[November 20, 2014]

Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc. Publishes One-of-a-Kind Government Relations Benchmarking Report

Healthcare communications and public affairs firm Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc. today announced the publication of a national benchmarking report on hospital and health system government relations programs.

"The Rise of Hospital Government Relations" summarizes the firm's benchmarking initiative to compile data from hospital and health system government relations leaders about their departments. Authored by Vice President Magi Curtis, the report analyzes data on structure, budget, lobbyists, determining goals and measuring success, and more.

"The healthcare industry is evolving at an unprecedented rate," Curtis said. "In today's environment, government relations is more important than ever to achieving a health system's strategic goals.

"To make these decisions, health systems need industry-wide, comparable data that provides a framework for how to best structure their efforts. This report is the first comprehensive benchmarking tool that allows leaders to see how their government relations program compares to that of their peers."

The firm surveyed 38 health systems across the country, including large, not-for-profit hospitals and health systems, medium tosmall not-for-profit systems, academic medical centers, freestanding children's hospitals and for-profit hospital companies.

Key findings in the report include:

• Government relations leaders are seasoned professionals, with nearly 90 percent of respondents having worked in the government relations industry for 8-15 years and more than 60 percent for more than 15 years.
• High-performing healthcare organizations recognize the importance of government relations to the system's overall strategic goals and position their government relations leaders accordingly, many by having them report directly to the CEO.
• Across the board, government relations professionals are placing emphasis on state efforts. When asked to how they divide their time between federal, state and local issues, respondents report spending over 50 percent of their time dedicated to state issues.
• Measuring return on investment varies widely. When asked whether the department demonstrates ROI, there are no consistent methods. Less than 20 percent report having a formal measure, and nearly half of respondents report the need to demonstrate "informal" measures of success.

Read the full report.

About Jarrard Inc.

Based in Nashville, Tenn., with an office in Chicago, Jarrard Inc. is the premier strategic communications and public affairs firm for any hospital or health system in the nation experiencing a time of significant change, crisis or opportunity. The firm publishes healthcare newsletter Inside Baseball and marketing blog Jack of All Trades and ranks among the top 15 healthcare PR firms in the U.S. For more information, visit www.jarrardinc.com or follow us @JarrardInc.

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