ChenMed, Miami, Florida: #VaxTheNation

Written answers to the questions

This entry is for activities that occurred January 1, 2021- December 31, 2021, though the campaign began on March 1, 2020. 

Total 242 words used.

The primary challenge the #VaxTheNation campaign was addressed was literally to save lives. And it did. Few communications campaigns can honestly make that claim.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented need for healthcare services. ChenMed’s clinical team understood the value of vaccinations, both for its frontline healthcare workers and its patient population, which is made up of senior citizens, most in underserved communities with an average of five chronic health conditions for whom high quality healthcare was inaccessible until they came to ChenMed.

Vaccinations were one tool that could prevent death and serious complications from a disease that the scientific and medical communities were still learning about as the pandemic spread and new variants continued to emerge.

ChenMed’s corporate culture is built on the idea of doing more and helping others. The fear and risks that were present in the earliest stages of the pandemic were the perfect environment to put those ideas into action.

ChenMed’s clinical staff teamed up with the integrated marketing communications team to launch a 15-month campaign to urge people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and take other precautions to protect their health. January 1 – June 20, 2021 were the last six months of that campaign and focused on vaccination rates. The combined communications and public health campaign also helped ChenMed build relationships with local community organizations, hospitals and elected officials, expand the company’s brand recognition, and help generate future leads for new patients, employees, and partners.

Total 244 words used.

The campaign had three key stakeholder groups: 1) current ChenMed patients, 2) current ChenMed team members and 3) community members in the areas ChenMed operates. Potential patients, employees, and physicians were secondary audiences.

There were three short-term goals: 1) work with ChenMed’s Vaccine Task Force and Marketing Team to provide the latest information; 2) support the marketing efforts with community service outreach and public relations to build ChenMed’s reputation amongst its current patients, seniors in ChenMed service areas who weren’t patients yet, and the general public; and 3) build goodwill with governmental agencies, elected officials and other stakeholders to gain approval as a vaccine provider as soon as possible and able to get vaccines into as many arms as possible.

The long-term goals were: 1) to provide vaccines in all ChenMed locations and encourage vaccination for everyone while addressing misinformation and healthcare equity issues; 2) position ChenMed as a thought leader on public health and COVID safety; and 3) raise awareness for ChenMed’s “share the love” message to create leads for new patients and doctor recruits.

The ChenMed team overcame some significant challenges. They needed to counter questions posed by major news outlets over the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. It was also a challenge to maintain momentum over so many months, especially when dealing with a wide range of audiences who all had different motivations. People got tired of hearing about COVID, so ChenMed needed to find ways to keep people engaged.

Total 246 words used.

#VaxTheNation targeted internal and external stakeholders to increase vaccination rates, counter misinformation, and keep patients and team members healthy. The messages were adapted for each audience.

In 2021, there were 3,600 social media posts across 145 different pages including individual ChenMed center Facebook sites, corporate LinkedIn pages, and ChenMed executives’ personal Instagram accounts. This resulted in 394,00 total impressions and 67,000 views for the campaign. There were also video campaigns that made serious public health messages more accessible.

ChenMed doctors and care team members also continued to hold COVID-19 telephone town halls to reach at-risk seniors and answer questions about the disease and encourage vaccinations. ChenMed clinicians made more than one million “Love Calls” to patients who may have been feeling isolated. Other tactics included posters, t-shirts, buttons, hats, Zoom backgrounds, email banners, internal COVID landing pages on the intranet, outdoor signage, “weekly dose” updates in the employee newsletter and intranet, care packages, and many other channels to reinforce the messages of the campaign and keep content fresh.

The #VaxTheNation campaign served as a way to recruit new physicians and highlight ChenMed’s company’s commitment to serving vulnerable populations. The real-world results were undeniable. Among doctors and staff, nearly 100% of ChenMed employees and more than 90% of seniors under their care received the vaccine. 

More importantly, these efforts undoubtedly saved lives, especially among ChenMed’s patient population of elderly people, many living near or below the poverty line living in areas considered healthcare deserts.

Total 110 words used.

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