Ep14: How this Hospital Uses Podcasts to Advance Pediatric Healthcare

How do you go from recording in borrowed conference rooms with equipment in a shopping bag to one of the top five pediatric podcasts in the world? Jessie Cohen and Melanie Douglass from Children's Hospital Colorado did exactly that, building a homegrown podcast experiment into a show with over 2 million downloads across 187 countries. Now operating from a dedicated studio, they reach primary care providers across their seven-state region and beyond by applying journalistic storytelling techniques that create deeper trust and engagement than traditional medical education formats. Cohen, a former national correspondent, encourages doctors to go beyond the white coat and share the human experiences that shape their practice. In this session, they'll share how they turned grassroots passion into global impact.

This episode features a recording from the 2025 Health Podcast Summit. Get free access to all 37 sessions here: ⁠⁠⁠healthpodcastsummit.com⁠⁠

Chapters
00:00 Intro 

02:03 Meet the Team and Charting Pediatrics 

04:47 Top Five Pediatric Podcast Worldwide 

06:18 Why Podcasting for Physician Relations 

08:27 Target Audience and Secondary Listeners 

11:23 Spanish Language Podcast Launch 

16:08 Evolution from Part-Time to Dedicated Resources 

18:52 Jesse's Journalism Background and Transition 

21:47 Dedicated Personnel and Equipment Challenges 

23:42 Building the Studio 

25:17 Live Events Strategy 

27:38 Strong Storytelling Beyond the White Coat 

30:04 Dr. Lori Sherlock's Vulnerable Story 

32:51 Trusted Education and Hospital Reputation 

35:12 Heart Institute Promotion Campaign 

37:54 Recording and Editing Advertisements 

39:08 Dynamic Ad Insertion Discussion 

42:11 Listener Testimonial from Auburn Student 

46:04 ROI and Strategic Planning 

48:37 How to Get Started Advice 

51:06 Where to Find Charting Pediatrics

Resources Mentioned

• Connect with Jessie Cohen on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-cohen-ba9b30b1/⁠

• Connect with Melanie Douglass on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-douglass-mba-72916843/⁠

• ⁠Charting Pediatrics podcast⁠ (all platforms)

• ⁠Pediatrics en Línea⁠ - Spanish language sister podcast

• ⁠2024 Podcast Hype video

Connect with Dan Kendall

• LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dankendall/

• Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/healthtechdan⁠

Connect with HealthPodcast.Org

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• Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/healthpodcastorg⁠

• YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HealthPodcastOrg⁠

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• Health Podcast Library - ⁠HealthPodcastLibrary.com⁠

• Health Podcast Community - ⁠HealthPodcastCommunity.com⁠

• Health Podcast Network - ⁠HealthPodcastNetwork.com⁠

• Health Podcast Summit - ⁠HealthPodcastSummit.com⁠

• Health Content Integrity Pledge - ⁠https://healthpodcast.org/health-content-integrity-pledge⁠

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