American Medical Association

Our Role

JT provided strategic communications support to the American Medical Association (AMA) during the high-profile national health system reform (HSR) debate. One component in the comprehensive plan, a microsite dedicated to the health system reform issue, was built by JT to deliver the organization’s message, position the AMA as a trusted source for information, and encourage target audiences – especially physicians throughout the country – to become informed and involved. Our role was to develop an effective design and framework for the site that was dynamic, easy to navigate, accessible from the AMA’s website, and search engine friendly so physicians, legislators, media and the public could find it online quickly and effortlessly.

The Challenge

Everyone, from the President and Congress to hundreds of media outlets and blogs to myriad health care organizations and advocacy groups, was talking about national health system reform. How could we cut through the noise, reach a group of physicians - both AMA members and non-members - and become a trusted go-to source. This main audience, who is already exceedingly time-strapped and receive hundreds of communications daily, were divided on how they felt about the issues. At the same time, political and special interest groups had successfully used fear mongering and scare tactics to distort and confuse the facts.

The Solution

Our Team developed the AMA Health System Reform microsite. More than just a news site with up-to-the-minute HSR coverage, this microsite also articulated the shared goals for physicians and the AMA; explained the legislative process – where it stood, what it meant, and potential next steps; and encouraged involvement in the issue. We put a human face on HSR through patient and physician videos, and featuring the AMA President in a regular blog called “On the Road with Dr. Rohack" (now Dr. Wilson). The site contained multiple downloadable patient and physician resources, including summaries of legislation, action kits, sample letters of support to elected officials, flyers and comparison charts. There were opportunities to subscribe to regular HSR updates, join the Physician Grassroots Network or the Patient Action Network, and connect with the AMA through its Twitter and Facebook channels.

The Result

The AMA Health Sytem Reform microsite was referenced as the go-to source for no-nonsense, current health system reform information by both online and traditional media. The site soared to the top of search engine results with no paid advertising. Not only did it become the top result for searches of “health system reform,” but the search term “AMA” became one of the top ten health system reform Google search terms.