we have two campuses, the university for campers in the Health Sciences campus.
So for our 3000 students on the Health Sciences campus, now they have access to our
dietitians, our physical therapist, Argyle is every single day of the week, in a way that
they did it before, so I think in the sense... One thing about the pandemic, it made us try
things that I don't think we ever would have tried, that being said, we don't have to worry
about this in college health because the way our program is set up, we don't bill...
Everybody pays the college health insurance, that pays for all of their visits and so forth,
what's problematic and what is, I think, from my understanding, how to somewhat of the
adoption of telemedicine in the private payer world, the insurance world, is that they pay
us for Telemundo and visits so there's not really any... There's no... What do you wanna
call it? Like instead of to do telemedicine, if they're gonna get less money for that visit
and whether... When the pandemic happened, my understanding early on is they pay
those equally, but I've heard that that may not be the case anymore, and that will again,
slow down the telemedicine adoption. Now, I'm not an expert on that, so it would be
easier for us in college health because we don't work in that same model.

Ruby: Okay, and this is a little bit different, but on the same line, so currently, there's been a
huge increase in the use of wearable devices in the healthcare system, so you have the
Apple Watch, the Fitbit that people are using, and there's that ring... The O-ring that takes
your temperature... Do you see wearable devices playing a feature in the role of
healthcare and the role of remote medicine?

Dr. Tilley: A lot of people are looking at... I'm not an expert in that. I'm not sure that it will...
You can get too much data to... You wanna... There might be a lot of noise with that data,
so I think there's going to be niche areas where that could be very helpful, and I know... I
think the cardiac clinics already use those things and are looking into the data, one of the
criollo gist at know, I think that's what her research is on, but in college health, I don't
know, but I suspect there would be a lot more noise in a healthy population more. Okay.

Ruby: That makes sense. And then based on the industry changes, do you see telehealth as a
permanent addition to healthcare, or do you see it as something that once the pandemic is
over, whatever that looks like, do you see it significantly declining again?

Dr. Tilley: I hope it's a permanent area, I definitely think when the pandemic ends, it's going to
decline again and then... But where does it go? Does it go all the way down to where it
was before? Or I suspect it will be higher than before, but definitely not at the levels, I
think in the healthcare industry across the board, I think it's gonna depend on
reimbursement levels and how much telemedicine reimbursed in settings like ours, which

45

we have more flexibility because we don't depend on reimbursement, that's a big question
right now, even as we design the spring semester in the fall, is what proportion is
telemedicine and what proportion is going to continue to be in-person visits, and where
will we land, but... Definitely, we are going to continue telemedicine. How much of it is
gonna be telemedicine? I don't know, but I think the students in our feedback surveys
have said, I love this, I want this to continue even post-pandemic. So the students want it.
I think some... For providers, it allows more flexibility in terms... And I think we can get
the best providers for the students, if we can offer people that flexibility that maybe one
day a week that they can work from home doing telemedicine, or have that flexible
schedule to work early in the morning or late at night and be able to do telemedicine. So I
think it's gonna be a win-win for both. And I definitely think we will continue it, it's
just... I think time will say What proportion is telemedicine, what proportion is gonna end
up being in person.

Ruby: And you've kind of touched on this a little bit earlier in our conversation, but do you think
that you've been able to reach more disenfranchised patients through Telehealth, and if
you feel like you have it. Why or why not?

Dr. Tilley: You know, I don't know the answer to the question. That question right now, when
we designed it, it was one of the... Definitely one of the things... Like early on, we
launched Telemedicine, we got everybody trained credential to do telemedicine, and
March, I worked out the kinks in the system, got everybody home. And then in April we
design, we said, he said, Do and said, Okay, how do we know we're giving high quality
telemedicine... What is that... What are we gonna measure? And one of the things we had
on that list is equity, does everybody have access to this and are we reaching everybody?
But to be honest, we haven't had a chance to really pull that data and look at those
numbers, and it continues to be there, and just a concern for me as we bring people back
to everybody up WiFi access. Does everyone access to a device that could do... That
could access telemedicine. I haven't heard anecdotally otherwise, but it is something we
will have to definitely follow and be aware of an already... We've worked with campus
before this, that right now, it's not as big of a deal 'cause there aren't that many people on
campus living on campus and everyone that is as a single room, but as we repopulate the
campus, we need to have private spaces for people to have their telemedicine visits and in
access to equipment and Wi-Fi if they need it. Yeah.

