Peoples Health

The Case

In February of 2009, Peoples Health, a Louisiana-based administrator of Medicare Advantage plans, was in negotiations with Tenet Healthcare Corporation to redeem its interest in the company. Peoples Health was founded in 1994 as a collaborative effort between physicians and Tenet Healthcare Corporation; 50 percent of ownership was Tenet’s and 50 percent belonged to a group of local physicians.

Peoples Health wanted to alert its audiences of the change without alarming them. The transaction was simply a change in name with no plan or benefit changes. Deveney Communication assisted with strategy, media relations and materials development for the announcement.

Our Strategy

We worked with Peoples Health to identify our key audiences and determine the best way to reach these groups effectively. Audiences identified included: employees, members, provider physicians, the media and the general public.

Our strategy included:

  • Informing staff and employees of the change and reassure them that their jobs were not in jeopardy and the company may be expanding
  • Arm staff with messaging and enough background so that they could speak informatively
  • Inform provider physicians of what the change meant for them and reassure them

The Results

Following the employee meeting, Peoples Health reported that they received few questions and that staff members did not seem confused or upset by the announcement. After press announcements and letters were released the number of phone calls to Peoples Health did not increase significantly, indicating that our audiences understood the details of the transaction and their fears were allayed.

In addition, media coverage of the agreement was positive and non-alarmist. Coverage ran in New Orleans CityBusiness, The Advocate and the Times-Picayune and on Medicarenews.net, The Advocate website, WDSU-TV website and nola.com. Follow-up stories when the agreement was finalized were positive, and included coverage in the Times-Picayune, The Advocate  and on nola.com.

In the months following the announcement, Peoples Health’s enrollment increased indicating that confidence in the company improved following the announcement.