Count On Coffey

Your organization's annual report is like a State of the Union address for your organization. Highlighting achievements over the past year is a given, but how might you bring life to what could be seen as fairly dry information?

Along with input from your C-suite and your team, you may want to consider these tips, which start with a focus on people and move on to organizational accomplishments.

1. Tell patient stories. Highlight your compassionate care with one or more patient testimonials. Seize opportunities to connect these stories to technology purchases, new services or facilities upgrades. For example, a breast cancer story could help illustrate the value of your new 3D mammography equipment. Or you could profile someone who benefited from an advanced procedure that your hospital now provides.
2. Thank your generous volunteers. Highlight those who have helped your hospital serve the needs of the community.
3. Recap recent awards. You'll want to let your community know about any awards or accreditations your hospital and clinics received in the past year.
4. Update readers on recruitment. Did you welcome new physicians and nurses to your team over the past year? Update your community on your recruitment progress, and reaffirm your commitment to attract talented providers to care for community members in your hospital and clinics.
5. Highlight new equipment and facilities. Did you break ground on a new outpatient clinic to meet a growing demand for services or open a cardiac catheterization lab to provide local access to lifesaving care? Highlight the "why" behind these investments and how they benefit your patients and the community.
6. Showcase your amazing providers, administrators and front-line staff. Profile an employee of the year, a new specialty provider or a longtime physician. Focus on what your team members love best about working at your hospital and what inspires them to serve the community, not on their curricula vitae.
7. Feature your foundation. Inform your community about successful fundraising campaigns; honor donors and board members for supporting local healthcare; and outline the positive impact generous gifts have had on services, equipment and care.
8. Tell stories by the numbers. Use infographics and charts to visually communicate facts and figures about your care and community impact. These could include emergency department visits, hospital admissions and your hospital's financial contributions to the local economy and labor market.

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