We are
storytellers
business advisors
content strategists
brand builders
growth partners
change advocates
We collaborate exclusively with mission-driven organizations to deepen their impact, improving the health and well-being of people and communities.
NOT A
TYPICAL AGENCY
We partner with a select group of clients so we can provide personalized, high-value support to meet key business objectives.
PURPOSE-BUILT
TEAMS
We provide the support clients need, when they need it, from business and communications strategy to execution.
We are committed to meaningful collaboration with organizations that promote equity, health, and well-being.
IN IT FOR THE
GREATER GOOD
OUR SERVICES
Public Relations
Media Strategy
Brand Identity
Website Creation
Thought Leadership
Content Development
Social Media
Digital Advertising
Video
Partnership Development
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
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“A trusted extension of our executive team”
“Collaborate is a trusted extension of our executive team. They’re deeply dedicated to our mission, and they’re with us in the trenches, day-in and day-out, helping grow our brand and company. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Collaborate Health.”
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“What we needed to get to the next level”
“Collaborate helped NowPow establish the outsized reputation we needed to get to the next level and scale our impact. They are true growth partners, in every sense of the word, which is why we brought them on board to get STEAMe on track for success.”
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“Collaborate has deep domain expertise”
“Collaborate has deep domain expertise that spans PR, marketing, branding and communications, so as our business grows, our relationship grows with it. They have all the benefits of a boutique firm with Swiss Army Knife capabilities — and they’re just good people.”
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“The first communications partner to truly understand our vision”
"Collaborate Health was the first communications partner to truly understand the magnitude of our vision. They help us tell our story – for both today and tomorrow – with clarity and precision, which is helping us make our vision a reality."
CURRENT COLLABORATIONS
b.well Connected Health
b.well is fixing healthcare’s fragmentation problem by unifying data, solutions and services on one platform, so organizations can optimize the consumer experience and create healthcare ecosystems of the future.
CancerIQ
CancerIQ is on a mission to end cancer as we know it by enabling clinicians in any care setting to use comprehensive cancer risk information and genetics to prevent, detect, and treat cancer at scale.
Carallel
Carallel maximizes the vital role of family caregivers in improving health outcomes by identifying them and taking a clear, complete, and compassionate approach to lessening their load.
Ella Es Health
Ella Es is making women’s healthcare more inclusive by enabling multi-disciplinary, data-driven care models that account for unique social and cultural experiences and break down barriers to care through all phases of life.
Medical Home Network
MHN is transforming care delivery in the safety net and building healthier communities by helping federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) nationwide develop the capabilities they need to thrive in value-based care arrangements.
STEAMe
STEAMe powers economic mobility, prosperity, and community resilience by uniting the entire workforce development ecosystem on one platform to create skills-based pathways to meaningful employment in all sectors.
MEET THE COLLABORATORS
Collaborate Health is a team of entrepreneurial-minded experts. Our distributed group of thinkers and doers works together to achieve more, have fun, and do fulfilling work.
Katie McMillan
Katie has worked in healthcare for over 15 years as a communicator and operator. Her experience spans high-growth start-ups, academic medical centers, digital agencies, and digital health product development. She is not only passionate about telling digital health stories but also about backing them up with in-depth, peer-reviewed literature and numbers.
Katie earned an MPH from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she can often be found writing about FemTech and FamTech solutions that improve the health of women, children, and their families. Her work has been featured in CHIME Digital Health Insights, STAT News, MobiHealthNews, The Journal of Medical Internet Research, and other media outlets.
Heather Punke
Heather is a writer and editor who has spent a decade plugged into the healthcare industry. She thrives on communicating complicated topics in an accessible way to targeted audiences.
Heather has written for stakeholders on all sides of the healthcare equation, covering everything from value-based care and insurance innovation to quality improvement initiatives and addressing social drivers of health.
She gained her expertise as a writer and editor for Becker’s Hospital Review (a national healthcare business publication), as a brand journalist for Health Care Service Corporation (one of the largest payers in the nation), and as managing editor at Olive (the automation company working to connect healthcare).
Patty Keiler
Patty founded Collaborate Health in 2018 after nearly 20 years in healthcare communications. She wanted to work directly with purpose-driven leaders and innovators to share their visions, inspire others, and drive real change. Her hands-on, personal approach differentiates Collaborate Health as a partner in both communications and strategic growth. To date, Patty has led award-winning initiatives for Fortune 500 companies, world-renowned health systems, safety net hospitals, not-for-profits, and innovative start-ups (with multiple impressive exits).
Her passion comes from navigating her own family’s healthcare journey.
Prior to Collaborate Health, Patty was a senior consultant with Ritz Communications for more than a decade and led national media relations for Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Emily Rappleye
Emily is a communications strategist and writer specializing in the healthcare space. She has a knack for identifying what matters most in a story and making sure that message connects with audiences.
Previously, she was managing editor at Becker's Hospital Review, where she got her start reporting on the healthcare industry in 2014. Her coverage at Becker's focused on healthcare policy, public health, and thought leadership. Emily is also an experienced public speaker, as both a panel moderator and an interviewer. She has conducted live interviews with Katie Couric, Bobbi Brown, and former UVA Medical Center CEO Pamela Sutton-Wallace.
Emily is passionate about improving access to healthcare. To contribute to that mission, she volunteers at a clinic for uninsured and underinsured patients in Chicago and as a patient driver for the American Cancer Society.
Brian Eastwood
Brian is a Boston-based writer with more than 15 years of experience covering healthcare IT and healthcare delivery. He can write anything from news briefs and analysis to thought leadership, white papers, eBooks, and even graduate theses on postwar European politics.
Brian’s byline has appeared in HealthTech Magazine, CIO.com, Fierce Healthcare, and Healthcare IT Today. From 2015 to 2018, Brian was an analyst at Chilmark Research, focusing on the patient and member engagement technology market. Brian also writes about higher education, enterprise IT, consumer technology, and corporate leadership for a range of publications and clients. He got his start as a community newspaper reporter in 2003.
When he’s not working, Brian enjoys running, hiking, cross-country skiing, and curling up with a good history book.
Tiffany Blasco
Tiffany specializes in supporting small businesses behind the scenes to accelerate growth. As the project manager for Collaborate Health, she provides administrative, operations, and communication support to us and our clients.
Outside of work, Tiffany is working to complete her Master’s of Business Administration. She is also deeply committed to giving back to her community. Tiffany works as an advocate for women and children facing domestic violence, and she helped her daughter launch the nonprofit TOYS 4 DOGS, which provides toys and supplies for the pets of people experiencing homelessness.
Ben Hershey
Ben has over a decade of experience helping businesses tell their stories through video, photography, animation, and graphic design. In 2013, Ben started his own company, Zoom Detroit Studios, where he collaborates with clients to bring their ideas to life through multimedia. Ben’s past clients include major health insurers, health technology companies, and more.
Ben also works in strategy and business program management at Google Cloud, where he has contributed to scaling global production teams and shaping multimedia operations.
In his free time, Ben is an avid photographer and world traveler. From the Arctic to the Sahara, he has photographed some of the harshest conditions on Earth — and everything in between.
Vince Galloro
Vince is a strategic communications advisor with over two decades of experience in healthcare. He provides media relations strategy and implementation for firms that offer advisory, consulting or professional services, digital transformation, or other expert services to provider organizations. He also works directly with provider organizations, trade groups, and associations.
Vince got his start as a newspaper reporter at the Daily Herald and spent over a decade as a journalist and editor at Modern Healthcare, where he gained a strong sense of the inner workings of the healthcare system. He also opened a Chicago office for a healthcare-focused public relations firm based in Nashville, working for more than six years with health systems across the country.