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.

Aria Marketing today announced that several healthcare companies, including AxiaMed and Diameter Health, have selected the firm as their PR and marketing agency of record. 

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.

As PR professionals, it’s our job to stay on top of the news so that we can find relevant story angles and leverage hot topics to guide our media relations outreach for clients. In the healthcare space, we are fortunate to have a number of great publications we read and work with every day, including Healthcare IT News, Becker’s Hospital Review and Medical Economics, to name a few.

But, besides reading the trades every day, there are other traditional and non-traditional outlets we turn to to learn more about the politics of healthcare, to take a deeper dive on a particular topic or to get the breaking news as it happens. Here are some of the sources we tap to stay “in the know” on all the latest and greatest issues in healthcare:

A blog can be a great resource for getting an individual or a company’s thought leadership out into the world, but getting started can be a bit daunting. At Aria, we advise, assist and draft blog posts for our clients regularly, so we thought we’d share some tips that you can leverage to craft and promote your blog.

…and no one is around to hear… you know the rest. It’s a philosophical question for the ages. I have a similar query for my marketing and PR colleagues. If you create a great piece of content, but no one sees it, does it even matter? We’ve all been told that content is king, and if that is in fact true, then distribution is surely queen. A king without subjects (like content without an audience) wouldn’t be much of a king at all.

As my internship comes to a bittersweet close, I wanted to take the time to reflect on the amazing and rewarding experience I had here at Aria Marketing. Through the Northeastern University co-op program, I was able to join the Aria team as an intern, eager to begin my PR agency journey. Right away, Aria exposed me to every aspect of public relations, and I was immersed into the Aria culture.

That’s right, they even let the intern write a blog post! The following is partially a recap of my seven month internship at Aria and partially a thank you note to the company, as I really couldn’t write one without the other. Since I joined Aria in January 2015 as part of the Northeastern University co-op program, I’ve learned a lot, made good friends and (hopefully) set myself up to succeed in the ‘real world’ when I graduate in December. So, while I could have written a much longer list, the following summarizes the top five things I’ve learned during my internship tenure at Aria:

On March 8, corporations and individuals across the globe will join forces to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD). IWD is a day to honor women and their achievements and raise awareness about women's equality in the workforce and beyond. At Aria Marketing, we are in a unique and special situation in that 80% of our workforce is comprised of talented, supportive women who lift each other up every chance we get – something that differentiates Aria in the typically competitive PR agency world. In honor of this year’s IWD, I asked some of my colleagues to share who inspires them – or in other words, who are their “sheros” (she + hero). As you will see, my team finds inspiration from a wide range of women across the spectrum of professions:

The terms ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ have been thrown around for months now, and while your definition of what constitutes fake news may differ depending on your political leanings, the fact that these terms have risen to the top of national discourse is concerning. As PR professionals, it’s hard not to take a step back and examine how our role as communicators influenced the rise of fake news and alternative facts.

Goodbye 2016, hello 2017! While the Aria team enjoyed an extended winter break (work perks!), we came back ready to hit the ground running and kick the new year off with a bang. We are sure that 2017 will be a great year for Aria, and are thrilled to share some of the major PR wins our clients achieved in the first month of the year: 

January started with a “bomb cyclone” that pummeled the east coast in snow, but the crazy weather did not hinder the Aria team from doing what we do best! We made it through the first month of 2018 and we are geared up for yet another exciting year! Before we dive head first into the rest of 2018, we wanted to share our some of our client’s PR wins for the month of January!

New year, renewed motivation to get our clients amazing results! We worked to ensure our clients started the year off strong with a robust media presence, all while prepping for HIMSS19. Below are some of our clients’ biggest wins from January:

Public Relations professionals get a bad rap. No matter where it began, the misconception of PR people as “spinners” is out there, and has been furthered by stereotypes, assumptions, and narrow perspective. Why should you trust me, a PR professional? Because I only recently stepped onto the public relations side from the other side of the aisle. Just a couple years ago, I was a full-fledged journalist.

