Challenge
Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) support communications activities for 152 medical centers and nearly 1,400 community-based outpatient clinics, community living centers, Vet Centers, and Domiciliaries comprising the nation’s largest integrated health care system. The VHA Office of Communications sought solutions for improving media monitoring abilities and centralizing outreach and media relations efforts for this large workforce.
Solution
The Cision media management system was piloted in selected VHA sites and rolled out in a phased approach to PAOs beginning in 2012. Cision is a comprehensive online public affairs management tool that provides traditional and social media monitoring, press release distribution, a media contact database, and other measurement capabilities. This cloud-based system allows users to monitor news, create a targeted network of media contacts, capture media distribution, coordinate social media efforts, and find news content in rapid fashion.
The Atlas Research project team:
- Has trained PAOs at nearly all medical centers, Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs), and several program offices;
- Developed a curriculum, schedule, and suite of training materials;
- Assists users with setting up media monitoring, establishing distribution lists, and creating reports that are shared with leadership and used to inform various strategies; and
- Provides orientation training, focused learning sessions, and technical assistance to new and current users on an ongoing basis.
The project team created an online dashboard “one stop shop” for high-level news monitoring by members of leadership. The dashboard contains searchable and recent news clips and analytic reports based on Cision media monitoring and presents the information in an at-a-glance format.
Finally, the project team provides rapid response media monitoring services and supplies regular reports on important topics to leadership at VHA’s Office of Communications to inform decision making.
Result
The project team has trained and supported more than 300 communicators who used the Cision system for media monitoring and management activities. The work the team is performing helps VHA leadership and communicators understand and communicate effectively and consistently about important topics and their impacts.