As part of a long line of Haitian educators, physicians, and activists, Dr. Rachel Villanueva always knew she wanted to follow in her family’s footsteps. She quickly gravitated toward medicine and became a practicing OB-GYN and then expanded into education as a Clinical Assistant professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

In 2021-2022, Dr. Villanueva served as the 122nd president of the National Medical Association, the country’s oldest and largest professional organization representing more than 50,000 Black physicians and their patients. Through her clinical practice and service as a physician-advocate, Dr. Villanueva works to create meaningful change at both the patient and population levels.

As our nation observes Black History Month, we sat down with Dr. Villanueva to discuss health disparities, health equity, and Black women’s health.

Please note: This interview has been edited for brevity.

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Reservoir: As a physician-advocate, you’ve dedicated your career to promoting health equity. What does that look like in your day-to-day practice as an OB-GYN?

RV: I’m a full-time clinician seeing patients from all different ethnicities and backgrounds, so I’m a very strong advocate for women’s health and rights on both the micro and macro levels. On the micro level, I see patients full-time, taking care of the preventive and reproductive health needs of women across their lifespan. Many women are coming to me because they feel unheard and undervalued, which makes sense given the history of treatment of Black women in our health care system. Currently, the U.S. has the worst maternal health outcomes of any industrialized nation; socioeconomic status and education do not protect Black women from these outcomes. As a result, many women are looking for a provider who looks like them, and research shows that patients do better – they’re more compliant with treatment plans, have better interactions with providers and have better health outcomes – when they see a provider with similar identities to their own.

More broadly, I believe that we must center health equity on the macro level through policy and advocacy. This can look like many different things, from supporting legislature like the Momnibus Act, promoting fibroid research and education, and amplifying the need for the diversification of not only the physician workforce, but also the overall health care workforce.

Reservoir: Black women in the U.S. continue to face disproportionately poor health outcomes, including around reproductive health. What are some of the roots of these disparities, and what steps can we take to remedy them?

RV: For Black people in the U.S., even if you do everything “right” in terms of your health, you’ll likely still have worse health outcomes, and that’s not by happenstance. Rather, it’s due to longstanding systemic and structural inequities and factors that are entirely outside your control. Policies that have historically disadvantaged minoritized communities influence the social determinants of health (where people live, work, and play), such as individuals’ access to green spaces and exercise, to nutritious foods, their home environment, their stress level, and their hospital access.

To remedy these disparities, we must remember that these systems are entrenched in society, in politics, how laws are made, in health care, in education, how and where we train physicians, and how patients are treated. We must bring health care back to respecting our patients, doing no harm, and doing what’s best for the patient given their unique situation. Equity must be valued in terms of quality. Unfortunately, our current health care system is one that prioritizes taking care of illness, rather than focusing on preventive care. We must incorporate individual patient needs and their own social determinants of health, and endeavor to improve their health outcomes. People need to be able to trust in our health care system and more importantly in their individual provider. An important piece of this is having a health home, a provider who knows you, your family history and individual risks, and works to create a preventive plan for your best health.

Reservoir: As the past president of the National Medical Association (NMA), you led the largest national organization representing Black physicians. What are some of your key takeaways from your experience leading NMA?

RV: Being the president of the NMA was an incredible experience, and I’m continuing much of my work, especially in health equity and diversity. The overarching theme of my year was that organizations like the NMA are still relevant and matter. Black organizations still very much need to exist. NMA started when Jim Crow laws were still in place, and individuals of color got “separate but equal” care, which was not equal and often substandard. NMA was founded so that patients could be treated and get good care, and Black physicians could practice and thrive in their communities. Those goals remain true today.

Diversifying our workforce is a big part of that, and NMA strongly supports that vision. Only 5% of physicians in the U.S. are Black, while Black people represent nearly 15% of the population. Over the last 40 years, we’ve increased the amount of overall minority physicians by only about 2%, even though minoritized populations will make up more than half of the U.S. population in a few decades. We need organizations whose core mission and foundation are diversity to remain viable. NMA’s work to promote diversity in research, clinical trials, and leadership is crucial, and NMA continues to play a critical role in supporting Black physicians and patients.

Reservoir: What does Black History Month mean to you, and what should it mean to the health care industry?

RV: Black History Month is always a great time to celebrate accomplishments, the diversity within the Black diaspora, and how united we are even though we come from many different backgrounds even within the U.S. There’s such richness in that diversity, but so much commonality as well.

