Lisa Chase-Hernandez

I attribute my success to my graduate school education at St. John's University, which dynamically changed my entire career trajectory. I went to grad school with the intent of continuing in journalism, but I came out with a whole new industry, a whole new group of colleagues, and a completely different career path. The networking that occurred at St. John's, the education I received there, and the connections I made led directly to my entry into healthcare marketing. If I hadn't gone to St. John's University, I wouldn't be where I am today. That MBA program didn't just give me a degree, it gave me an entirely new professional life. I'm now the biggest enthusiast of graduate school because it dynamically changed my whole life. Beyond education, I credit my operations experience for making me unique in this field. By sitting inside of a practice at Mount Sinai's ENT department, I learned to truly listen to patients, understand their journey, and close the gaps between marketing and actual patient care. That hands-on operational knowledge, combined with my journalism background in storytelling and my love of data-driven marketing, has shaped my approach to healthcare marketing. I also believe strongly in mentorship and collaboration. I love to mentor people entering this field, and I value the supportive, non-competitive nature of healthcare marketing where we all share ideas and learn from each other.

I would absolutely tell everyone to master your English skills. I know ChatGPT is super helpful, but becoming a good writer is critical for all marketing. I don't even care if it's healthcare, it's just all marketers must have good writing skills. We do this in everything, even if it's a short advertisement versus a long website page versus a white paper that comes out from a scientist here that we need to edit. It's critical to have those skills. Yes, I know ChatGPT does a really great job, but even if you can't prompt ChatGPT correctly, or sometimes chat needs to be edited, I think people are starting to lean into AI for answers too much. I would say just master the English skills, and then also delve into whatever love you have of data, because everything we do now is pretty much driven by data. The good news about healthcare marketing is that there are a lot of women, and very, very successful women. It's really refreshing to see. This is not a field that women need to be intimidated by. It's very welcoming and very acknowledging. I also want to say that I really love to mentor. Whenever anybody on LinkedIn reaches out to me and says, how do I get into this field, I literally schedule a call with them. I want to learn about them and figure out how they fit into this, because I know they can, and there are opportunities in communities galore. The healthcare field is growing, and it's a great field to be in. It's always changing.

The biggest challenge in healthcare marketing right now is managing the complexity and pace of the work. We typically have 3 campaigns running at once, coordinating between volume-building campaigns that drive patient appointments and brand-building campaigns that strengthen reputation. We're constantly working with ad agencies, both digital and traditional, while also planning upwards of 5 community events per week. The field requires tremendous agility because healthcare priorities can shift in an instant. When COVID broke out, we all had to pivot immediately. Agility is definitely a giant trait that we look for in everybody we hire, because we need people who can pivot when life happens and emergencies arise. At the same time, the opportunities in healthcare marketing are significant. The healthcare field is growing, and most of the jobs added over the last couple of years have been in the healthcare space outside of government. There are opportunities in communities galore. What makes this field special is that it's incredibly collaborative and supportive. We're not secretive with our successes or accomplishments. We bounce ideas off each other, mentor one another, and share what we've learned. Healthcare marketing is also becoming increasingly data-driven, which creates opportunities for those who can combine creativity with analytics. The field will never be boring because you'll never have the same day twice, and you're constantly learning.

The most important value to me is that everybody deserves good healthcare, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, what background, what diversity, what race. You just deserve the best healthcare and the best treatment. This has always been in my heart, and I love promoting this and telling patients where they can find great care. Your health is everything. People don't think about it until something goes wrong with their health, and that's what makes me so passionate about this work. I also deeply value collaboration and mentorship. I'm very hands-on with my team because I want to make sure they're content with what they're doing and not overwhelmed. Healthcare marketing is incredibly collaborative, and we're very willing to talk about our ideas, campaigns, successes, and failures with one another. We're not secretive like some other industries. We support each other and share ideas because we're not competing in the same way other fields might be. I value staying closely connected to the community. We're very closely knit with our community here in Far Rockaway, and we do a lot of events with them. What means the most to me professionally is when I see a great patient story come out of the hospital. When a patient is willing to share their testimony because they're so happy with their care, that's gold. We do patient stories not just for marketing, but to help other patients understand that there's a path forward. When anybody gets any type of diagnosis, it's scary and intimidating, and hearing another patient's story helps people see hope.