Alliance CEO Heads Strategic Communications Committee for National Trade Association

Alliance Health CEO and Association for Community Affiliated Programs (ACAP) Board of Directors member Rob Robinson was installed as Chair of the Board’s Strategic Communications Committee at the recent ACAP CEO Summit in Washington D.C.

ACAP is the national trade association representing 92 not-for-profit Safety Net Health Plans which collectively serve more than 30 million enrollees through Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplaces and other public health coverage programs. Its members work with a vision of a country with equitable, affordable, high-quality care that is accessible regardless of income and provided through coordinated care entities.

At the Summit Robinson moderated a CEO panel discussion titled In a Post-Media World, Storytelling is Leadership. Panelists noted that local (and national) journalism as it was once known has been replaced by social media, algorithms, nakedly partisan outlets and “citizen journalism.” As organizations particularly vulnerable to negative coverage, health plans must stop waiting for good coverage to happen and more aggressively build their own narratives. The session examined the strategies CEOs are taking to stop playing defense exclusively and not letting others fill the vacuum in our media ecosystem.

As CEO at Alliance Health, Robinson is acutely aware that public health plans have a story that is often difficult to explain in a sound bite, which makes it even more important that they explain how their value is rooted in the communities they serve and their ability to reinvest resources back into those communities. “In this environment, leadership is not about ‘controlling the narrative,’ it’s about earning enough trust, and telling our story consistently enough, that when people encounter a negative story about us, it is not the first or only thing they know about who we are. Doing good work still comes first, but leadership today requires making sure people understand the work and why it matters.”