Black History Month is a special time for us to highlight positivity within our community, but it’s also important to remember our struggles and adversity that continue to fuel the work that remains for us to do. Black history is American history. We must continue to elevate, educate and promote our contributions, and protect them from being erased from our country’s history. While some aspects may be difficult to acknowledge, we can’t minimize or ignore their impact on our culture or society. It’s a time to recognize and value the power in unity and re-energize for the future.

Reservoir: How do you stay motivated to do this work?

RV: Racial health disparities are not only persisting but are even widening. Most recently, COVID highlighted this fact, and the worsening Black maternal mortality crisis continues to be a painfully a glaring example. I stay motivated by the basic reason I chose to become a physician, to help people. I stay motivated because I believe that it’s unacceptable to allow people to suffer from preventable issues, and to die preventable deaths. I stay motivated because these are not just statistics of poor health outcomes, these are my friends, my family and my community. We need to come together as a society to address health inequities.

I’m very encouraged that there are so many groups addressing these problems from so many different angles nowadays. Many organizations are looking to address social determinants, policy, and holistic care. There’s a groundswell of groups and individuals, from tech to payors and providers, attempting to address health equity in a meaningful way, so hopefully that continues and isn’t just of the moment. I’m excited that we’re moving the needle in the right direction.

Washington, DC – Reservoir Communications Group has welcomed five new members to its team, including Chrystine Zacherau as a Senior Vice President, and Lauren Kotwicki and Grace Montgomery as Vice Presidents. Their unique backgrounds, including clinical and issue expertise and rapid-response communications, deepen the firm’s broad prowess in health care strategic communications and public affairs.

Chrystine comes to Reservoir from APCO Worldwide, where she was a founding member of the firm’s research arm. Chrystine has helped some of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies, health systems, provider and patient organizations, and non-profits significantly improve their communication and thought leadership with rigorous opinion research. Chrystine has authored numerous studies that amplify and engage health stakeholders on timely topics, including the integral role of nurses, the essential value of vaccines and the ability of patients to be active decision-makers in their care. Chrystine brings a unique perspective as a registered nurse and continues to practice at vaccine clinics and volunteer for Mayanza, a non-profit organization focused on transforming Guatemalan communities by improving the health of school-aged children and their mothers. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Marist College, a B.S. in Nursing from George Mason University, and a M.A. in Survey Research Methodology from the University of Connecticut.

Lauren joins Reservoir following more than a decade of public affairs experience in the federal government. Most recently, she served as a Senior Communications Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she managed communications for HHS and USDA’s development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Prior to that, Lauren served as a Public Affairs Officer for the Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General at HHS, where she managed communications and media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic response and opioid epidemic. Her experience also includes roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Lauren holds a Master’s degree in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University.

Grace returns to Reservoir as a Vice President with a deep background in health policy, research, and public affairs. Grace started her career at Reservoir in 2016 as an Associate and has rejoined the team after a year working at RF|Binder, where she led media and corporate communications work for clients across the education, energy, biotech, and food and beverage sectors. Through her time at Reservoir, Grace has gained expertise in innovative biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, as well as key policy issues facing the health care industry. Grace holds a B.S. in International Health from Georgetown University.

Reservoir also announced the additions of Ankitha Gangarapu and Madelyn Sykes, further expanding the firm’s health policy and communications expertise.

Ankitha joins Reservoir as an Associate with a background in community health and policy research. As a graduate student, they interned with the Houston-based organization, Doctors for Change, to advocate for access to healthcare for LGBTQ+ youth in Texas. Ankitha holds a Master’s in Public Health with a specialization in Community Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health.

Madelyn also comes to Reservoir as an Associate, leveraging strategic communications and public health advocacy experience. Prior to joining the team full-time, Madelyn was an intern with Reservoir and engaged with a wide variety of clients, helping to meet their business and policy objectives. Madelyn graduated Summa Cum Laude from The George Washington University with a B.S. in Public Health and a minor in French Language, Literature, and Culture.

About Reservoir Communications Group

Reservoir Communications Group is a leading health care consultancy focused on helping clients address their most important challenges and opportunities in reputation, advocacy and brand strategy. Learn more at reservoircg.

When it comes to providing high-value care, employers face a difficult challenge: balancing the needs and desires of their employees with the business interest in containing costs, while meeting the mandates of regulatory authorities. However, despite literally “paying the bills” for the health care of over 180 million people, employer voices are not always front and center in the health care discussion.

