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2012 Model Practice Application (Public)Application Name: 2012 Model Practice Application (Public) : Kansas City Health Department : 24/7/365 Initial response to media calls within 5 minutes Applicant Name: Jeff Hershberger Application Title: 24/7/365 Initial response to media calls within 5 minutes Please enter email addresses you would like your confirmation to be sent to. jeff.hershberger@kcmo.org Practice Title 24/7/365 initial response to media calls within 5 minutes Submitting LHD/Agency/Organization City of Kansas City, Mo., Health Department Head of LHD/Agency/Organization Dr. Rex Archer, director Street Address 2400 Troost Ave. Practice Contact Person Jeff Hershberger Title Public Information Officer jeff.hershberger@kcmo.org Submitting LHD/Agency/Organization Web Address (if applicable) www.kcmo.org/health Provide a brief summary of the practice in this section. This overview will be used to introduce the model or promising practice in the Model Practices Database. Although this section is not judged, the judges use it to get an overall idea about your practice. You must include answers to the following questions in your response:
• Size of population in your health department’s jurisdiction
• Who is your target population/audience, for this practice
• Size of target population/audience, if applicable
• The number or percentage of the target population/audience reached, if applicable
• Describe the nature and gravity of the public health issue addressed
• List the goal’s and objective(s) of the practice and clearly link them to the problem or issue the practice is addressing. Briefly indicate what the practice intends to accomplish overall.
• When (month and year) the practice was implemented.
• Briefly describe how the practice was implemented, what were major activities, and any start-up and in-kind costs and funding services.
• Outcomes of practice (list process milestones and intended/actual outcomes and impacts.
• Were all of the objectives met?
• What specific factors led to the success of this practice?
• Lessons learned from the practice The Kansas City, Mo., Health Department primarily serves an urban population of 459,787 according to the 2010 US Census, but also serves the surrounding community. The target audience is a single media market serving the bi-state metropolitan area of approximately 2 million, shared with nine other local health departments and two state health departments. The market includes a Fox Affiliate (WDAF 4), CBS affiliate (KCTV 5 and KSMO 62), NBC affiliate (KSHB 41 and 38 the Spot), ABC affiliate (KMBC 9 and KCWE 29), PBS affiliate (PBS 19), and Univision affiliate, as well as 24 broadcast radio stations and numerous print and web news outlets. It is currently the #31 television market according to the Nielsen Local Television Market Universe Estimates.
One of the greatest challenges during any public health emergency is communicating information to the public, and news media is the single most efficient means of reaching the largest number of people. However, timely and accurate communication through the news media is not something that just falls into place during an emergency. It is dependent on relationships cultivated both with individual members of the media and media outlets in general.
For the last 10 years, the Kansas City, Mo., Health Department has utilized a 24/7/365 media pager as a primary contact for the department’s communication team and Public Information Officer (PIO). The Department’s “Public Information and Communications Policy Manual and SOP” states: “Whenever this happens (a media contact attempt)… advise the reporter, per Health Department protocol, that they need to call the media pager at (816) 840-2548” and “The expectation is that the PIO or designee carrying the pager will respond to a media page by calling the number listed on the pager within 5 or at the very most 10 minutes.” The policy continues with expectations for if the initial call-back attempt does not reach the media representative. The pager number is made available on all department news releases, department website, and communication team voice-mailboxes, e-mails and business cards.
As the communications team is made up of salaried employees, the only financial cost is the ongoing cost of the pager itself.