Ruby: Yeah, those are all just questions that I have been having, but yeah, actually, we actually
went through this a lot faster than I thought we were going to, so I really appreciate that.
We've also kind of touched on this a little bit, particularly going back to insurance
reimbursements, but do you think that the medical community tends to lag behind or
adopting new technology, or I guess there's difference obviously between medical
advancements and technology that is always in the forefront, but I feel like in terms of
adopting new technology, in terms of computers and digitizing files and things like that,
and accepting telemedicine as a permanent part, do you feel that the medical community
tends to live behind or are they neutral...

46

Dr. Tilley: I don't know that... I definitely wanna speculate on that, it's a big organization and
time health care is a big enterprise, so clearly you can't be as nimble as a startup, but
honestly, I would say from our experience with our providers, they were very,
surprisingly few bumps in a launch to get everybody at home working on a laptop doing
telemedicine within a few weeks. So I was really pleased from our personal standpoint,
but I don't know that I could really speculate on that compared to other industries, but I
did wanna say one other thing on the question you said before about the disenfranchised
students, another area that I see a benefit for telemedicine would be some of our students
that are transgender or let's just stay with the students that are trying transgender or still
maybe searching, not sure what their identity is and so forth, they... My understanding is,
again, from hearing people say, Yeah, she may feel a little bit more comfortable too,
'cause if you imagine for someone who's either transitioning or transgender, there's
been... There's so many times when it can just be so hurtful, there's so many people they
have to interact with, they have to walk in and talk to the front desk person and then the
MA that rooms them, and then their provider, and then maybe go to the lab and there's all
these opportunities where someone might use the wrong name or the wrong pronoun with
them, which can be pretty devastating, but in telemedicine visit now, the way we've set it
up, not everybody set it up the same way, but the way we've set it up is really, the only
person you interact with is the provider, so hopefully that person has reviewed your chart
and gets it right the first time, but there's only that one person to interact with, and so I do
think it will be easier to get care because they don't wanna be in that environment where
that continually happens and they get that repeated trauma.

47

Appendix C
Interview with Karrie Hawbaker, Account Director at Health and Commerce and
Researcher Ruby Callahan
Ruby: Thank you so much for agreeing to do this, I really appreciate it.
Karrie Hawbaker: Yeah, of course. Tell me a little bit about yourself and about your project...
Ruby: Yeah, so just full transparency or I am recording this, I'm not publishing it, it's purely just
so I can go back and transcribe everything, so just wanted to let you know. If you are
super uncomfortable with that, let me know and I can take notes. I will also be taking
notes anyway, too. So my name is Ruby, I'm a graduate student at USC. I am a second
year one semester away from graduating at orsha, I am ready to be done, so I am BT's
student, so Amy's husband. So he is my thesis chair, which has been so great, and I'm
writing my thesis basically on a white paper on telehealth as an emerging platform and
what PR professionals can do to help this new medical technology, I guess specifically
looking at it as through the lens of covid, 'cause that pushed it straight to the forefront,
otherwise, this would have been a years-long transition versus you have five days to
make this certain. When the basis of my paper is on career background on me, I've been
an intern at a million different companies over the years, I just got hired full-time admin,
I'm very excited to... So I'll be joining their tech team, I'm super interested in PR, in tech
and health. I previously worked for Apple on the Apple Watch health and retail team last
summer. So that's kind of where my head is that... That's.
Karrie Hawbaker: Great, that's wonderful. Yeah, it's real is to meet you, what am I a person
from many areas, and she's just absolutely lovely to work with, she is such a Torre in the
diabetes community, and she has done just so much, so much for that community, we're
here. We're all very grateful for her work, so it's nice to meet you, is an interesting time to
be a student in this area, you're right, that intersection between health and technology is
definitely here to stay and has a lot of interest to it.
Ruby: Yeah, so I'm gonna be kind of just asking you some questions about... Sorry, I'm trying to
pull my little notes right here, so I'm just gonna be asking you some questions based on
your experience kind of with health PR, could you give me a tiny, brief background.
Karrie Hawbaker: Yeah, absolutely. So I have been in this industry for about 20, 21 years,
something like that. Now, I started with a masculine degree when the East Coast... I
started out in a Addie PR form of an attic, and that was in the big tech boom of like the
90s and early 20s, and it was all very exciting and very much... My first agency was in
tech, and then I did some work in science and education, and pretty quickly moved into a
focus into healthcare, I just... To me, it's very inspiring knowing that the work you're
doing, even if it's a step or to remove that you're having a positive impact on society and
on the well-being of people, that was all really attractive to me, as I don't know, a... To
the DC area, I was in... It's an agency work there, where I got the opportunity will work
with a variety of different types of clients, and around the time that I was there was when

