WHY A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN IS CRITICAL IN A HEALTHCARE CRISIS

This thesis empowers healthcare organizations by examining best practices and academic theories related to the subject of crisis communications in healthcare and culminating in a crisis communications guidelines deliverable. The deliverable will aid healthcare organizations’ crisis communications teams in their crisis planning by addressing the key elements of effective crisis communications plans. Research Questions & Method—We developed the crisis communication guidelines deliverable with three research questions (RQ): (RQ #1) What are the key elements of an effective healthcare organization’s crisis communications plans; (RQ #2) How does the organization’s social media plan integrate into the crisis communications plan; and (RQ #3) How do best practices vary depending on hospital type (size, region, legal status, number of employees, etc. The information for the analysis was collected using three methods: (1) qualitative and quantitative data obtained from the guidelines survey; (2) a comprehensive analysis of six crisis communications plans obtained from various healthcare organizations located in North Carolina; and (3) a literature review of crisis communications best practices. Research results—The requirements uncovered to address Research Question #1 were the following components that need to be included in a crisis communications plan: a crisis communications team, crisis communications protocols, crisis messaging, and ongoing crisis training and/or drills.Master of Arts in Digital Communicatio