From Design to Action: Crafting a Powerful Call-to-Action

In this essential episode of our Community Health Management Design series, we explore the critical final step in program development: transforming your carefully designed program into actionable proposals that inspire commitment and support. Whether seeking funding, partnerships, or program approval, healthcare professionals will learn proven strategies for presenting their programs effectively to diverse stakeholders.

Episode Highlights:

• The HEART Framework for healthcare program presentation
• Stakeholder-specific messaging strategies
• Executive summary templates and examples
• Story-driven presentation techniques
• Common pitfalls and solutions in healthcare program proposals

Participants will receive hands-on tools including presentation templates, executive summary frameworks, and stakeholder communication matrices. The episode includes real-world examples and a practical assignment for immediate application.

Tami Moser [00:00:01]:
Welcome to the community health management design podcast. I'm your host, doctor Tami Moser. And today, we're mastering the art of the call to action in health care program design. Whether you're seeking funding, partnership, or program approval, I'll show you how to transform your careful planning into compelling action. Before we dive in, let's acknowledge a truth about health care program proposals. Brilliant program design alone doesn't guarantee implementation. Success often depends on how effectively you can communicate your vision to decision makers who may have limited time and competing priorities. So let's start with part 1, the architecture of your pitch.

Tami Moser [00:00:38]:
The 555 rule for health care presentations is a great framework to work within. That's 5 minutes to grab attention, 5 key points maxim, 5 supporting pieces of evidence. The heart framework for health care programs also gives you examples or a helpful framework for actually putting together a presentation. H stands for health impact, quantifiable outcomes, e, economic viability. So what's the ROI and sustainability? A, actionable steps. So clear implementation path. R, resources required. So what specific needs do you have? And t, timeline for implementation.

Tami Moser [00:01:24]:
What's the realistic schedule? That's your heart framework. So you can use both of these in combination to help you really make sure that you cover what you need in the architecture of your pitch. Part 2 is creating your executive smary and just like an introduction, your executive smary should be written last because that's when you've got all the information ready to actually fill the introduction or executive smary. So the first piece here is what health needs are you addressing? 2nd, why is action needed now? 3rd, how is your solution unique? 4, what specific outcomes can stakeholders expect? 5, what resources are required? And 6, what's the return on investment? So as you can see these are questions you should already have the answers to. It's just a matter of going and pulling what you've already written about them to get a more thorough view of what you need in the executive smary. And there are 2 formats you can use here. Well, there may be more, but we're gonna cover 2. The first is the traditional format which is 1 page and it might look something like this.

Tami Moser [00:02:32]:
These are not hard rules, but they are guidelines. Problem statement, 2 to 3 sentences. Proposed solution, 3 to 4 sentences. Expected outcomes, 2 to 3 bullet points. And resource requirements, 2 to 3 bullet points, and then your call to action 1 to 2 sentences. So that's a overview of what a traditional one page format for an executive smary would be. And let me just point out your executive smary should never be over a page. That is really the extent to what you want that to look like, and you've got to keep in mind that some people will only read your executive smary.

Tami Moser [00:03:10]:
So making sure that it's clear, concise is very important. You can also set this up as a visual. So, if you were putting together a slide deck, it might be your compelling statistic or visual representation of data, then a problem statement, highlights of your solutions, impact projection, resource needs, and then a specific ask or call to action for those resources. And so you could put it into a 6 slide deck if you wanted something that was more visual versus the executive smary. But I will say this. You always need the traditional executive smary to go with your full design write up, and then a visual format, if you will. A slide deck is also important for a pitch. So you're really gonna practice both as you finish up this particular micro credential.

Tami Moser [00:04:04]:
Part 3 is stakeholder specific messaging. And so different stakeholders need different emphasis for information. And if you look back at your stakeholder, analysis in the Excel workbook, you will see places for you to start defining channels for communication, need for communication, type of communication. You've got that already captured to a certain degree. I want you to pull it up and revisit it now, and I'm gonna give you some stakeholder groups that may need to be on that list. And if they aren't, you need to consider whether they should be put there. And then I'm gonna get into a little depth about what their focus is generally when you're talking to this group, what some key metrics might be that this group would be most interested in, and then supporting data that you might pull in. So this gives you an overview.

