Michele Hart-Henry, Managing Director, Connelly Partners Health

Are We Ready for the Future?

The headlines from the most recent global healthcare meetings, such as the annual Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting or The MedTech Forum, are notable in their focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and its application across the care continuum. These events and others like them feature presentations on AI developments, new collaborations built around AI tools, and partnerships among health technology companies introducing new uses of AI in care settings. 

However, any conversation about how patients and consumers understand and view AI in healthcare is missing from the headlines and articles. 

Back to the Future?

AI is already in use in multiple healthcare arenas. Algorithms help predict the onset or potential severity of disease, read and interpret radiology studies, screen for complications from diseases like diabetes and assist in the drug development process, just to name a few typical applications. However, the conversations are now expanding to include generative AI.

As described by TechTarget, Generative AI is “a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content including text, imagery, audio and synthetic data. The recent buzz around generative AI has been driven by the simplicity of new user interfaces for creating high-quality text, graphics and videos in a matter of seconds.” 

Seeking to learn more, we recently went to ChaptGPT4 and asked: “How do patients feel about AI in healthcare”? The answer generated via this technology:

“The use of AI in healthcare is a relatively new and rapidly evolving field, so there is no single answer to how patients feel about it. However, research suggests that patients generally have a positive attitude towards AI use in healthcare, especially when it comes to improving the accuracy and speed of diagnosis, treatment, and disease prevention.” 

Based on this answer, generated using AI, all is well in healthcare, and patients generally accept artificial intelligence in their care. But is that really the case? Do we, as healthcare consumers and patients, know enough or understand how AI is useful in our care? You may be surprised by some of the results.

AI Can Do Anything You Can Do Better?

One recent study published by the notable journal JAMA Internal Medicine reported that patients and consumers actually preferred the responses from a generative AI chatbot to those generated by physicians. Researchers used questions posted on a social network and used generative AI to create new answers to those 195 questions. They then compared the chatbot answers to the ones provided by physicians using a team of licensed healthcare professionals to choose “which response was better” and judge both “the quality of the information provided” and “the empathy or bedside manner provided.” In nearly all cases, the evaluators preferred the generative AI answers, rating them as higher in quality and significantly higher in empathy. 

If generative AI is rated more empathetic and thorough than physicians in answering questions, are healthcare consumers more likely to view its use favorably? Not if it’s a replacement for actual providers, according to a study published in The Lancet Digital Health. In a review of more than twenty studies from eight countries, researchers found the acceptability of AI in care settings was more likely if it was used as a support tool rather than a substitute for providers. In many reviewed studies, participants envisioned AI as a second opinion or a means to simplify notes or instructions provided by their caregivers. However, participants indicated concern about depersonalization, lack of privacy and loss of provider control in health decision-making. 

One application of AI as a supplement to providers is the recent collaboration between Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI and Epic’s EHR platform. In this use case, the generative AI will fill in missing information in patient records but could also suggest diagnoses and be used to predict disease outcomes based on analysis of historical data. According to the companies’ joint announcement, the integration “is meant to increase provider’s productivity, reduce administrative burden and improve care by giving clinicians more time to spend with their patients.”

Proceed With Caution

Last month, The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a call for what it refers to as the “safe and ethical application of AI” for health, citing concerns that “precipitous adoption of untested systems could lead to errors by health-care workers, cause harm to patients, erode trust in AI and thereby undermine (or delay) the potential long-term benefits and uses of such technologies around the world.”  

But as developments like the partnership between Azure OpenAI and Epic become more mainstream, how will they affect consumers and healthcare consumerism? According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 60% of Americans indicated discomfort with providers relying on AI in their own healthcare. Among the primary drivers of this view is disbelief that using AI will improve health outcomes, with only 38% of those surveyed saying that using AI to diagnose disease and recommend treatments would lead to better health outcomes, 33% saying it would lead to worse outcomes and 27% saying it won’t make much difference.

Interestingly, in that same Pew survey, of those who indicated concern about health equity, 51% of respondents said that AI could help improve bias and unfair treatment if it was used to diagnose disease and recommend treatments for patients. And survey respondents also believe that AI use in healthcare could reduce medical mistakes.

Pew survey respondents also indicated concern with the impact of AI use on the personal connection between a provider and a patient. With increased consumer involvement in a patient-centered healthcare model, patients might question clinicians’ decisions and want to be informed whether the decisions are based on AI recommendations. 

In Ireland, a country championing AI and its benefits to the economy, the government is building a coordinated approach to help drive public trust, including creating “an AI ambassador to promote awareness among the public and businesses of the potential that AI offers, serving as a champion of AI as a positive force for the economy and society, and emphasizing an ethical approach.”

