In 2017, the Hellerman team was tasked with positioning Nadia de la Houssaye, a partner in Jones Walker’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group and chair of the Healthcare team’s telemedicine section, as a thought leader in the telemedicine market, which was and is poised for exponential grow. Until we were retained, the main focus of the industry was on delivery of services versus the legal matters associated with it. The challenge was to shift the conversation to include legal issues and position de la Houssaye as the ‘go-to’ legal counsel in the market.

It is paramount that the telemedicine industry understands legal issues within its work, and I am thankful Hellerman helped me make these issues known.

To instigate this shift, we secured press attention and speaking opportunities for de la Houssaye with credible industry media outlets and associations. The strategic outreach campaign consisted of:

• Securing quotes in local, national, and trade media outlets on emerging issues and trends;
• Building relationships with key reporters through meet-and-greet opportunities;
• Identifying and pursuing speaking opportunities; and
• Developing awards and rankings submissions for targeted opportunities.

The outline of and effort on these activities developed in a very short timeframe. Team meetings were scheduled to ensure everyone was kept well-informed of progress; new and coming opportunities were evaluated in a timely manner and capitalized on strategically; and changes in telemedicine laws were constantly monitored for use as new talking points and messaging.

At the conclusion of this time-sensitive outreach campaign, the most notable achievement was de la Houssaye being asked to not only keynote the American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference – an event at which she had never been more than one of the thousands of participants – but to also program all of its legal content. She was also featured in two Bloomberg articles and asked to speak at three additional telemedicine events.

To benchmark de la Houssaye against her competitors, we developed a points-based value system for the known universe of credible media outlets that could support and influence positioning her as an industry leader. Against this list, de la Houssaye scored 200% greater than her competitors (24,000 vs. 11,000). This proved the outreach campaign not only shifted dialogue within and about the industry, it successfully positioned de la Houssaye as the preeminent attorney and thought leader in the market. It is worth noting the outreach campaign achieved its goal on a modest, low five-figures budget and answered the ever-present question of return on investment when de la Houssaye’s reported adding 12 new telemedicine clients post campaign, including a large $50M telestroke integration project.

de la Houssaye said: “The Hellerman Communications team has been absolutely incredible, and I couldn’t be more grateful for how they positioned me as a leader in my field, which led ultimately to the growth of the firm’s telemedicine practice. It is paramount that the telemedicine industry understands legal issues within its work, and I am thankful Hellerman helped me make these issues known. By doing so, our firm is seen as the most knowledgeable in the telemedicine field, and I am extremely grateful for our competitive edge.”