Tami Moser [00:04:58]:
You can use it in conjunction with what you've already done in that stakeholder matrix, and you may need to add some things now. So for administrative leadership, this is one of your stakeholder groups. They're focused on ROI, regulatory compliance, and strategic alignment with your organization. So those are 3 broad focus areas for administrative leadership. Some of the key metrics satisfaction scores. Some of the supporting data they would wanna see are benchmark comparisons and pilot results if you've done a pilot study. So that's administrative leadership. Now granted, there are many other things that they could focus on and key metrics you might wanna provide them based on your individual program and your leadership and what the composition of them looks like.

Tami Moser [00:06:01]:
But these are the broad strokes that you should consider for these groups. The next would be for clinical teams. So most of you will have some type of clinical team associated. They're focused on patient outcomes, workflow integration, and evidence based practice. Some of the key metrics that this group is usually most interested in are the clinical outcomes, time savings, and patient engagement. And how you measure patient engagement will be something you need to consider. So do you have anything on patient engagement? That would be a metric they would be interested in. Supporting data would be clinical studies and practice guidelines.

Tami Moser [00:06:46]:
For financial decision makers, they're focused on financial sustainability, resource utilization, and market impact. And one of the things that you need to consider is shared financial responsibility. So especially if this is a grant that you get in order to start a program with the understanding it start up funds, and then it should continue past the that. So this is what we're doing now, and then this is what we're gonna have to pick up when the grant runs out, and we're responsible for delivering this program as part of what we promised for the grant startup funds. Some key metrics here would be revenue projections, cost benefit analysis, and market share. And supporting data would be things like financial models and comparable program results. For your community partners, a focus may be community impact, collaboration opportunities, and shared benefits. Some of the key metrics this group might most want to see are population health outcomes and community engagement levels.

Tami Moser [00:08:06]:
And the supporting data could be community needs assessment, which we talked about in the beginning, or demographic analysis. This gives you an idea of what you might need to really hone in on in your stakeholder engagement communications for these 4 broad categories of stakeholder. Now let's start part 4, common pitfalls and some of the solutions to this. So the first pitfall would be data overload and a solution is the 3 key nbers rule. So the 3 key nbers rule is one problem with the defining statistic, one solution with an impact statistic, and then one ROI or benefit statistic. So you're really streamlining your data. Right? So it's don't overload them with 25 different different nbers about different things. Really hone in on one problem, one solution, one ROI or benefit.

Tami Moser [00:09:09]:
And what that does is it allows them to really understand the data you're presenting and the nbers and what they mean and why they're relevant. The second is unclear asks. Probably one of the most challenging things for people to do is ask. You can provide all this information, education, and then fail to do the last part, which is ask them for something specific, the resource you need. Now a solution to this is the smart framework. Right? Specific, exact resources needed, measurable, quantifiable requests. Now this this shows you smart in a slightly different way. Achievable, it's within the realistic bounds of their ability to actually do this.

Tami Moser [00:09:54]:
Relevant, it's tied to that stakeholders interests. They're not really gonna care about providing you a resource. They don't see how their interests are tied to. So that's why it needs to be relevant in that way. And then time bound, you've got a clear timeline for their action. So the smart framework is useful in more than just for goal setting. It can really be used to help you clarify the ask you you need to put out there for specific stakeholder groups. And then the third is weak evidence.

Tami Moser [00:10:26]:
So you really need to think about evidence and times in the evidence pyramid. Let's use that. So as a solution for weak evidence, we can use the evidence pyramid. So tier 1, local data and pilot results. Tier 2, similar program outcomes. Tier 3, published research, and tier 4, expert opinions. So tier one evidence would be local data and pilot results, very specific to what you're doing. Best level of evidence.

Tami Moser [00:11:01]:
Tier 2, similar program outcomes. In other words, they did this here or we did this here, so we can extrapolate that this is gonna happen with our program this time. Tier 3, published research, and tier 4, expert opinions. Expert opinions aren't useless, but they are the weaker tier of evidence in comparison with the other three tiers. So really pay attention to the evidence you're using and I would say you absolutely do not want all your evidence to come from tier 3 and tier 4 if at all possible. Try to at least thread through tier 1 and tier 2 evidence if at all possible. Part 5 is creating compelling stories. Now, we've talked about stories and what to do there, but let's let's look at a framework.