Irish acceptance of AI in all facets of its economy, including healthcare, is driven by the country’s early identification of deep tech, like AI, as drivers in economic growth. But, as in the US, there are recently reported concerns about privacy, misuse, degrading of relationships and potential medical errors due to using AI in patient care.

Brand and Broader Implications

When discussing AI in the context of health brands, it’s important to be transparent and clear about what AI is, how it is used and how it can benefit health organizations, providers and consumers. Doing so requires: 

1. Defining AI: Begin by explaining what AI is and how it works in simple, accessible language. It’s important to avoid jargon and technical terms that may confuse audiences.
2. Focusing on Benefits: Highlight the benefits that AI can bring, such as improved diagnosis, more accurate treatment planning, and better outcomes. It’s important to emphasize that AI is a tool that can help provide better care rather than a replacement for humans, clinicians or experts.
3. Addressing Concerns: Acknowledge concerns about AI, such as fears of job loss or privacy concerns. Be transparent about how AI is used and what data is being collected and used.
4. Being Honest: It’s important to be honest about the limitations of AI and its potential benefits. AI is not a magic bullet that can solve all healthcare problems; acknowledging this is important.
5. Providing Examples or Success Stories: Use real-world examples to illustrate how AI is used in healthcare and makes a difference for organizations and patients. This can help your audiences understand the potential of AI and how it can benefit them.

Overall, health brands should strive to be transparent, honest and informative about AI. Especially since the Pew survey suggests that three-quarters of Americans question the pace of adoption of AI in healthcare, fearing that the system is moving too fast before fully understanding the implications and usefulness of this technology. 

This article is co-authored by Michele Hart-Henry, Global Managing Director of Connelly Partners Health and Mary McMahon, Group Strategy Director and Lead for Connelly Partners Health in Ireland.

Allyson Chapman, Associate Director of Strategy

Imagine this: You receive a meeting invitation and the subject line stops you in your tracks. It’s not because you’re excited, instead, you’re dreading it. You’ve been invited to a workshop.

A workshop is a structured educational event where participants gather to learn about a particular subject through lectures, discussions, and practical exercises. It’s typically held in a classroom or similar setting, and attendees are expected to actively engage in the learning process. The content covered in a workshop can vary depending on the topic, but the main purpose is to provide a platform for knowledge transfer and skill development.

Doesn’t that sound boring? 

That’s because 1) it is and 2) ChatGPT wrote that definition so it’s lacking an element that’s critical to defining a successful workshop: a human touch.

What if instead of that scenario, you knew that this workshop might include conversations about unknown planets, Dr. Strange, and football? More interested?

I’ve been facilitating and designing workshops for the past ten years, and in that time, I’ve discovered a definition that feels a bit different than that of our AI friend. Workshops are focused opportunities to approach a business or human problem by thinking outside of the box and departing (briefly) from the day-to-day. 

When we add that dash of humanity, suddenly a workshop doesn’t seem so… boring.

Workshops are an aid in accomplishing different goals. They help build connections, frame problems, make space, look for possibilities, and create change. But how do we take a workshop from boring to brilliant? Part of my definition of a workshop includes thinking outside of the box and a brief departure from the day-to-day. Incorporating opportunities for varied participation and engagement is key to getting the mind to work differently and approach problems in new ways. This is rooted in behavioral psychology.

Are you familiar with System 1 vs. System 2 thinking? Here’s a quick refresher on the two:

What is 1+1? 2. This is an example of System 1 thinking. It’s something we know immediately and requires little effort. 

Consider this: A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? 

If you move quickly, it’s easy to say the ball costs $0.10. But when you slow down, you realize that the difference between $1.00 and $0.10 is $0.90. So the answer is actually $0.05 because the bat costs $1.05, which is a dollar more than $0.05. This is System 2 thinking as it requires our brains to allocate more attention to an effortful mental activity that demands it, like complex computations.

In an organization, it’s easy to operate only in System 1: we go through a process and we move quickly. When we switch to System 2, it means taking a step back and thinking about things differently to become more conscious of what we are doing and why, rather than just doing it. It’s the combination of thinking fast and slow that can help break down barriers to reaching novel ideas. A workshop setting is the perfect space to be switching constantly between those System 1 and System 2 thought processes.

The next time you get a calendar invite for an upcoming workshop, get excited. Because maybe you’ll be talking about aliens and Marvel movies, discovering parallel universes, or playing a round of catch to stretch your mind and approach a problem differently. And maybe – just maybe – achieve brilliance. 

Group Strategy Director, Mary McMahon, appeared on Radio Kerry’s In Business podcast to talk about the cost of living crisis and how brands can stay relevant during these uncertain times. She advises brands to cement themselves as a nonnegotiable essential and to build upon emotional connections with consumers, work with authentic influencers, and understand the meaning and usage of the new ‘language’ known as algospeak.