On November 17, 2022, Reservoir hosted a webinar, “Employer Perspectives on Health Care Value,” with guest panelists Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, and Rob Paczkowski, eBay Senior Director of Global Benefits.

Key areas of discussion included providing value across the health care system and understanding employee-centered value. Below are three takeaways from the discussion:

1. Employers need more value-based models of care.

Employer HR and benefits offices tend to be small, even among large employers, and often lack the ability to design and implement value-based payment systems. While employers seek to drive value-based care through accountable care organizations and similar models, they are interested in partnering with other employers and federal purchasers to test and implement multi-payer programs.

2. Employers need better data to drive their decision making.

Understanding employee utilization trends enables employers to track which benefits their employees utilize most. Working with their carriers, eBay was able to track a 77% increase in mental health service utilization during the pandemic, which helped drive benefit coverage decisions moving forward. Meanwhile, Morgan Health has been looking to improve basic outcome measures like cholesterol, high blood pressure, and mental health, while decreasing costs through its innovative partnerships. When employers better understand employee health outcomes, they can also understand where care disparities may currently exist. All of this data can be later used to inform future benefit structures and improve employee health.

3. Transparency is a must.

Along with employee utilization data, employers also need access to select data from payers, providers, and other vendors on price, access, patient experience and quality of care. However, while some data may be available through public reporting – via recently-implemented hospital and health plan transparency rules – significant barriers continue to exist for employers trying to access this data in full. For example, employers often face considerable difficulty in gaining access to price transparency in the drug supply chain. Panelists also noted that transparency and consistency are needed in contracts between employers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

If you were not able to attend this webinar, a full recording can be found here.

If you have questions about Reservoir’s value communications offering or want to learn more about how to engage with employer stakeholders, please reach out to Courtney Tyne (ctyne@reservoircg.com) or Shawn Gremminger (sgremminger@reservoircg.com).

Ballots are still being counted, but it looks increasingly likely that we will once again have a divided government leading to legislative gridlock. In turn, Congress will exercise its oversight responsibility and the Administration will look for opportunities to regulate through agencies and Executive Orders. Through all of this, it’s important to remember that while Election Day has come and gone, the politics underpinning it will remain at play and continue to influence the policy conversation.

As health care organizations think about how to approach their policy positions, advocacy and public affairs, Reservoir has pulled together the following rules of the road:

1. When it comes to Congress, educate and build relationships. As of publication, Senate and House races are still outstanding. Based on current consensus, the House will likely be more evenly divided than expected, and it’s possible the Senate and House could be under the leadership of different parties, making legislating particularly difficult. Use this time to focus on relationship building and educating lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on complex issues that may not need immediate Congressional intervention. Introduce yourself to the new members and show them the political opportunities and consequences associated with your issues.
2. Understand Administration priorities and key stakeholders. The Administration will likely look outside of the legislative process to advance their agenda. It’s important to understand how best to communicate your case by being mindful of the totality of Administration priorities. You’ll need to make your case to stakeholders and policymakers that will be persuasive to the Administration. The Reservoir Advocacy and Alliance Network (RAAN) can help you build the relationships you need to be successful.
3. Go local and go micro. More and more legislation and regulation are being done on the state and local levels, and these are the elections that most impact peoples’ daily lives. Companies need to pivot to more local and state engagement and explore micro-influencers (leaders who have close connections to targeted and specific audiences).
4. Ensure your corporate policies and positions are communicated with an awareness of the political environment. Companies need strong corporate affairs leadership to ensure that they are thinking through policies and positions in ways that recognize the political dynamics and motivations of the day. At the same time, it’s important to understand and recognize different views and political leanings across your stakeholders—employees, investors/shareholders, activists, communities in which you operate, media, policymakers and so on. Reservoir’s research team has a proprietary process to help companies ensure they have the right insights to achieve societal alignment.
5. Be smart about your stakeholder strategy. The old political categories no longer apply. Be intentional about your ability to engage with Republicans and Democrats, progressives and conservatives, across the spectrum. If you’re working with coalitions, make sure the coalition showcases a variety of political views. And importantly, be aware that a company’s federal stakeholder engagement approach may differ—sometimes dramatically—from the state and local stakeholder approach.

Policy and politics are becoming harder to separate. Successful public affairs and communications will combine depth of policy knowledge with a keen understanding of the motivations of political sub-groups. While 2024 is two years away, the campaign kick offs are right around the corner and will have an impact on how policymakers make decisions today.

