« Health Insurance has a position as a major player in public health, which in fact places it at the heart of society's issues..
The We Are COM team went to meet Gwladys Huré, Director of Information and Communication for Health Insurance and member of the Club We Are COM, to learn more about the issues, challenges and objectives of an institution such as theHealth Insurance.
An inspiring interview, which reminds us that Public communication is never far from societal issues.
Hello Gwladys, as Director of Information and Communication for Health Insurance, what would be your definition of public communication?
I don't know if this is my definition, but it is in any case a definition: the public communication, it is the set of communication actions undertaken by an institution which exercises a public service, designed and disseminated to serve the general interest.
Out of curiosity, how is the communications department of a network head organized?
Our communications department has 40 professionals, responsible for managing a network of more than 650 communicators spread across the entire country. Our communication actions, managed on a national scale, come directly from our 5 departments : information and media, campaigns and promotion, identity and commitment, the web factory, as well as the communications management office on which all these people are lucky enough to be able to rely.
What are the main strategic objectives you are pursuing within this Directorate? ?
Every 5 years, Health Insurance signs a contract of objectives and management (COG) with the State. This is how every 5 years, a communication master plan is redesigned based on the new strategic issues and the objectives of this contract.
Currently, our master plan is structured around 5 pillars.
- Promoting Health Insurance and the model it embodies : it is about demonstrating pedagogy, explaining who we are and how we act.
- Promoting access to rights and care : so that insured persons and health professionals have a good understanding of their rights and can benefit from the best possible coverage.
- Developing prevention : our role is both to regularly inform our policyholders about the good health habits to adopt (vaccinations, screenings) and also to provide healthcare professionals with tools in their practices.
- Responding to the health system challenge: Healthcare professions are evolving, our mission is to support policyholders and professionals in the sector through these changes, particularly digital ones.
- Increasing the consideration of environmental issues in our communications strategy: This pillar, which we added halfway through our master plan, aims to encourage all Health Insurance communicators to integrate sobriety into their daily professional practices.
All our communication actions flow directly from the 5 pillars of this master plan.
The purpose of Health Insurance is: “ act together, protect everyone " in order to sustainably protect everyone's health by acting with everyone. How is this reflected in your communications? and who are your targets?
We conduct information and communication campaigns on public health issues, with the aim of reducing health risks. Prevention is better than cure, and it is also beneficial to society. This is why we deal with a lot of prevention issues, in order to convince policyholders and health professionals to adopt these approaches.
Furthermore, the development of digital technology in the health sector requires that we can support policyholders and health professionals in getting to grips with new tools.
Finally, our communications also aim to ensure the sustainability of our model and that everyone is aware of their role within the health system.
Our main target audiences are therefore our 67 million insured persons and healthcare professionals. « Acting together, protecting everyone » sums up the DNA of Health Insurance well and reminds us that it is a common good, a universal protection system that is unique in its kind.
Internally, under the banner #proudtoprotect, our 82 employees are grouped together, whose expertise is as varied as it is essential to ensure the numerous missions of Health Insurance.
Prevention is better than cure, and it is also beneficial to society.
What are your daily issues? Would you say that communication covers all of society’s issues?
Health Insurance has a positioning ofmajor player in public health, which in fact places it at the heart of society's issues: we sign agreements that organize access to care with health professionals, we contribute to supporting and developing digital health, we design major prevention campaigns, we pay particular attention to the fight against fraud and to controlling expenses.
Communication comes as a revealer of the many actions that are carried out by the Health Insurance teams. With our communications, we help policyholders and healthcare professionals to be players in the system, for better support for policyholders throughout their treatment journey.
Furthermore, it is also because Health Insurance is a public player rooted in its time and aware of ecological issues that we have developed an eco-responsible approach to communication. Also, with this same desire to act for the common good and beyond our core messages, we think about our communication campaigns in a more eco-responsible way.
In other words, the issues of an institution like ours are very close to the issues that concern society.
The issues of an institution like ours are very close to the issues that concern society.
Precisely, can you present to us more precisely one of these problems, an action plan and the resulting communication strategy?
Health concerns all ages. Adolescents and young adults are an interesting target, particularly because they are new "entrants" in the Health Insurance system for the management of their rights. It is at these ages that it is important to inform them and raise their awareness about access to health, the steps to take, and the rights to which they are entitled. To communicate with the young target, with such particular information consumption habits, we decided to get out of our comfort zone by designing a unique experience, the “My Health Tips” bus.
Initially, “Mes Tips Santé” is a program deployed on Instagram, aimed at a young target audience, 16-25 year olds. This format offers tips and best practices to make life easier for these new policyholders. – first health card, declaration from the treating physician, management of reimbursements, etc. – but also to provide information on prevention – dangers of alcohol, tobacco, the importance of a good diet, screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), etc.
Given the success of this content and with the support of the health insurance network funds throughout France, we wanted to go further by going directly to meet this public, on the ground. Concretely, we chose to design a bus animated by our agents, with terminals, videos, quizzes, etc. We focused on the fun aspect to get our messages across to young people and initiate discussion.
The "Mes Tips Santé" bus, which is in its second edition, stops at strategic locations, including music festivals during the summer holidays and university campuses at the start of the school year. The success of this operation led us to set up a second bus, smaller, to have access to more remote areas, in small or medium-sized towns.
While waiting for the third edition of the bus, the program continues to live on Instagram, and we continue to feed the account with adapted content throughout the year.
To communicate with a young target audience, with their very particular information consumption habits, we decided to step out of our comfort zone.
Health Insurance is also conducting an intensive fight against fraud. How do you raise awareness and communicate about this issue?
Fraud is not limited to health insurance, but it is a subject that mobilizes us a lot because it is all the more unbearable as it weakens our social security model based on solidarity. As such, it concerns society as a whole.
We communicate very regularly on our figures, our objectives and our results, whether it concerns fraud committed by policyholders or by health professionals. When our anti-fraud services sanction abuses, in particular by delisting health centers or by filing a complaint, we make it known, because abusing and defrauding Health Insurance is criminally and morally reprehensible.
In your opinion, what will be the future of public communication, particularly in the field of health?
In recent years, public communication in the health sector has undergone a real shift by focusing its statements on prevention. Raising public awareness of the impact of behaviors on being and staying healthy has become a major communication challenge for public health stakeholders. This trend can be seen in the major campaigns of recent years, whether it be incentives for vaccination, screening or virtuous behavior, and in my opinion, it will intensify because it accompanies a profound societal movement in our relationship to health.
Like health insurance, do all brands have a political role to play? How can they influence society?
Whatever the sector of activity in which it operates, A brand has every interest in communicating about its actions and contributions to collective well-being, provided that it is consistent with the activities and DNA of the brand concerned.
Just as we were able to detect and denounce the greenwashing of certain brands, we must have the same vigilance in matters of healthwashing.
Do you have any final advice or good practice to share with all the passionate communicators who read you?
Each of us knows that the word “communication” comes from the Latin “Communicare” which means “to put in common”, “to share”. Our profession is therefore deeply focused on human relationships.. And we communicate all the better when we know how to listen to those to whom we have messages to convey. For my part, I never forget that communication is above all listening.
3 things to know about Gwladys Huré
His mantra? « It's going to be okay! ". This mantra developed at the beginning of her career when she specialized in crisis communication, was very useful in the ministerial office of health, where emergencies and crises are daily occurrences. For Gwladys, a certain amount of distance is necessary so that a stressful situation does not affect lucidity and the capacity for action.
Her favorite ad? Gwladys is particularly fond of offbeat advertisements, the various crazy campaigns of the Orangina brand for example when Alain Chabat was in charge of the production (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi27FC8b6jc) or those of Intermarché on the radio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwZJ7nvxStw). On the health side, a Canadian prevention campaign continues to make her laugh. Do you know these little guinea pigs called "cuys"? Let's take a look!
His commitments and his passions? What's new: in terms of reading, travel, music, gastronomy; everything that involves discovery! She also needs to spend time with her family and friends: cooking and organizing large shared meals where we spend hours chatting is one of her favorite activities. She recharges her batteries in the countryside where she enjoys walks in the forest and cultivating her vegetable garden.
His trademark anecdote? Within its communications department, a manifesto was developed, taking up and setting out the raison d'être of Health Insurance. Acting together, protecting everyone ", has thus become for the house's communicators " communicate together, mobilize everyone ».