48

Facebook just opened up beyond the edu addresses, I don't even... You're too going to
remember that, but it used to be that it was only for students.Right, and it was kind of this
thing over in the corner, and then obviously as that got bigger and businesses and
organizations, non-profits and government agencies, something everyone started to look
at, well, how do we find new ways to reach people? To tell our stories to them, to engage
them in the conversation, and I actually had... It was the product was really, it was
clinical nutrition for babies with these severe gastrointestinal conditions and severe food
allergies, and the traditional PR front is we find the publications that people read that the
client wants us to read, should we find those publications and we catch appropriate
stories, and we try to elevate a product or an essence through the ad and my tea, I just
looked at each other and we were like, You know what, we could be on the probate of the
New York Times every day, and that's not going to reach the parents who are run ragged
because they haven't been sleeping, because their baby is crying because the sick... And
up at two in the morning, what are they doing? And then there is that they're looking to
their peers online, and that was what drove me to Broad you into social, digital and
content marketing, so I kind of have this mix between that and then how many
experiences with lots of clients and got the social and digital capability at that agency
when I was on the East Coast, and then moved to the West Coast for personal reasons.
And so Medtronic, which is where I met Amy, and had the wonderful opportunity to
work in PR and advocates, with the patient advocate community, and to build that social
media program there. And then I guess about a year or so ago, I came a rip to health and
commerce or back in the agency side again, and working with a variety of different
companies and organizations. I love diabetes community, but this has been really fun to
just get exposure into different diseases in different conditions communities.
Ruby: Awesome, thank you so much for going over that, I really appreciate it. It's also, this is a
brand new professional, it's also just great to hear his career story, 'cause there's a lot of
pressure on new Youngs, it's nice big. Oh, one year, and then I went there and then I did
this. It's like, Oh, okay, that's cool. Good to know.
Karrie Hawbaker: If you want career guidance, I'd say soak up as much as you can, and don't
be afraid to jump at new opportunities, there's definitely... I think it's definitely not a
world of staying in one place for a decade, I jump at those opportunities as they come up
and build your network and just be open and... You'll be wildly successful, I'm sure.
Ruby: Thank you, thank you so much. So I'm just gonna jump in with a few questions, and so
basically my paper is, I'm coming up with some key messaging and strategies for how to
widely just communicate the benefits of tele health. It's basically, this white paper is
geared towards health professionals and tech companies who have a product and they're
looking to reach a wider audience, and so I'm gonna just be asking you some more
general related questions to pre-medical PR marketing or not marketing, but like medical
PR Lystra veggies in general. And then in just a few more specific questions, and if you
feel like you don't know how to speak to that. Just tell me. Sure, sorry. It's a really Lanois
out side. So if you don't know how to speak to that, just tell me it's not... I'm done this. So
I guess the first question is, in your opinion, what are some of the most successful PR
tactics have widely adopted and integrated medical technologies that you can think of?

