COVID-19 has made healthcare policy the hot topic of the 2020 election. As healthcare public relations professionals, it’s always top of mind for us and our clients. We’ve got two very different candidates heading into the November election: President Donald Trump (R) and former Vice President Joe Biden (D). Let’s take a look at how they match up on key issues:

The Aria Marketing staff has spent the past seven months supporting our health IT clients from home amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While working remotely has introduced us to many challenges, like issues with internet coverage, Zoom calls, homeschooling, and crowded households, the Aria team has found innovative ways to set themselves up for success at home. Hear from members of the Aria team below on best practices for working from home as well as what they miss most about our office:

Nothing like a pandemic to highlight the importance of maintaining cleanliness and good hygiene, huh? I like to think of myself as a trailblazer as I’ve always been a stickler for copious hand-washing (as my children would undoubtedly attest to). And, lucky for me, my wife Melissa is pretty into cleaning as well. In fact, she just happens to be the Chief Cleaning Officer of MaidPro, a residential cleaning franchise with locations across North America. As a nationally recognized authority on cleaning, Melissa has been featured in numerous national media outlets from Martha Stewart and realsimple to the Washington Post. Lately, she’s been hard at work on the frontlines of the cleaning industry’s response to COVID-19. So, who better to recruit to answer some of the Aria staff’s most pressing cleaning questions? Take it away, Melissa!

One of the great things about Aria Marketing is that we get to work with so many technology companies doing amazing things for patients, providers, and the healthcare system in general. One such client is eVideon, a Michigan-based company providing hospitals with interactive patient engagement and digital workflow solutions.

Like many others, we at Aria Marketing have been teleworking since COVID-19 hit Massachusetts in early March. While this has certainly taken some getting used to, we are amongst the lucky ones as working from home as a B2B PR professional is pretty easy to do—all we need are our laptops, phones, and some space to get our creative PR juices flowing. And, while there are certainly challenges to this set-up (homeschool being the biggie for me!), there is one silver lining: more time for cooking!

The world has been facing the COVID-19 global pandemic for almost a year, but it finally feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel – vaccines. The Biden administration is currently pushing for a more accelerated vaccination rollout in the U.S., and the President recently suggested the nation could soon reach an average of 1.5 million shots a day. This push comes as many health experts call the initial vaccine rollout “flawed” and express concerns over the amount of Americans vaccinated thus far. As a healthcare PR agency working with clients across the industry, we are well-versed on the latest vaccine news and “hot takes” from industry executives and wanted to share what we have been hearing lately from our clients.  

COVID has had a huge impact on healthcare, and will continue to for years to come.  Some of the changes, like the ability to muster a massive response to a rapid influx of patients, are obvious, but others are more subtle and unexpected.  From my perspective, working primarily with technology companies seeking to help health systems, health plans and other stakeholders innovate and evolve, I have seen some very interesting changes in where healthcare decision-makers are shifting their attention and investing their money and resources.

2020 is a year for the record books (thanks COVID-19). As healthcare PR professionals, we will always remember 2020 as the year that the HIMSS annual conference was cancelled for the first time ever. While the cancellation of HIMSS20 was a painful blow for both our clients and the Aria team, we can all start looking forward to HIMSS21, which is scheduled to take place August 9–13, 2021 in Las Vegas. With the 2021 date set, it is time to start thinking about HIMSS speaking proposals (the speaking portal officially opens October 5).

The East Coast has endured a long, cold winter, and being locked inside due to COVID-19 has not helped. Holiday parties were virtual, travel plans were canceled and life as we knew it was put on hold. While we’ve been cut off from most in-person human contact, the Aria team has had to put its public relations brains to work and get creative with how to endure the winter here in Boston.

Finding fully remote work pre-global pandemic was difficult. Many companies believed the best work is done at the office with no exceptions. But as COVID-19 marched on, businesses were forced to stop and think about what would be best for their employees while also keeping their company thriving. Never having worked remotely, I had no idea what would be in store for me when I began to work at home for Aria Marketing. I was worried I wouldn’t be as successful as in my previous jobs because of this setup. Nevertheless, I have been pleasantly surprised. As it turns out, there are a lot of benefits to working without an office. Some of these, outlined below, include improved productivity, increased comfort, new ways of expanding company culture, and a better balance between work and personal life. 

As we’ve entered week 10 of social distancing here in Massachusetts, all eyes are on strategies for resuming activities without compromising safety. Working at a healthcare-focused PR agency like Aria during the COVID-19 pandemic has given us insight not only on the acute effects of the crisis, but on the wider-reaching consequences the virus has on the industry. With quarantine and stay-at-home orders in place, people have missed routine and non-emergent medical appointments, forgoing care that they might have sought in a more normal circumstance.

Welcoming in a new year is an excellent time to think about what went well, what didn't, and what we can do to improve the next 12 months. Similarly to how we strategize to be more impactful with our healthcare IT work, we use the new year to strategize and come up with new ways to maximize our own health and wellness. A few years ago, we had the idea to close our offices the week between Christmas and New Year’s; a perk for which we are all still very grateful.

As the world begins to “return to normal,” there are some innovations, processes and habits we picked up during the COVID-19 lockdown that actually weren’t so bad – in fact, there are a few COVID adaptations I think we should keep.

The entire world is experiencing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic as it is impacting every facet of our lives from our jobs, to the way we shop for groceries, to social engagements and more. In particular, the content of the news has changed with the majority of information now being shared through the lens of COVID-19. As a healthcare PR agency, Aria is uniquely positioned to support our healthcare clients (who provide services across the industry) during this period of uncertainty.