Have a listen to the full episode here. 

Featured in Ads of the World, our new campaign, “The Parade For Paraders,” is out to raise awareness and excitement for the Pride Parade on June 10th in Boston. The series of posters is an invitation to embrace and reflect on Boston’s diverse history, culture, and identities and promotes community engagement and inclusivity.

In collaboration with Boston Pride For The People, this parade on paper was brought to life through artist Kris Andrew Small’s explosion of color, typography, texture, and patterns. 

Read more

We’re proud to be the media agency partner for Boston Medical Center and their new brand campaign that will be running through February 2024. This four-phase campaign is the first that the hospital has run in over 7 years and will begin by reintroducing BMC to its audience. The following phases will rewrite lines about healthcare, transform them into new truths, highlight the areas that BMC specializes in, and finally, bring out the voices of patients. 

Keep an eye out for the campaign and read more here.

As a way to honour Mental Health Awareness Month, CPers from across the globe woke up before dawn on Saturday 6 May to take part in something really special.

Some joined local groups in pre-organised routes, others braved the dark and cold on their own, each with the same goal – to walk towards the dawn to help break the stigma around suicide and mental health.

The “Darkness Into Light” challenge has been going since 2009 and now convenes over 150,000 people in countless countries, helping to raise over €36 million ($40 million USD) for Pieta, a foundation which supports and serves those impacted by self-harm and suicide.

The message is simple – that there will always be a dawn, despite times when all you can see is the dark.

And although we were separated by physical distance, our team felt so together that morning as we supported this remarkable cause. Whether it was Killiney, Hawaii, Vancouver, Sandymount or Boston, we we collectively experienced such a powerful moment. It was a dawn we won’t forget easily.

And we’re already looking forward to next year.

Kim Mazejka, Media Planner

Watch time for Over the Top (OTT) services has skyrocketed over the past few years as binge-streamers have declared they are here to stay. 

Advertisers have been recommending investment shifts to Connected TV (CTV) for years now, and the increase in CTV ad spend over the past few years has reflected this widespread change. But what was previously a simple answer to the problem of reaching cord-cutters has become extremely fragmented over time, creating gaps in our ability to reach audiences at the scale we think we are.

While Linear can be broken down into Cable vs Broadcast, OTT can be broken down into CTV (Connected TV; anything that is streamed to a television device) and FEPs (Full Episode Players; anything streamed to a desktop, mobile, tablet, or other device). These filter down into different subscription types, (ad-free or ad-supported) as well as Free Ad Supported TV (FAST), in which a subscription is not needed to access ad-supported streaming. 

The majority of larger players in the space fall under the SVOD category (Subscription Video on Demand), with most being hybrid ad-free and ad-supported these days, offering tiered paid subscriptions. AVOD (Advertising-Based Video on Demand) services, such as Fubo and Sling, only offer paid ad-supported options as these try to mirror a cable-esque experience. On the other hand, FAST are services that do not require a subscription and are more widely available.

Content differs from service to service, with more premium inventory available through higher-priced subscriptions, and audience demographics following suit; keeping in mind that more affluent audiences are more likely to pay for ad-free services. 

When it comes to media buying, this gets even more complicated as we look at OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) such as LG, Samsung, and most recently, Roku. These manufacturers use the data from their products and advertise to users of their TV products specifically. Partners such as Samba TV have ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) tech that we are also able to take advantage of without running directly on one type of television. Even further, we are able to run ads across DSPs (Demand-Side Platforms) utilizing ACR data, audience data from those with proprietary audience data, and run across multiple types of devices at the same time, all with real-time bidding. 

So what does all of this mean for ads in the CTV landscape?

Despite the sharp increase in time spent watching CTV, and the ad spend that follows, we must take into account that about 47% of this watch time is not ad-supported. Reaching the full cord-cutter audience isn’t as simple as putting an ad on a top streaming service… if it’s even ad-supported. And with all this fragmentation, TV is no longer the mass-reach channel it once was. Understanding your audience and their media consumption behaviors, looking for incremental reach across tactics and channels, and creating a comprehensive CTV and Linear strategy is imperative to maximizing your target audience reach.

In June, CP’s Daragh Griffin will be attending the prestigious Cannes Lions Festival as part of the 14-member team chosen by IAPI to represent Ireland in the Cannes Young Lions Competition. This competition is a chance for young marketers to showcase their creative abilities, both at home and abroad. Daragh’s print work for GOAL, which impressed the judges, is slated to appear in the Business Post soon. 

We wish Daragh all the best as he moves forward to this next stage of the competition. 

Check out his winning work here.

For more information, read the full article here.