49

Karrie Hawbaker: Yeah, so I think the... I am a really big fan of really coordinated and
integrated approach, I don't think there's any one activity or tactic that kinda gets it down
on its own, so. Certainly when it comes to media relations, which is the core and the
tradition of PR is just a really important way, when we're saying is finding those... Where
is your audience going for information, and there are different publications for physicians
and versus patients versus even general public, and defining those and really telling good
stories through those, which is great, but I don't think that that can do it alone. I think the
integration with social media channels, with partnerships with advocates, I think that all
the important part is to all really start with good research and insights and understanding
the attitudes and the beliefs of the people that you're trying to reach, and then pulling that
through really great, compelling content. So PR people can, in my opinion, can no longer
or just be in your relations people, you have to have that, the integration. That really
makes an impact.
Ruby: Absolutely, and then leading off of that, do you have any potential good examples of tech
or medical PR campaigns that you think could be good to just reference in my research...
Karrie Hawbaker: That's a good question. I think... So are you thinking in terms of a specific
product where you're trying to push a specific product, it could be a product, could be... I
talked to someone like, Oh, how they did the iPhone was great. And I was like, Okay, I
mean, I guess it's like tech products, just sits... If you have any ideas of a campaign or just
like a theme, or even the company that doesn't... Well, I would love to look at their stuff
and just see what they do, if you have any cost, you don't... That's really fine. Thank you.
I do have thoughts on... It is a good example, and it's one that lots of people use, I think
that healthcare really does need... In health tech, you really do need to look to consumer
devices, look at iPhone some, look at Samsung and look at those guys in terms of how do
you capture the attention, especially if you're going for a younger market with a great... I
think it's looking at the cdc's educational efforts around covid, which you've probably
seen, and it's just an interesting case study because it's the widest possible audience you
can have, which can be really, really challenging when you have... If you know that
you're going after a younger audience, you can speak in that language and you can be a
little or reference depending on the situation, and you can do all those things, and you're
not gonna talk to your grandmother the same way, probably. But I think CDC has done a
really good job of educating and investing in the places where people are going to be, and
I don't think until the CDC or most folks in that all government who have for a lot of
Instagram story ads or tiktok videos and so it's great to see them building that muscle,
which I think is really great. When I was at Medtronic, probably being in diabetes
technology, it is quite different than a lot of areas of med tech where your customer is the
hospital, istra, tors on the physicians and the kind of expect some professionalism. And
they're really into data and as they should be, that's all important. But I think when I was
working in the diabetes space, it was another one where type 1 diabetes can impact
someone at almost any age, something you look like for your whole life, and the
consumer expectations are more aligned to Why can't the experience that I have with my
iPhone, why can I get that same experience in my diabetes technology? And so trying to
really communicate in ways that were a little bit more appropriate, but fun, and I think
the big part of that is celebrating the people and celebrating the people who are doing

