"So, Josh, what do you do for a living?"

I pause for a second, thinking about the weirdness of the previous week's work.

“I’m in healthcare marketing, but it's a lot more than writing press releases," I say.

A lot more. A sampling from my week’s Outlook calendar could look like:

• Validate exterior signage at new hospital site
• H&R Block "Last Baby of the Year" promotion
• New logo rollout employee celebration
• Physician Services Team update

This isn't considered outside the “realm” of healthcare marketing, but it’s not the industry to be in if you’re interested in consistency or a static list of responsibilities. Last week, I received a call from Michael Schwartzberg, the media relations manager at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. When I called him back, his out-of-office voicemail alert forecasted a three-day schedule of special events/seminars/summits that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling when I heard it.

A brother. He understands.

He later shared with me his complete project list, which, looked surprisingly familiar. A sampling: Attend an H1N1 summit, pitch a news story about "ED Red & Yellow Alerts," work on the “Best Places to Work” designation. He said the department motto is “Something Different Every Day.”

Yup.

Healthcare, like many industries right now, is strapped, so it isn’t the time to be questioning why the Marketing/PR person is walking around a new hospital site, wearing a construction helmet and steel-toe boots, discerning the exact location of a “Toilet” sign.

Rather, let's be happy that:
a.) We have a job.
b.) It’s one that offers a constantly evolving menu of responsibilities.

I’d love to hear what some of your “other duties as assigned” are or have been. I know you have them, and you're among friends, so please share.

One of my first projects when I started at the hospital was to take an inventory of the number of printed newsletters in the system. I found a sample of each rogue department newsletter and posted it on a board for our Exec Team. This was my visual argument to show that we need to adopt a single, system-wide newsletter.

It worked.

Every department had its own printed pieces. Forget “branding”—our corporate logo was nowhere to be found. Forget “design”—ClipArt dominated in these Word-/Publisher-based nightmares. Forget “effective”—newsletters were stuffed in trashcans and littered hallways.

We shut down the bootleg newsletters one at a time, and started a single system-wide newsletter that enjoyed a three-year run. It was a four-color, six-page tabloid glossy. Very nice. But time-consuming. As resources dwindled, the newsletter became burdensome for a two-person staff to write, edit, proof and repeat each month.

Enter the Internet.

I’m not sure what it is about hospital newsletters, but employees get emotionally tied to them. I had to argue for ending the printed newsletter in favor of a Web-based product. Here’s what I reasoned:

• Cost-savings: Pay a Web company upfront for design/tech work on a nice e-blast template and accompanying blog from which the articles pull. Over time, you'll start seeing how much money you save.
• More effective tracking: Gauge readership/interest in an e-newsletter based on click-throughs and monthly Web stat tracking. Evaluate and adjust accordingly.
• Promoting interactivity: Cross-promote your own services by linking to your external sites, as well as your Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.
• Time saving: Forget the regimented schedule of newsletter production. If “breaking news” happens, you can blast it out instantly, rather than including it in your upcoming newsletter as “old news.”

We couldn't be happier with our new system. Now, if I could only find a way to eliminate event flyers...

Schools are putting the smack down on touching. Vaccines are being tested on college kids--our nation's go-to guinea pigs. And the media is gearing up for a hysterical H1N1 flu season.

The best way to stop germs from spreading is by hand washing. In this rap video, the nurses at Mass General Hospital show you how to do it right. Usually, I don't listen to self-produced raps on YouTube, but I just can't get this catchy hook out of my head.

Boom boom, chicky chicky, Cal Stat…

Enjoy.