We recently highlighted a new landmark publication from JCO Precision Oncology which explores the clinical practice gaps limiting patient access to targeted treatments. The study focused on advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) because this disease provides significant opportunities for the deployment of personalized medicine strategies, with 70% of patients expressing an actionable mutation potentially amenable to available targeted therapies.

The study highlights seven clinical gaps including those related to testing access and availability, sample processing, test interpretation and utilization of results. The report quantified where patients are lost in their personalized medicine journey and found that more than 60% of patients who may have benefited from targeted therapies did not receive them.

Previous research showcases personalized medicine’s ability to improve oncology patients’ outcomes and still remain cost-efficient for the U.S. healthcare system. Yet, many patients do not receive the most appropriate cancer treatment. Implementing personalized medicine strategies requires a system-wide approach; here are three gaps the new study revealed that should be addressed to drive broader clinical adoption:

• Integration and Communication: Tissue procurement, triaging and handling is a significant hurdle to biomarker testing. A lack of care continuity across healthcare institutions can lead to confusion about when and how patients should be tested. Improving practice integration and cross stakeholder communication, including with clinical labs, is essential to optimizing testing for actionable mutations.
• Results Interpretation: Provider awareness of actionable biomarkers is relatively low and testing guidelines are fragmented. Clinician associations and other experts should work together to develop best practices to ensure tumor sampling and testing is timely and efficient. Furthermore, greater support is needed to enhance clinicians’ understanding of testing protocols and interpretation of results.
• Coverage and Payment: Existing insurance coverage is fragmented, and reimbursement fails to cover the breadth of vital genetic testing available to oncology patients. In addition, cost-sharing leaves patients with prohibitively expensive out-of-pocket costs for medicines. Provider payment policies must be modified to cover essential test panels and treatments underpinning personalized medicine.

The benefits of personalized medicine will only be realized if new tests and treatments reach the patients who need them. This clinical paradigm shift requires concerted attention from policymakers and other healthcare stakeholders to update policies which can enhance the delivery of personalized healthcare.

The Reservoir team was proud to contribute to this landmark study. We hope that the release of this research can provide experts with needed data to advance the clinical adoption of personalized medicine. We must #ClosetheGap and ensure that we have fewer #PatientsLost.

Personalized medicine targets treatments to patients based on their individual genetic make-up. The field has exploded in the last two decades but many patients are still not benefitting. This week an important new study in JCO Precision Oncology quantifies – for the first time –where patients are being lost on the journey from diagnosis to treatment. The Reservoir team was proud to contribute to this landmark study.

In the 15+ years I’ve worked on personalized medicine, the field has gone from cutting-edge concept to a widespread approach that has benefitted many patients, particularly in oncology. With targeted therapies making up more than 25% of new FDA approvals in recent years and more than a dozen new molecular diagnostics coming to market each day, the options have multiplied quickly. Personalized, or precision, medicine has become an important and established tool but we know that many patients who could benefit ultimately don’t receive targeted therapies.

The new study is an important step in addressing this challenge, providing a step-by-step breakdown of the gaps along the way where patients who could benefit fall off the path to receiving a personalized therapy. It focuses on patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC), 70% of whom have tumors with mutations and a corresponding targeted therapy available.

The research finds that 64.4% of aNSCLC patients who could potentially benefit from targeted therapies do not receive them – in other words, just 1/3 of aNSCLC patients receive a targeted therapy when we know that more than 2/3 have an actionable mutation.

The team identified 7 steps along the way where patients fall off the path to personalized medicine. Some patients do not receive testing, sometimes there is not sufficient tissue extracted to test, sometimes patients with clear test results do not receive a prescription for the corresponding medicine, among other barriers. There is a clear need for more testing and more supports in the system to ensure coordination and appropriate prescribing.

We have important work to do to address these findings. Policymakers, hospital administrators, clinicians, diagnostic labs, patients and other stakeholders must work together to review and improve the process. The first step is to get the word out. Please consider sharing the study or the summary below. Personalized medicine represents an important advance, but patients cannot benefit if they never receive the targeted therapies they need. We must #ClosetheGap and ensure that we have fewer #PatientsLost.

“The Impact of Clinical Practice Gaps on the Implementation of Personalized Medicine in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer”

Aimée Thorne-Thomsen is a longtime community organizer and reproductive justice advocate whose work is focused on building power with and for women and girls, communities of color, immigrants, youth, and LGBTQ people. As founder of Guerrera Strategies, she helps corporate and nonprofit leaders move beyond the rhetoric of diversity, equity and inclusion, and aids them in developing culturally appropriate tools, resources and procedures that improve equitable access to care and reduce stigma for patients from underserved groups.