Tami Moser [00:11:46]:
So this is actually called the story framework and we can use it in healthcare programs. S stands for situation. So set the scene. Where is it at? What does it feel like? What does it look like? Then t trouble. Identify the actual health challenge you're going to be addressing. So we've got situation and then the trouble. O stands for options. What are the alternative options here? Consider those alternatives and weave them into the story as possibilities.

Tami Moser [00:12:19]:
R is the resolution. That's your program solution. So you define the situation, you've identified the health challenge or the health trouble, you've provided options that could be considered, and then you've defined your resolution, your program solution that should trp all other options they have. And the why of the story is the yield. What is the expected outcome? What are you gonna yield from this? So if you follow the story framework, you really do have a way to create a compelling health care story that has what it needs in it to engage your stakeholders. Part 6 is the art of the ask and there's a 4 part formula for this. 1, you state the specific request. 2, you explain the immediate impact of getting that.

Tami Moser [00:13:13]:
3, you share the long term benefits And 4, you provide clear next steps. So this is probably the best way to to outline this 4 part ask formula is to give you an example of what this would look like in writing. We're requesting $50,000 in initial funding to launch our diabetes prevention program. This investment will allow us to serve a 100 high risk patients in the first 6 months potentially preventing 20 cases of type 2 diabetes. Over 3 years, this could save our system $500,000 in avoided care costs. Would you like to review our detailed implementation timeline? So, stating the specific request, we're requesting $50,000 in initial funding to launch our diabetes prevention program. 2, explain immediate impact. This investment will allow us to serve a 100 high risk patients in the 1st 6 months 3 share long term benefits potentially preventing 20 cases of type 2 diabetes.

Tami Moser [00:14:21]:
Over 3 years, this could save our system $500,000 in avoided care costs. 4, provide clear next steps. Would you like to review our detailed implementation timeline? Now I will say that final provide clear next steps, we obviously want them to say, yes. We wanna see the detailed implementation timeline. This is a yes, no response. I would lean toward possibly looking at instead of yes, no's, looking at what would require them to take an action that would provide some next level integration into what we're doing. So we might ask them to review. So in other words, instead of asking them if they would like to review our detailed implementation timeline, our clear next step would be, please see the attached detailed implementation timeline.

Tami Moser [00:15:22]:
Alert us. We or we would love for you to review this timeline and alert us to any problems or challenges you see with the outline timeline. It could be something like that. That's a rougher statement than I would want it to be, but that kinda gives you an idea of how you could switch it from a yes, no, to another kind of step they could take that's a little more engaged. So your next assignment for this podcast and this module's material is to look at 3 things. 1, create your executive smary. It's 1 page long, use the provided template, include local data and have a clear and specific ask at the end. Use the formula we outlined.

Tami Moser [00:16:10]:
Then you need to create a presentation. It should be 5 to 7 slides. There should be an opening hook, a problem solution story, 3 key statistics, visual evidence, and a clear call to action. And this presentation should line up with your executive smary and then finish out your stakeholder matrix. So you should have already identified key stakeholders, but you might wanna add additional groups. You wanna what you're doing in your what you're doing in your presentations and the executive smary for those different groups. So in other words, let's say there's 4 key areas you identify and or key stakeholders that you identify. And I want you to take each of those stakeholders and go, I would customize the message and the ask for them in this way.

Tami Moser [00:17:19]:
And so they should look a little different based on what their interests are and what their concerns are. So those will look different for all of you depending on your program and the organizations you work with and the stakeholder matrix you have. But this gets you into practicing how to shift the focus of your asks dependent upon the needs of the stakeholders. And then plan the follow-up steps. So what follow-up steps would you ask or create for each of those stakeholder groups? Now sometimes these will align, and there could be some similarities or even some could be the same. But others will be distinctly different, And this is a good time to practice refining how you're communicating about what you're doing. Remember, your call to action is the bridge between great ideas and real impact. Focus on clarity, specificity, and connecting your program's benefits to stakeholder priorities.

Tami Moser [00:18:19]:
Now this does mean you truly need to understand your stakeholders, their pain points, their concerns, and what they actually are most interested in when they are connected with your particular program. In our next podcast series, as we finalize this micro credential, we'll discuss how to maintain moment after your initial presentation and to build long term support for your program. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I appreciate your interest and engagement. This is doctor Tami Moser reminding you that the best health care programs don't just solve problems, they inspire action. I will see you soon and I look forward to seeing what you pull together.