FPA Medical Management
Situation
FPA Medical Management (San Diego, CA) is a national medical management firm that recently acquired operations of the Thomas-Davis Medical Centers (TDMC) in both Phoenix and Tucson. Upon acquisition of the medical centers, FPA began combating negative publicity stemming from Tucson physicians that unionized in response to the acquisition. The physician’s union group was a very vocal opponent of managed care and specifically, FPA Medical Management. Cooley Advertising & Public Relations acquired FPA’s advertising and public relations account for Arizona in 1997 and were recently awarded their public relations business nationwide.
Objectives
- Combat short-term negative publicity, specifically in the Tucson market.
- Build long-term positive name recognition for all Arizona TDMC facilities.
Strategies
- Short-term public relations efforts that ranged from relationship building with Tucson health care reporters to development of a comprehensive communications plan for FPA’s corporate officers.
- Long-term positive name recognition through numerous community events, trade shows, public relations activities, internal communications and an external advertising campaign in Phoenix and Tucson. The advertising campaign positions TDMC clinics as “family care clinics” using pictures of babies in the advertisements and proposing headlines that read: “Boo-Boo Kissing, Grandma Hugging, Hot Chocolate Health Care” (who can negatively attack a baby?).
Results
- Smoothing of union issues in Tucson and keeping the fray of negative editorial away from the front pages through positive relationships and dialogue with local media representatives.
- Gain positive support internally at both Phoenix and Tucson TDMC clinics to help slow the exit of employees due to pressure from both union and non-union supporters.