Summer is in full swing, and here in Boston, we feel blessed to finally get some sunshine! Even with our long weekends and fun summer Fridays, the Aria team is hustling for results for our clients. Take a look at some of our major client highlights for July below:

Summer is officially here! While our team is ready to hit the beaches and enjoy the warm weather on our #SummerFridays, we are still hard at work securing great press coverage and other PR wins for our clients. So, slap on those shades and let’s reflect on our PR highlights from the past month.

The temperatures in Boston certainly hit some record highs in June, and adding to the heat, our clients had some sizzling results all month long. So grab your sunglasses and take a look at some our top client wins throughout the month of June:

Aria Marketing, a leading healthcare public relations and marketing communications agency, today announced it was selected as the agency of record by eVideon, a leader in interactive patient engagement and digital workflow solutions. The award-winning agency also promoted Ashley Owen to account director – a move that will further support Aria’s growing client roster.

The need for better cognitive treatment processes in the US and beyond is urgent. Today, over 6 million Americans aged 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia and 1 in 3 seniors will die with the disease. Experts expect that figure to more than double by 2050. We all know that a healthy body starts with a healthy mind—so, why are cognitive health screenings less prioritized than cardiovascular or cancer screenings?

One of Aria’s newest clients, Linus Health, aims to disrupt cognitive care by integrating AI with proactive early detection and intervention methods to detect and curb the progression of cognitive decline up to 10 years before symptoms present. Founded by David Bates, Ph.D. and Alvaro Pascual-Leone, M.D., Ph.D., Linus utilizes digital biomarkers to reveal subtle signals of cognitive issues that are invisible to the human eye. Its flagship solution, the DCTclock, is a next-generation digital evaluation tool that, after more than ten years of development at MIT and Lahey Medical Center, has been reviewed in over a dozen research publications and is proven effective in identifying the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in patients with no outward symptoms. The DCTclock was one of TIME's 100 Best Inventions of 2021. The company’s healthcare delivery platform, which includes the DCTclock, provides a tried-and-true approach to aid with early detection, granting clinical insights for healthcare professionals as well as tailored action plans for patients.

Linus Health engaged Aria to support its thought leadership development via a comprehensive media relations program that emphasizes the power of AI and digital tools to help detect dementia early and help guide clinicians in identifying patient-specific recommendations. We have also been working to raise awareness of the critical nature of early detection and early interventions while there is still time to slow decline. To date, Aria has secured many prominent placements including:

• Healthcare Business Today byline from David Bates on long Covid-Alzheimer’s link
• HIT Consultant byline from VP, Interventional Therapy Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman, Ph.D. on making the case for early intervention and detection

• Neurology Live interview with Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone to discuss AAIC research findings and how they influence the way neurologists care for late-life patients

• MedCity byline from Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman explaining how lifestyle changes are more effective and sustainable than any dementia drug available on the market today

Aria has helped Linus capitalize on all of its growth and accomplishments by helping the company win multiple awards recognizing its successes in 2022. Linus was named by Boston Business Journal as one of the Largest Healthtech Companies in Massachusetts and was also recognized for its fast growth in BostInno's 2022 Fire Awards in the Medtech and Healthtech category. The company also won Technology of the Year in the Healthcare Tech category for Mass TLC's Tech Top 50.

As the healthcare industry continues to seek out better detection and treatment options for patients with cognitive disorders, the advancement of digital biomarkers and digitally enabled solutions will drive clinical research and patient care in the years ahead. We're excited to continue collaborating with Linus Health and promoting its mission to a broad audience, and ultimately move the needle on the significance of regular proactive cognitive screening and improve cognitive assessment methods in the world's battle against Alzheimer's and dementia.

If you or your company are interested in elevating your brand through public relations, please contact Scott Collins at scollins@ariamarketing.com so we can discuss our strategy and how we can create a plan that meets your goals. As always, you can also keep up with Aria on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you’re interested in learning more about Linus Health and want to follow their upcoming announcements, you can find them on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit their website at linushealth.com.

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.