As our nation observes National Hispanic Heritage Month, I sat down with Thorne-Thomsen, who is of Puerto Rican descent and an esteemed member of the Reservoir Advocacy & Alliance Network, to discuss the state of Hispanic health care in the United States, as well as how to surmount barriers to equitable, culturally competent care.

Please Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

MN: Thank you so much for this conversation.

ATT: Thank you for reaching out and for centering this conversation on health. I feel like a lot of folks make assumptions about what is important to Latino communities, and they always lead with immigration. And while that’s an important issue, in many of our communities it’s health and education that is most important to us. I’m glad to be able to have a health-focused conversation for Latino communities and begin to move the needle. I want to be able to make change wherever I can. Push it. Encourage it. Lift it up. I’m thankful for the chance to talk about some of the things going on in my community, and in other Latino communities.

MN: President Biden recently proclaimed the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted the Hispanic community with higher hospitalizations and deaths at its peak, was over. What have we learned from this moment in history, and where did we fall short?

ATT: My husband and I both have graduate-level educations, and we started out being very hesitant about the vaccine because of our understanding of how these processes usually work and the time it historically has taken to develop a vaccine. To me, the greatest failure of how we handled the pandemic was not communicating clearly enough with people to make them understand why it was better to be vaccinated than not.

That, to me, is a failure of public education driven by the underinvestment in public health. When you think about the discrimination and poverty Latino communities already face, these were only exacerbated during COVID. While public health materials were usually in Spanish, they weren’t made available in accessible Spanish so that people could understand what we were talking about.

In addition, there was little recognition for people who couldn’t work from home and who couldn’t take paid leave. We adopted a ridiculously narrow interpretation of what the public health conversation should look like in this country when we had an opportunity to talk about race, gender, labor, and safety in a broader sense.

MN: Xavier Becerra is the 25th Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the first Latino to hold this office. Do you think his historic appointment brings more visibility to health issues specifically affecting the Hispanic community?

ATT: On the one hand, representation really freaking matters. The fact that it is a Latino man leading in this space, who has been deeply rooted in the community for a long time, is a great thing. Do I see that as having translated into real change for health issues for Latino communities? Probably not to the extent that I would like. I will say he has taken a very strong position on reproductive healthcare, vis-a-vis the Dobbs decision. That pleases me.

MN: What do you think is the biggest health-related misconception facing the Latino community? How do we fix it?

ATT: The level of implicit and explicit bias that Latino communities experience writ large in health care settings must be called out. And when I say writ large, I am talking about everyone who they might interact with in a healthcare facility – from the person that checks you in, to the person who takes your blood pressure, not just the person who shows up in a white coat.

My biological mother is a 14-year cancer survivor. She was born in Puerto Rico and came over to the states as a 10-year-old child. She speaks and writes English fluently. At one point when she was in the hospital, providers would walk in, read her name and immediately address someone else in the room instead of her. There is nothing in her chart that says she is not fluent in English or that she is somehow suffering from dementia or is incompetent. And yet, over and over, people would come in and talk to me or other family members. I’d be like, shoot, she’s right there. She’s awake. You can talk to her.

This is one example that illustrates the idea of cultural competency hasn’t been implemented well. People latched onto the concept because they were looking for a single bullet to explain and address bias. But I’d like to see a much deeper commitment to the idea of cultural humility, which requires that providers at every level learn about and honor the experiences of the people they serve.

MN: What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you, and what should it mean to the healthcare industry?

ATT: That’s a great question and in some ways probably a more complicated question this year than it might have been in years past, in part because of the devastation caused by the recent hurricanes. People are homeless and suffering in other islands, but the attention is on Puerto Rico. And I am clear that as a Puerto Rican, I have visibility and access to tools, models, and resources that my Dominican family members don’t have.

Our community is so large and has such a diverse history. Latinos from the Caribbean do not share the same history as Latinos from Central America. And yet we talk about Hispanic Heritage Month or Latino Heritage Month or Latinx Heritage Month, and it’s supposed to help somehow encapsulate hundreds of millions of people. I wear my country, my island, on my chest everywhere. I am a proud Puerto Rican. Unlike others within our community, I don’t have to fight for visibility. People can name famous Puerto Ricans. When was the last time we heard someone being lifted up from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia?

