Hospital leaders face an ongoing challenge of ensuring their organization’s key messages break through the noise and remain top-of-mind for their communities, stakeholders, and decision-makers. Making this more difficult and challenges is the varying degrees of trust among target audiences as they look for dependable health information. Whether addressing patient safety, community health initiatives, workforce challenges, or hospital funding, leaders must take an active role in shaping and directing these conversations.

But simply putting out a message once isn’t enough.

The most effective way to influence perceptions and drive action is through repetition and structured communication campaigns — an approach that Groundswell Health integrates into our Agile Communications Platform. By using consistent messaging, repeated themes, and a structured cadence of communication, hospitals and health systems can position themselves as trusted voices in healthcare.

Why Repetition Matters in Healthcare Communication

Repetition isn’t just about saying the same thing over and over — it’s about reinforcing key messages across multiple channels so they become ingrained in the minds of your target audience. Think about how major public health campaigns, such as those promoting hand hygiene or vaccine awareness, successfully shape public behavior. These messages are strategically repeated through various media, using a mix of storytelling, statistics, and calls to action.

For hospital leaders, a well-planned cadence of communication can:

• Ensure key stakeholders retain critical information – Whether it’s policymakers, physicians, or patients, a repeated message makes it more likely that people will remember and act on your communication.

• Strengthen your hospital’s position as a thought leader – By consistently focusing on core issues, your hospital becomes a recognized and credible voice in your community and industry.

• Counteract misinformation or competing narratives – When hospitals don’t control their messaging, outside voices can fill the void. Repetition helps reinforce accurate information and drown out conflicting or misleading perspectives.

The A-B-C Model: Structuring Communication for Maximum Impact

Groundswell Health’s A-B-C Model for Communications, an integral component in our Agile Communications Platform, helps healthcare organizations structure their messaging into a coordinated campaign, ensuring that repetition is both intentional and effective. More importantly, it’s efficient and less burdensome by prioritizing these steps:

• A Stories: The Big Idea – These are high-impact, attention-grabbing messages designed to spark initial interest in your audience. These may take the form of a compelling CEO op-ed, an urgent call for policy change, or a new initiative launch.

• B Stories: Reinforcement Through Thematic Messaging – To make the “A” story stick, B stories keep reinforcing the same message from different angles. These include follow-up blog posts, social media campaigns, employee engagement efforts, and email communications that all reinforce the same key themes. These efforts are made all the more simple and quick to produce as content managers develop new A Story angles and refine their B Story themes.

• C Stories: Calls to Action – Once the message has been established and reinforced, C stories drive audiences to act — whether it’s supporting a new hospital initiative, attending an event, or advocating for policy changes.

By aligning messaging across these three layers, hospital leaders move beyond one-off communications and create lasting influence.

The Role of Cadence: Reaching the Right Audience at the Right Time

Repetition only works when messages are delivered at the right frequency and through the right channels. Hospital leaders should push their communications teams to establish a deliberate cadence—a rhythm of message delivery that keeps key themes front and center without becoming background noise.

A strategic cadence:

• Increases engagement over time – The more people see a message in different formats, the more likely they are to engage with it.

• Allows for message evolution – Messages don’t need to be identical every time; they should evolve while staying rooted in the core theme.

• Creates momentum – Consistent messaging over time builds anticipation and credibility, making it more likely that stakeholders will take action.

For example, if a hospital is advocating for better rural healthcare funding, a six-month campaign might include:

1. A strong initial announcement (A Story) – A CEO op-ed or press release outlining the issue based on new legislation or regulations. It might also follow newly released reports or data from reputable sources.

   • B-Stories supporting the message utilize a relevant theme the team plans to syndicate through other key leaders and messaging.
   • C-Stories include calls to action to learn more on owned media such as websites and by scheduling appointments.

2. Ongoing content – Blog posts, physician testimonials, and patient impact stories reinforcing the key points. These messages coalesce around social media campaigns, town hall meetings, and policy letters urging stakeholders to get involved.

This structured, coordinated approach ensures the hospital controls the conversation, rather than reacting to outside narratives.

Hospital Leaders Must Drive the Message

While hospital communications teams are skilled at crafting messages, executive leadership must set the tone and expectations for a structured, repetitive approach to messaging. Leaders should:

• Champion key messages internally and externally – The hospital’s senior executives should repeat core themes consistently in speeches, interviews, and stakeholder meetings.

• Ensure alignment across departments – From marketing and PR to physician liaisons and community outreach teams, every department should reinforce the same messages.

• Leverage multiple communication channels – Press releases, social media, newsletters, internal staff updates, and public forums should all carry consistent themes.

When hospital leaders commit to structured, repetitive messaging, they create a strong, recognizable brand voice—one that resonates with their audience and drives meaningful action.

Build Influence Through Intentional Communication

At Groundswell Health, we’ve seen firsthand how hospitals and health systems can elevate their influence by embracing a strategic, agile, and repetitive approach to messaging. Leaders who prioritize cadence, structured storytelling, and consistent communication are the ones who shape conversations in their communities.

Are you ready to implement a more structured, high-impact communication strategy for your hospital? Let’s talk. Groundswell Health’s Agile Communications Platform helps healthcare leaders build lasting influence through coordinated, structured messaging.