Giving your employees space opens a new way of thinking about the workplace

Kristie Kuhl’s foray into healthcare communications began during college when she was working part time in a doctor’s office and observed how doctors and patients communicated.

“There was a lot of fear,” says Kuhl. “A doctor may say, ‘we see something strange with your mammogram’ and the patient gets very upset and they hear something different” than the doctor intended. “How you communicate information has a tremendous impact on emotional health.”

Kuhl, who is Managing Partner at Finn Partners and head of NY Health, Chicago Health and US health product communications, counsels a wide range of clients on issues ranging from biotech to dietary supplements to medical devices.  After getting a law degree, she found her place in healthcare comms, joining Finn five years ago after working at Cohn & Wolfe and Makovsky.

From her early days working in a doctor’s office to her current position leading a team and advising clients, Kuhl takes an empathetic approach to communication. She spoke to Ragan from her home in Fairfield, Conn., about employee wellness, a return to science-based decisions and communicators’ role in effecting change.

Mind your meetings