Healthcare PR builds medical authority and public trust through evidence-based communications and expert relationships. We create PR strategies that hold up under FDA and FTC scrutiny while still driving real awareness.
The Problem
Health companies dilute clinical claims through PR that ignores FDA and FTC advertising rules
Most PR agencies pitch health benefits the way they'd pitch a consumer app – fast, punchy, unverified. In wellness and health tech, that same pitch triggers substantiation requirements the agency never checked. A single overstated headline in a press release can force a correction, invite an FTC inquiry, or hand a competitor a talking point. Generic PR treats medical accuracy as an afterthought instead of the thing that actually earns coverage.
Health reporters ignore pitches that read like consumer marketing
Medical and wellness beat reporters at outlets like STAT, MedCity News, and even consumer health verticals want data, methodology, and a named clinical voice – not adjectives. Traditional agencies pitch from a generic media list built for retail or SaaS launches, so health stories get filtered out before a reporter reads past the subject line. The fix isn't more pitches, it's a different pitch built around who can actually speak to the evidence.
A single safety or efficacy question can end a health brand's credibility overnight
When a wellness product gets a bad clinical study result, an FDA warning letter, or a viral safety complaint, the response has to happen in hours, not days, and it has to be medically accurate or it makes things worse. Consumer-brand crisis playbooks – apologize, reframe, move on – don't work when the question is 'is this safe.' Health companies without a healthcare-specific crisis protocol either go silent (which reads as guilt) or say something clinically wrong (which becomes the story).
How We Help
We start by auditing what you can actually claim: clinical evidence, regulatory status, and any existing FDA or FTC guidance that constrains your messaging. This isn't a legal review – it's the input that determines which stories are safe to pitch and which need a different angle. Skipping this step is how health brands end up with a retraction instead of a headline.
From there we build a media list around reporters and outlets who cover your specific corner of health and wellness, not a generic PR database. We identify who on your team – founder, medical advisor, clinical lead – can credibly go on record, and we prep them for the questions a health reporter actually asks, which are different from the questions a tech reporter asks. Execution means pitching a smaller number of outlets with a stronger story instead of blasting a press release to five hundred contacts who will ignore it.
We build the crisis protocol before you need it: who responds, what gets said publicly versus what gets escalated to your medical or regulatory advisor, and how fast the first statement goes out. Waiting until a crisis hits to write this playbook is the single most common mistake we see. Every deliverable ties back to one goal – being the source a health reporter trusts, not the pitch they delete.
What we deliver
- Claims and compliance audit – mapping what you can say publicly against your actual clinical evidence and regulatory status
- Targeted health media list – reporters and outlets who cover your specific vertical, not a generic PR database
- Crisis response protocol – a written playbook for safety, efficacy, or regulatory questions, built before you need it
- Spokesperson prep – coaching your named clinical or founder voice for the questions health reporters actually ask
- Coverage and credibility tracking – monthly reporting on placements, source quality, and where your team is gaining recognition as a go-to voice
Health PR fails when the pitch outruns the evidence. The wellness companies that earn sustained coverage are the ones who let a named clinical voice, not a press release, carry the story.
Our Methodology
Our health PR work runs on a 90-day cycle. Weeks 1-2: claims audit and media landscape mapping – what you can say, and who covers it. Weeks 3-6: media relationships and pitching, paired with spokesperson prep and the crisis protocol build. Weeks 7-12: sustained pitching, coverage tracking, and a first read on which angles are landing versus which need to change. This differs from a standard PR retainer in one specific way: we won't pitch a claim we can't back, even if it's the punchier headline. That discipline is slower out of the gate and it's what keeps you off a correction list six months later.
How We Work
First 30 days: claims audit, media landscape research, and a working media list specific to your vertical. Weeks 5-8: active pitching begins alongside spokesperson prep and crisis protocol drafting. Weeks 9-12: coverage tracking and a first pass on refining which pitch angles are converting to placements. You bring the clinical evidence, expert credentials, and any regulatory constraints we need to work inside. We bring the media relationships, pitch strategy, and the person coordinating with your legal or regulatory contact when a claim needs sign-off. Monthly reporting covers placements landed, pitch response rates, and where your named spokesperson is building recognition. Most engagements run 6-12 months because health media relationships and a spokesperson's credibility both compound – month one looks different from month nine.
- Medical credibility establishment
- Healthcare media coverage
- Expert thought leadership
- Industry recognition building
If your health & wellness company needs pr / comms leadership, we should talk.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does healthcare PR cost for a health or wellness company?
Most engagements run $18K-40K a month depending on how much active media relations, crisis-protocol work, and spokesperson prep is in scope. That's typically less than a full-time healthcare PR director once you factor in benefits and the media relationships they'd need years to build. Scope, not company size, is the main driver – a company that needs an active crisis protocol built from scratch costs more in month one than one that just needs ongoing pitching.
How long before we see results from healthcare PR?
First placements typically land in the 60-90 day range once the media list and pitch angles are dialed in. A named spokesperson usually needs two or three cycles of interviews before reporters start reaching out proactively instead of the other way around. The compounding effect – being the outlet's go-to source on your topic – usually shows up between months six and twelve, not before.
How does your PR team work with our clinical and regulatory staff?
We route any claim that touches efficacy or safety through whoever on your side owns regulatory sign-off before it goes to a reporter – that's non-negotiable, not a nice-to-have. Your clinical lead becomes the spokesperson we prep, not a separate function we work around. That coordination adds a step to the pitch process, but it's the step that keeps a placement from becoming a liability.
What makes Winston Francois different from a traditional health PR agency?
Most agencies measure success in press release counts and media impressions. We won't pitch a claim the evidence doesn't support, even when it costs us a placement, because one retraction does more damage than ten skipped headlines. That means fewer total pitches, but the ones that land hold up when a competitor or regulator looks closely.
How do you measure ROI from healthcare PR?
We track placements by outlet quality, not volume – a single feature in a trade publication your buyers actually read outweighs five throwaway mentions. We also track whether reporters start reaching out to your spokesperson unprompted, which is the real signal that credibility is compounding. Coverage that requires a correction or clarification counts against us, not for us.
What type of health or wellness company should consider this service?
Companies with real clinical evidence or regulatory standing who need that evidence to actually reach reporters and buyers – medical device makers, health tech platforms, clinical research organizations, and wellness brands with a named expert on staff. If you don't yet have a spokesperson who can speak on record to your evidence, that's the first gap to close before PR spend makes sense. The first step with us is the claims audit, which tells you exactly what's pitchable today.