50

well with the technology. I think there's a tough time in the place for the company and the
technology to be the hero, but there's also just a great opportunity to look at the people...
We were fortunate in the sense that that's a disease where you can live really well, we had
people who use our products, who road courses and play professional sports and offer
singers and is all these different interesting things and highlighting... Their story is so
much more impactful than anything, anyone inside the company can.
Ruby: Thank you. And then... And this is a little bit different. So... Have the book right here.
Sorry, I'm using the technology life cycle adoption curve to do my paper off of, and part
of that is that you generally only market to the first two, first half of that curve because it
the people who are actually gonna buy your product. Whereas the last two parts about are
skeptics and loris and people who aren't generally gonna use your product, but I'm
arguing that in medical PR, we have an ethical duty to still make a good faith attempt to
reach people who might... Or reach communities or people or audiences that might
otherwise be interested or skeptical of our product, so I guess just what in your opinion
does roll this ethics play, if any, in medical PR.
Karrie Hawbaker: Think it's a huge role. Yeah, acutely and what you're hitting on a call, raisin,
your reiteration, look at them and they would definitely make a decision, I'm like, I'm
gonna go after people who love the outdoors as care about the environment, I'm willing
to be a step out on me, do some social issues to some even be able to political 'cause I'm
okay box and help those other people because this is my audience can really do that. And
in healthcare, you really do have a responsibility to the very least present the option,
especially if the therapy is like again, for compare is so Germanic, ally improved from
what used to be the standard of care, and so you do have an ethical responsibility to try
to... Engage those, those groups. Now, there are times where you say, early doctors,
which is kinda what you're talking about, right, is that... Yeah, let's go to make sure that
we do some targeting to them because they have that experience, they might have
influence over the other complete are a little bit more socially savvy, or if they're just
someone who who would be the other people out or something like that, then...And
maybe they can try, we can help you drive a broader adoption, especially when you
believe they're a better Arto, go to... I think there's also the element who you can run into
when you're... That's kind of the directive, the direction Manitoba, where multicultural
communications and marketing comes into play, you do have a responsibility to take
culture and social-economic status into a rattan, be so abused to Titan in diabetes care
campus responsibility to find people education around adamant diabetes while fasting.
The only time I asked certain wind have a responsibility to make sure that you
communicate in multiple languages, and the great culture in part, and then on the other
hand of it, is the professional communication side to your doctors, so it is definitely
easier to go to really big hospitals and Heller bunches, adoptive technology and more
because they just have paper pockets, and those are typically ones probably where you're
leading in research and... Do you know the top of the field? And yes, there's definitely
something to be said of going their firms, but I think you do have to think about How do
you access people in more rural areas or you don't have access to care. We have such an
interesting care situation that companies need to hire tons of people in order to form the
relationships, build the conversation, I do payers in order to make sure that the

51

technology covered communication. And that's not their job to do that. So they can
support that. And a lot of times, part supporting that is in elevating the Science, whether
it's in the press or procreate stories, polling, but also communication, complain role in
building relationships with the advocates and patient advocates in the community who are
gonna raise their hand and say, This is really important for myself or my family
members, how... That I had back.
Ruby: That was super, super helpful. Yeah, that's a big part of my paper is dedicated just the
ethics of health care PR, 'cause I'm like a lot for Apple, obviously they're... I'm just using
it as an example 'cause I worked it themes. Great, but they're obviously, they're gonna
focus for some people who are actually a versus people who are older people are
probably not gonna to watch that often, let's be honest, the screen, real small Tarn to see
and so on. Since it's healthcare-specific, we have a really ethical obligation to make a
good faith effort on half of these communities, especially with specifically peterhead of
just like, this is something that could bring greater access and so therefore has a greater
increase in life and their ability to access healthcare.
Karrie Hawbaker There is a time level of care that's needed and a specialist that he gave them,
a lot of times you'll run into the fact that these specialists are... There's not enough of
them, and they are all over the country. So then, so then your communications can
playable in the referral, so you sit... If there's only senders in the whole country that do
this, but helping educate the many, many cardiologist about this case, seetha they can
refer to... To their peer, to the right here on the... They refer to one of those presenters, I
should say, and that's the way to comply can play a role in support costing is still the
person getting care that they need... Exactly.
Ruby: For my last question of the day, 'cause I just wanna be mindful of time right now, I know
that you were probably very busy, so how would you reach communities least likely to
embrace or adapt to new technology or health care... If you don't have any experience in
this, this is totally okay to ignore.
Karrie Hawbaker: It, it's a really good... It's a really good question. So if you're thinking
kintore in telehealth, Ellis. Interesting, because I think in the... We take... We'll start with
us. So internet hit would be pretty ubiquitous, and so then it's... I think Telehealth is more
about trust, and if you put the information to know that they can sustain formation is
private, and that's what's really interesting about covid that I think it's really accelerated
that even kind of GPS and kind of underserved neighborhood and kind of felt like
realises, this, this is hard to implement and I get it Pioneer... Always the big questions,
right? But now the situation has accelerated that adaptability, so I actually... To that it
says, and we let more Conwell that other providers have been forced to force to make the
technology investment, Mariani think are really spending the time now to kind of realize
where is the opportunity to do things remotely versus person way... So I really need to
see the person. I mean, a lot... I think there's also just opportunities to get local and just
understand what those barriers might be, and it's really creative about those barriers, are
we really in a situation where people don't have...In our home, we are in a situation in this
country where there's definitely a contingency of people who don't have home computers,