Overflow: Please finish the response to the question above by using this text area. Please be mindful of the word limits. The goal of this practice is to foster a successful and consistent relationship with members of the media through consistent timely and professional response to media requests, while protecting employees and controlling the information provided. Describe the public health issue that this practice addresses. (350 word limit)
Communicating with the public is a major challenge during any public health emergency or event. If you do not develop relationships with the media prior to an event, you will have a very difficult time getting your message out during the event. What process was used to determine the relevancy of the public health issue to the community? (350 word limit) Communications and Public Information have been determined by CDC, FEMA and DHS (among others) to be of vital importance, relevant in any public health discussion, whether it is emergency communication or day to day communication of public health messages. How does the practice address the issue? The Kansas City, Mo., Health Department’s media pager policy addresses the issue of communication by developing trust, respect, and an expectation that during a public health event the Health Department will be the source of information. By consistently and willingly responding to media accurately and in a timely manner, the Health Department has developed a reputation as the agency to call first for public health information. Is the practice new to the field of public health? If so, answer the following questions. Yes What process was used to determine that the practice is new to the field of public health? Please provide any supporting evidence you may have, e.g. literature review. While timely response to media requests is not new to fields outside of public health, and is in fact considered to be a best practice for public information, communications and media relations fields in general, the Health Department’s policy of using a single point of contact (either a single media pager or media phone) with the very strict expectation of a response to all calls within 5 minutes is a practice in other fields that would greatly improve public health communications. How does this practice differ from other approaches used to address the public health issue? This differs from most current practices in that many health departments either do not have a designated media liaison or they utilize a desk phone with answering machine that only responds to calls during office hours. Conversely, outside of public health, the communications industry has moved to a 24-hour news day, with the expectation of being able to obtain accurate information at any time day or night. With a media pager, the PIO can learn of requests from multiple media outlets at the same time (rather than getting bogged down on a single call that keeps the line busy). The communications team can work multiple calls at once using this older technology, as witnessed by the 2011 heat death situation when the team was dealing with local and national media, often calling for more information at close to the same time due to when new information became or was made available. This media pager policy is a first step necessary to bringing public health communications up to speed with the rest of the communications industry. Is the practice a creative use of an existing tool or practice? If so, answer the following questions. No What tool or practice (e.g., APC development tool, The Guide to Community Preventive Services, HP 2020, MAPP, PACE EH, etc.); did you use in a creative way to create your practice? (if applicable) (300 word limit total)
a. Is it in NACCHO’s Toolbox; (if not, have you uploaded it in the Toolbox)?
b. If you used a tool or practice to implement your practice, how was your approach to implementing the tool unique and innovative for your target area/population?
What process was used to determine that the practice is a creative use of an existing tool or practice? Please provide any supporting evidence you may have, for example, literature review. How does this practice differ from other approaches used to address the public health issue? Who were the primary stakeholders in the practice? The primary stakeholders are the members of the media and the communications team. Other stakeholders include local, state and federal health agencies and community partners. What is the LHD's role in this practice? The local health department’s role in this specific practice is to provide the service within a set time period and to assure that this practice continues. By consistently following the policy, the Health Department develops a positive reputation with media outlets and specific members of the media. What is the role of stakeholders/partners in the planning and implementation of the practice? Once the policy was developed, the information was provided to the stakeholders (members of the media), with the expectation that they would utilize the media pager when they wish to obtain information, advice or an interview from the Health Department. What does the LHD do to foster collaboration with community shareholders? Describe the relationship(s) and how it furthers the practice's goals. The contact information is provided to all members of the media. When they attempt to contact the Health Department without going through the appropriate channels, they are referred to the pager. They then contact the pager and work through the process. By continuing to provide the timely, accurate response, the Health Department encourages members of the media to continue to use the pager. This also allows the Health Department to take on a consultant role with the media: if they trust you to provide them information in a timely manner, they will trust you when you refer them to other sources. Describe lessons learned and barriers to developing collaborations There will always be members of the media who attempt to circumvent the process. Training of all department staff and consistent enforcement of this policy is vital to its success. Reporters who find a willing voice in the department will always call that person, even if they have an official response, because controversy and “anonymous sources” sometimes sells more advertising than a definitive statement. Evaluation assesses the value of the practice and the potential worth it has to other LHDs and the populations they serve. It is also an effective means to assess the credibility of the practice. Evaluation helps public health practice maintain standards and improves practice.
Two types of evaluation are process and outcome. Process evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the steps taken to achieve the desired practice outcomes. Outcome evaluation summarizes the results of the practice efforts. Results may be long-term, such as an improvement in health status, or short-term, such as an improvement in knowledge/awareness, a policy change, an increase in numbers reached, etc. Results may be quantitative (empirical data such as percentages or numerical counts) and/or qualitative (e.g., focus group results, in-depth interviews, or anecdotal evidence).
List up to three primary objectives for the practice. For each objective, provide the following information: (750 word limit per objective)
Objective 1: Demonstrate that the Health Department message gets to the public through the media
Objective 2: Demonstrate benefit of practice to the health department
Objective 3: Demonstrate media response to policy • Performance measures used to evaluate the practice: List the performance measures used in your evaluation. Depending on the type of evaluation conducted, these might be measures of processes (e.g., number of meetings held, number of partners contacted), program outputs (e.g., number of clients served, number of informational flyers distributed), or program outcomes (e.g., policy change, change in knowledge or attitude, change in a health indicator)
• Data: List secondary and primary data sources used for the evaluation. Describe what primary data, if any were collected for each performance measure, who collected them, and how.
• Evaluation results: Summarize what the LHD learned from the process and/or outcome evaluation. To what extent did the LHD successfully implement the activities that supported that objective? To what extent was the objective achieved?
• Feedback: List who received the evaluation results, what lessons were learned, and what modifications, if any, were made to the practice as a result of the data findings.
