Leading Health Communicators to Share Best Practices, Practical Tips at Kaiser Permanente/Ragan Communications Summit

OAKLAND, Calif., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Some of the most prominent voices in health care communications will present and lead discussions at the Kaiser Permanente/Ragan Communications Health Care Communicators' Summit on June 7-9.

The main conference will be held June 8-9 at Kaiser Permanente's Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center, in which Kaiser Permanente caregivers test and simulate techniques and technologies before they are put in use throughout the integrated health care system. A pre-conference, featuring Ragan Communications CEO Mark Ragan's Social Media Boot Camp and a seminar on issues management specific to H1N1, will be held Monday, June 7, at the Hilton Oakland Airport.

Attendees will leave this practical how-to conference with tools and tips that they can use immediately to improve their organization's marketing and communications strategies and tactics. Attendees also will get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Garfield Center, which is the only setting of its kind in the United States that brings together technology, architecture, workflow and frontline nurses, doctors and patients to spawn innovation, brainstorm and test tools and programs for patient-centered care in a mock hospital, clinic, office and home environment. Some sessions will be held in a new "microclinic" model that Kaiser Permanente already is using to help create care delivery environments in locations such as shopping centers.

The 37,000-square-foot facility is named for Sidney R. Garfield, MD, who with Henry J. Kaiser founded Kaiser Permanente 65 years ago.

"We welcome the opportunity to partner with Ragan Communications to present a thoughtful, practical event for our peers in health care communications," said Diane Gage Lofgren, Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president for Brand Strategy, Communications and Public Relations. "We're also thrilled to have this event in our Garfield Innovation Center, which has helped Kaiser Permanente earn recognition this year as one of the most innovative organizations in the world. I'm excited to share lessons from our communications journey, and to learn from others so we can continuously improve."

Summit keynote speakers include:

• Diane Gage Lofgren, Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president for Brand Strategy, Communications and Public Relations, who will share how Kaiser Permanente coordinated marketing, public relations and corporate communications to multiply the effect of the award-winning Thrive advertising campaign to achieve true thought-leader status;
• Matthew Holt, founder of The Health Care Blog, who will talk about the future of health care, how to create and nurture conversations with bloggers and consumers, and how health care organizations that don't nurture those conversations do so at their peril; and
• John Schreiber, executive vice president of social action and advocacy for Participant Media, which won Academy Awards for "An Inconvenient Truth" and, earlier this year, "The Cove." John will close the conference with a talk about how effective storytelling has changed and will change the world – and how your storytelling can, also.

Mark Ragan, CEO and publisher of Ragan Communications, will present his popular "Social Media Boot Camp" at the summit's June 7 pre-conference.

"For more than 25 years, Ragan has admired Kaiser Permanente for its industry leadership in health care communications," said Mark Ragan. "We've often praised their advances in social media communications strategy and practice. I'm so glad that Kaiser Permanente has chosen to partner with us in the Health Care Communicators Summit this June in San Leandro at the Garfield Health Care Innovation Center. Seeing what Kaiser Permanente does to involve and engage its employees and members will be an inspiration to attendees of this summit. I guarantee that."

For more about the conference, go to www.ragan.com/healthcare. For more about the Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center, go to www.kp.org/innovationcenter.

About Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc.

For more than three decades, Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc., has been the leading publisher of corporate communications, public relations, and leadership development newsletters. Ever since the launch of The Ragan Report in 1970, Ragan has provided the professional communicator and executives with timely, practical, and relevant information that few others can match. The Ragan brand now includes more than 16 targeted newsletters in the areas of employee communication, organizational writing and editing, sales and marketing, media relations and motivational management. In addition to our newsletter division, Ragan produces several communications conferences, workshops, and senior-level forums throughout the United States. Ragan conferences draw more than 3,000 professionals annually and provide attendees with access to leading communicators, best practices and rich networking opportunities. A Brief History: Lawrence Ragan Communications is named for its founder, the dean of organizational communicators. With Lawrence Ragan's death in 1995, his son Mark Ragan, now CEO and Publisher, leads the firm.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente