Health Policy and Reform

Burness Communications has worked in the health policy arena since the company's inception in 1986. We are at the forefront of a range of key health policy issues, and have joined forces with the country's leading health care foundations, research institutions, federal agencies, and health care researchers to effectively communicate what can be done to improve the nation's health.

We have successfully raised awareness of issues ranging from the plight of the uninsured to the effects of rising health care costs. We have disseminated information regarding health professions training, and data about practical issues confronting health information technology deployment. 


Beyond traditional health policy issues, Burness has worked extensively in medical ethics, supporting two presidentially-appointed panels on the topic, and tackling issues from end-of-life care to intellectual property rights, from stem cell research to medical record confidentiality. And as awareness has grown about the social determinants of health outside of health care – factors in our everyday environments that exert tremendous influence on our sickness and health – Burness has been an active player in the field.

Health policy discussions can easily descend into the technical and the arcane. It is our aim to convey complex policy issues clearly, to capture the attention of policymakers, media and stakeholders, and to keep the focus on the ultimate goal – lives improved and saved.

In recent years, we have:

• Worked with organizations like Community Partnerships for Older Adults and the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services to advance innovative models for addressing long-term care challenges.
• Advanced the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s efforts to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic while promoting prevention and wellness.
• Supported the Commonwealth Fund in disseminating vital research strategies for improving the American health care system.
• Promoted policy solutions to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance and “superbugs” with Extending the Cure.
• Managed media and stakeholder relations for the prominent policy journal Health Affairs, elevating the quality of the debate across the spectrum of health policy.
• Warned of the dangers of stagnant biomedical research funding in the Broken Pipeline and Within Our Grasp – Or Slipping Away? reports.
• Released landmark health quality findings with the RAND Corporation.
• Worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America to make the case that there is far more to health than health care alone.
• Guided the Mayday Fund’s targeted campaign to improve the treatment of chronic pain in the U.S.