The Kansas City, Mo., Health Department regularly tracks media contacts and resulting media mentions. The department utilizes a third party tracking service, Media Library Inc., to track mentions on local broadcast television. The communications team also tracks print mentions in the KC Star and web mentions utilizing the Google Alert system. At this time, the Department does not have a tracking system in place to capture radio broadcasts or non-local TV broadcasts, so the media mention counts are assumed to be an undercounting of the actual count. This also does not include contacts through Twitter or Facebook, though both of those have resulted in media contacts and subsequent coverage. In 2010, Health Department staff communicated with members of the media 1,299 times by phone, in person, or by e-mail, resulting in at least 1,042 mentions of the Health Department or a Health Department topic on air, online or in print. In 2009, there were 2,280 direct contacts with the media resulting in 1,318 mentions, and in 2008, there were 1,347 direct contacts with the media resulting in at least 1,145 mentions. Over this three year period, the department averaged 1,642 direct contacts with members of the media resulting in 1,168 mentions during news broadcasts or in news stories. Overflow (Objective 1): Please finish the response to the question above by using this text area. Please be mindful of the word limits. In the seven month period of January through July of 2011, the Health Department looked at more specific data within the overall number of direct contacts. In that time period, the communications team utilized 19 media releases, 351 phone calls, 330 e-mail communications, and 105 in-person communications, including on-site or in-studio interviews and media events. During that time, the media pager sounded 134 times with complete, working numbers (this does not include alphanumeric informational pages or incomplete phone numbers), with calls as early as 5:24 a.m. and as late as 11:30 p.m. Of those 134 calls to the media pager, 100% received an initial response within five minutes. Those contacts resulted in at least 982 mentions of the Health Department or public health topics discussed in the direct contacts. During that time period, Media Library reported 41,622,175 impressions on local television stations and a calculated publicity value of $2,041,740 for those 982 mentions, based on Nielsen viewership estimates for the different news broadcasts. The 41.6 million impressions would indicate that public health messages are reaching the residents and workers in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Overflow (Objective 2): Please finish the response to the question above by using this text area. Please be mindful of the word limits. Objective 3: Members of the media regularly provide verbal feedback appreciating the timeliness of response; national media often express surprise at how quickly they are contacted. As a result, members of the media usually contact the Kansas City, Mo., Health Department first when they are looking for health information, and regularly contact the communication team for advice on who they should call on different topics even when they know it is not covered by a program at the Health Department. Overflow (Objective 3): Please finish the response to the question above by using this text area. Please be mindful of the word limits. What are the specific tasks taken that achieve each goal and objective of the practice? The Department purchases the ongoing pager service through a local pager service provider. The pager number has remained consistent for the last decade (through two PIOs and a “Media Liaison”) and is made available on all department news releases, department website, and communication team voice-mailboxes, e-mails and business cards. Whenever a member of the media contacts the Health Department in any way besides through the communications team, he or she is referred to the media pager. The PIO and communications team also regularly communicate with other public information, communications and public relations offices of community partners and encourage them to also have the pager number available if a reporter asks them for other sources. What was the timeframe for carrying out these tasks? These tasks are ongoing. Though reporters, news desks and producers who have worked with the department in the past are familiar with this policy, some will occasionally attempt to get around the process, especially during sweeps /ratings seasons. Also, new reporters are regularly hired into the local media market who are not familiar with the policy. To address this, the policy is politely but firmly provided each time a media call comes to the department outside of the appropriate venues. Is there sufficient stakeholder commitment to sustain the practice? Describe how this commitment is ensured. There is definitely a stakeholder commitment to sustain the practice. The media has come to expect a timely response, and as long as they continue to receive this timely response and subsequent assistance, they will continue to utilize the media pager to reach the communications team. The Department will likewise continue to utilize the media pager as long as it continues to push public health to the public through the media. Describe plans to sustain the practice over time and leverage resources. All new employees at the Health Department receive a New Employee Orientation that includes the policy stating that all media calls to the department should be referred to the media pager and the communications team. When a new person joins the communication team, he or she receives training on communication policies and procedures, participates in a “follow” process that includes sitting in on interviews with members of the media and eventually carrying the pager with full support from the other communication team members. The expectation is that when the PIO is unavailable, the communication team will share coverage of the media pager.
With this orientation of both Health Department staff and new communication team members, the practice of referring media to the media pager and of responding to the media pager in a timely manner is sustained even with staff turn-over in the communications positions.
Practice Category Choice 1: Communication/Public Relations Practice Category Choice 1, Part 2: Marketing. Branding and Promotion Practice Category Choice 2: Practice Category Choice 2, Part 2: Practice Category Choice 3: Practice Category Choice 3, Part 2 Check all that apply. NACCHO Web Site Colleague in my health department I am a previous Model Practice Applicant |
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