52

but his help... Have smartphones. Yeah, there's the obvious nature, it works there, but it's
also, is that a partnership with your local community libraries are part... Wonderful
because of books. But there's so much more than that. They're kind of... Miners are the
active community centers, so is there an opportunity to partner with the library so that
you can go into a provoking... You tell... Yeah, to not any test, but a lot of sense. I was
like, Just think about those different Tardif rent things. And then think about something
you get local, it's all about to his influential in the community, it might be... It might be
kind of obvious people in the community in terms of leaders, but maybe it's less obvious,
maybe it's someone who run a local business to just... People really aspect. Yeah, that's
actually asking office relationship.
Ruby: That's actually really makes you feel really good, 'cause I had written in there, or we need
to personalize and localize our messaging and have local partnerships, but also I have no
experience in this. So I was like, This is just what makes sense to me, but I'm like, Okay,
so what else can I do?
Karrie Hawbaker: It really has be a way to think about that. It's like, it's especially on that
larger companies and about Scale is you can... I've done a lot of work with global
programs and campaigns, and so what you want is, if you're in a big global company,
reading how other world, what you wanna do is together, get together and get together a
core program or camp percent works for everyone. And in the last 20% to 30% are
people in country in community and giving them tools to replies that and meet their
needs, and the way you communicate about help in transverse Germany versus indoor for
Pinot yet alone. We're getting into the Middle East or India or China. You just have to
give... If you really are talking what a company that's not bad at that scale and that big of
a purpose, it's just work with... That's kind of a good model. If we are all human and
enlarge perspective, I think the more you have of the world, you can realize there were
more like in the are different, but there are those differences and they are important and
commencing relationships with the local levels, that kind of a model of its.
Ruby: Okay, yeah, thank you so much. Those were all the questions that I have written down so
far, I'm sure as I'm right in this, I'll come up with a few more and then I'll definitely just
email you if you're comfortable with that, but just thank you so much for taking the time
today. I really appreciate it.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purpose of this white paper is to help public relations practitioners at major tech and health companies to educate and promote to consumers, physicians, and insurers the benefits of telemedicine and methods to enable widespread adoption of this technology. This paper will provide analysis of the background into telemedicine, the catalysts for wider adoption, insights into public perception, and suggestions for PR campaigns and practices to promote greater use and adoption.

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Callahan, Ruby Grace (author)

Core Title COVID-19 as a catalyst for telehealth: using public relations to assist in widespread public adoption

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Degree Conferral Date 2021-05

Publication Date 05/05/2021

Defense Date 05/05/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag COVID-19,OAI-PMH Harvest,remote healthcare,technology adoption lifecycle curve,telehealth,telemedicine,virtual healthcare

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tenderich, Burghardt (committee chair), Cherry, Melanie (committee member), Cook, Fred (committee member)

Creator Email rubycall@usc.edu,rubygracecallahan@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC112720046

Unique identifier UC112720046

Identifier etd-CallahanRu-9605.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-CallahanRu-9605

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Callahan, Ruby Grace

Type texts

Source 20210507-wayne-usctheses-batch-835-shoaf (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

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