HHS' PR Contract Draws Criticism

It didn't take long for controversy to swirl around a $26 million contract the Health and Human Services Department recently awarded to a major public relations firm to sooth the public's fear that their privacy may be compromised as the medical industry moves to electronic health records. (Nearly 60 percent of Americans surveyed last year said they were not confident that their medical information would be properly protected in an EHR, according to a poll conducted by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University's School of Public Health.)

HHS awarded the contract to New York-based Ketchum Inc., the same company that was criticized for a series of fake TV commercials that the Government Accountability Office concluded in 2004 and 2005 were "covert propaganda" because the firm did not disclose the ads were paid for by the federal government, according to an article posted on March 30 by Pro Publica.

The segments aired during local television broadcasts on at least 40 stations across the country. Designed to look like news reports, each concluded with a paid actor posing as a journalist reporting from Washington.

One series was produced for HHS in an effort to promote the Medicare prescription drug program to seniors. The others were paid for by the Department of Education. Overall, video news releases have become increasingly common, used by large public relations firms and companies to repackage advertisements as news.

Pro Publica also cited Ketchum's involvement in the promotion of the Bush administration's education program No Child Left Behind.

. . . reports surfaced that it [Ketchum] had used taxpayer funds to pay syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind education bill during radio broadcasts as part of outreach to the African-American community.

In both instances, Ketchum defended its tactics. Stetzer referred reporters to a 2005 PR Week article, in which CEO Ray Kotcher said, "There is no indication that it was ever the intent of Ketchum or any of our people to mislead anyone."

Pro Publica quotes Nancy Szemraj, a spokeswoman for the federal government's health IT initiative, defending the contract award, saying Ketchum has a strong track record in public outreach and that HHS will review all promotional spots.

With skepticism about EHRs at such high levels, it doesn't help HHS to get off to a bumpy start and it could even fan the flames of concern higher.

The thing to watch here is if this history will hurt Ketchum's PR campaign or not. HHS may ask Ketchum to play it safe.