How to get Media Coverage for your Direct Primary Care Practice
Getting media coverage for your direct primary care practice is a challenge and an opportunity. You probably did NOT go to journalism school, and you probable have NOT worked at a public relations firm, so you probably don’t have an extensive list of media contacts.
That’s okay! We’re going to start building a list for you.
First thing, read your local publications and listen to your local public radio and watch your local television stations. Who is reporting on health care issues in your community? Can you reach out to them on Twitter or send them an email? If so, you can start to build a relationship with this journalist and become a trusted source for them.
Journalists need to quote experts when they write a news article, and you could be that go-to expert for their next piece on health care.
Reach Out to Journalists When You Have a Newsworthy Event
You might be launching your practice, or hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony at your office, or celebrating 5 years in business. If so, you should send an email or a text with a press release to all of the journalists on your media list. If they’ve worked with you in the past and you’ve helped them on a story in the past, they are more likely to help you with your news-worthy story.
This is where building relationships is helpful! The more relationships and the stronger relationships you have with folks in the media, the easier it will be for you to tell your stories about your practice.
An Example of Getting Media for our Direct Primary Care Practice
Last month, I was gearing up to speak at the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians annual conference on Mackinac Island. I looked through the speaker list and I reached out to everyone I wasn’t connected with. I wrote a quick “my name is Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC in Detroit, and I’m looking forward to seeing you and meeting you on the Island.”
The moderator for the first session for the day was Robin Erb, a local journalist with Bridge Magazine in Detroit. She responded to my message on LinkedIn and she expressed interest in writing about our practice. I shared my schedule with her, and we had lunch together and talked about Plum Health. We also met up on Mackinac, I attended her session, she attended my presentation, and a few days later, she published the article about Direct Primary Care and our practice, as well as the broader DPC movement.
In short, if you want media coverage for your DPC practice, you have to connect with journalists via email or on social media, and give them something newsworthy to discuss in their article about you.
@plumhealthdpc Direct primary care is a relatively new practice model for health care delivery - we had a great write up in Bridge Michigan that goes deep on the topic and gets into the nuance and details #DirectPrimaryCare #PlumHealth #BridgeMichigan #RobinErb #HealthCare #HealthCareJournalism #DPCMovement #PrimaryCare #Michigan #Detroit ♬ original sound - plumhealthdpc
Best of luck! Here’s a little inspirational video on how you can get media coverage for your DPC practice:
-Paul Thomas, MD with Startup DPC