And so, when I think of what should Latino Heritage Month mean for the medical providers, the industry, and healthcare? I would like you to think about Latino communities all year round. But if you’re going to at least think about them during this time of year, I need you to be humble. I need you to show up with some humility and be willing to listen and learn from the community itself.

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This interview is the second installment of a new series entitled, The Deep Dive, in which members of Reservoir’s Advocacy and Alliance Network (RAAN) share learnings and perspectives on the healthcare landscape.

Washington, DC – Reservoir Communications Group has welcomed three new members to its team, including Kristen McCaughan, an Emmy-award winning communications executive with more than 20 years of experience, who joins the firm’s senior team as a Director.

Kristen comes to Reservoir from McGinn and Company, where she advised clients on communications strategy, led high-profile communications campaigns, elevated the thought leadership of CEOs and executives, managed crisis communications, and served as a corporate spokesperson. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she oversaw the strategy, budget, and resources for a 24-person communications team for the National Health Service Corps, a $300 million national health care program. Kristen also brings a unique perspective from her time as a producer at CNN, covering stories that included presidential campaigns and the events of September 11. Her work at CNN garnered her national Emmy recognition, among other awards.

Reservoir also announced the additions of Elise Planchet and Cali Platt, further expanding the firm’s health policy and communications expertise.

Elise joins Reservoir as a Managing Associate, following prior roles at the Children’s Hospital Association and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. At the Children’s Hospital Association, Elise worked with allied coalitions, federal agencies, and legislators to ensure children have access to affordable, high quality health care. Previously, Elise worked as a published student researcher in the Harm Reduction Journal at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health while pursuing her Master’s degree.

Cali joins Reservoir as an Associate with a background in policy research and public health advocacy. Before joining the firm full-time, she was an intern with Reservoir and supported clients’ communications and content needs for a wide range of audiences. During her undergraduate career, Cali interned with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office in the Department of Defense, where she conducted research and supported policy decisions.

About Reservoir Communications Group

Reservoir Communications Group is a leading health care consultancy focused on helping clients address their most important challenges and opportunities in reputation, advocacy and brand strategy. Learn more at https://reservoircg.com/.

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” ~ Malala Yousafzai

Washington, D.C. and the broader political, policy and media environs are not what anyone would describe as “silent” and tranquil (although silence could describe the response to some issues), and it can be difficult to break through the din. While a single voice can be a powerful thing – and we would all welcome an impactful advocate in our corner – in most cases, tackling complex issues, finding solutions to problems big and small, and simply advancing a dialogue requires a broader effort.

Health care advocacy is a tool that helps bring both industry and community voices into the policymaking process while also educating and informing the broader stakeholder community. Raising awareness around an issue, furthering clients’ interests and priorities, and even sharing their mission involves engaging with influential audiences that are in a position to help make change happen, and doing so in relevant, constructive, and authentic ways.

To do so, here are three things to keep in mind:

Focus on Collaboration

Much of our work at Reservoir embodies a collaborative, stakeholder-centric approach, which is essential to advocacy and engagement on health care issues. We utilize this approach not only to reach new audiences, but to expand our work with current partners and further advance our policy goals. Our partners often represent the individuals and communities that are – or may be – impacted by the issues, policies, practices, or innovations we’re advocating for. By working closely alongside our partners, our advocacy efforts are better informed by those with first-hand knowledge or experience.
Look Holistically to Devise an Approach and Measure Impact Along the Way

Our work takes many forms, from research, to public education campaigns, to supporting a cause or policy, to community engagement, as well as grassroots and voter outreach. At Reservoir, we always lead with a thoughtful, creative, and holistic approach to address the issues facing our clients and their stakeholders. We respect and work to anticipate client needs, while addressing questions and concerns as we make the case for change – grounded in clear metrics to show movement against advocacy goals.
Embrace Technology

There are amazing new developments and innovations ahead for health care advocacy, particularly as our tools to facilitate change continue to become more and more digitized. This innovation supports both audience engagement, as well as measurement and metrics. Embracing this evolution, Reservoir’s health care advocacy efforts will continue to focus on collaboration, respect and building awareness. We will, as always, continue to create a signal for change amidst an increasingly noisy policy environment.
Reservoir’s goal is to help our clients make health care better for all. Whether we’re working to expand access to innovative diagnostics, treatments, and care, building awareness of the role a company or sector plays in the delivery of care, or helping clients tackle longstanding issues of access and equity, our mutual successes help guide change that improves the health of individuals and communities – both in the United States and around the world.