At the end of each semester, we ask our interns to reflect on their experiences and learnings at CP. As they begin to wrap up their time here, our fantastic spring interns have left us with so many valuable insights. From networking with coworkers to getting a firsthand look at the industry, and mastering valuable time management skills, they’ve truly been crushing it. Here’s what our interns had to say.

Jasmine Francoeur, PR & Social Media
Suffolk University

I quickly fell in love with CP after meeting my team and getting a tour of our amazing office. Right away, I noticed how CP has such a great sense of community and family that feels very unique from other companies I’ve worked for in the past. While I love the work that I do, which mixed my two passions of PR and social media, it was truly the people who got me excited to come in! 

During my internship, I made it my goal to meet as many CPers as I could. I arranged coffee chats with people from different departments and learned so much about what they do and their experiences. During these chats, I realized how fascinating every department is and how they must all work together to help bring our clients success. It was truly eye-opening!

This internship has pushed me to grow in innumerable ways! It has further developed my critical and strategic thinking skills. I’ve also learned so much about the industry and the people behind it as well as how to use the latest technologies to help aid in our influencer searches. 

Hayes Hollar, People & Operations
Boston University

As someone who loves the idea of “go-go-go” in a professional and business sense and is a busybody to the core, I’ve always been attracted to the advertising industry. CP stood out to me because it’s a global company that touches so many different industries. Also, CP’s emphasis on the human experience, placing that at the core of its values as a company, makes it extremely attractive. With the hustle and bustle of advertising, putting people first is not always the case. 

The first thing I noticed at CP was how friendly and genuine everyone was, before even really getting to know them. This is the first time I’ve ever had an internship experience where a company prioritizes being in the office. I think that was extremely intimidating but I was immediately comforted by the warmth and friendliness of all of the people here. It’s unique to see a work culture where all the employees seem to be good friends rather than just friendly coworkers. I approached the internship and the people I met throughout it as an opportunity to learn, grow, and have fun. 

CP has given me a new perspective on the industry. There is always a way to strike a balance between the chaos of advertising and the well-being of the employees, who keep the company running, which is of the utmost importance. 

Nick Maumus, Media
Bentley University

From my initial conversations with CPers, I knew that this agency aligned strongly with my own personal values. For that reason, this internship was the best part of every day for my last semester of college. On top of having great interactions with coworkers, I worked on a variety of client and internal CP projects.

My greatest learning experience, however, was being given a glimpse into the real world. I had to quickly learn how to juggle a full course load of both undergraduate and graduate classes and the Bentley Honors program, on top of this internship. On a good day, my 90-minute commute to the office spanned driving, walking, and taking the subway. I would lose 6 hours each week on my commute alone, which challenged me to learn the valuable skill of time management. 

I worked hard every day to maximize my time and be as productive as possible, while also managing stress. I used every opportunity to learn, including my commute to the office. One piece of advice that I received from Steve Connelly was to put my phone down on the subway and just watch people because you can learn so much from simply observing. By doing this, I learned a great deal about peoples’ habits, behaviors, group interactions, and stressors. It was a very interesting exercise that I’ll continue to practice moving forward.

Charlie Kennedy, Analytics
Merrimack College

What struck me about CP is just how friendly and understanding everyone is. People know how to act with each other in a professional, fun environment, whether that be providing constructive criticism or celebrating a job well done. 

My internship taught me just how complex and multifaceted the advertising industry is. While working on the analytics team, I was fortunate to be exposed to various departments within the agency, particularly the media team. The role that they play in ensuring that ads reach the intended audience is intriguing to me. Media is definitely another avenue that I’d love to explore more. Additionally, I find the whole process of creating an ad to be quite interesting – from copywriting and art direction through production, it is truly amazing how so many people play a part in the process. 

While at CP, I had so many opportunities to learn. The greatest learning experience I have had, however, is learning to use Google Analytics in an efficient manner with actual clients. I also had the privilege of being able to meet and work alongside CPers from our Dublin office. 

Tank Worldwide’s Jasmine Papillon-Smith examines first-person storytelling through four campaigns, including our V Foundation “Halftime” TV spot, proving this storytelling motif can go so much deeper than generic patient testimonials:

“Maybe I cheated here. Maybe the first lines are so powerful, I got carried away and characterized it as first-person when it’s not strictly that. Still: “I’m not here to fire you up.” Arena lights pound as they flick in rapid succession; I get chills. “If you’re not already fired up, you shouldn’t be in this room.” It’s a solid opening to a spot that delivers a classic halftime speech on behalf of the V Foundation for Cancer Research. It’s a nod to founder and coach Jim Valvano’s ESPYs speech as well as a straight, determined look into a real future, one where cancer research today means a cure tomorrow. Legendary coach meets inspiring speech: This spot slides seamlessly into March Madness, celebrates the Foundation’s 30^th anniversary and makes us all believe (while pulling out our wallets to donate).”

Read the full article here.