Healthcare Public Relations – A Pilot Study in Romania

Abstract

Communication is a critical component in the process of providing quality healthcare services and products. The role of public relations (PR), as a strategic, proactive, and responsible type of communication, is to establish and maintain a positive reputation and relationships with the public, based on trust and mutual understanding. Given the complex approach and process of this activity, when properly applied, PR can bring benefits to all stakeholders in the healthcare sector, contributing positively to its overall realities and outcomes. This paper presents the results of an exploratory pilot study aimed at identifying the coordinates of PR in the Romanian health sector by investigating perceptions on health public relations (HPR), its potential, challenges and opportunities, and stakeholders in healthcare. It is based on qualitative research, using interviews with a mixed group of professionals from the public and private sectors (doctors, medical service coordinators, medical professors, managers, and owners of entities that provide health services and products, and strategic communication professionals working for companies in healthcare). The results are discussed alongside relevant findings provided by previously published studies. In the final part of the article, the author proposes a PR model for entities in the medical area. It emphasizes that HPR should not only be used as a tactical tool or alternative to marketing efforts, nor only intended to manage an undesirable image or deliver damage control after an inconvenient situation or crisis. Instead, HPR services are at their true potential when a strategic approach is applied proactively, based on complex research and planning, designed to engage stakeholders and motivate them towards collaborative communication and sustained effort, based on partnership, for efficient and effective results in the health sector.