About The Founder
Frank Rodino is founder and president of Churchill Communications. A clinician and healthcare communications innovator, Frank lectures frequently on topics relating to healthcare publishing and outcomes research.
Before establishing Churchill Communications, Frank practiced as a physician assistant with a New York-area health maintenance organization. While in practice he recognized the need clinically-relevant, unbiased information about newly-approved therapies. Soon afterwards, he founded Churchill Communications with the goal of producing high-quality scientific content that was balanced and relevant to the practicing clinician.
Frank earned a B.S. in physician assistant education and an M.H.S. in Health Care Administration from Stony Brook University's School of Health Technology and Management where he has served as full-time and adjunct faculty. In practicing in a New York-area HMO, Frank served as a medical officer in the United States Coast Guard. He served as president of the New York State Society of Physician Assistants in 1983, and in 1997, Stony Brook University's School of Health Technology and Management honored Frank as a "distinguished alumnus".
Frank is a member of the International Society of Medical Publishing Professionals, the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, the American Medical Writers Association, and numerous professional healthcare societies.
Five Questions for Churchill's Founder
Close1. What motivated you to establish Churchill Communications in 1989?
The founding partners are all healthcare providers and former academic faculty members. We were frustrated with the quality of sponsored scientific information. Much of it was biased and not relevant to our clinical practices. It simply wasn't helping any of us to deliver better care. We knew we could do a better job so we started the company with the goal of producing high quality scientific content that was balanced and relevant to the practicing clinician. We've done our best to remain true to our original mission.
2. To what do you attribute Churchill Communications' longevity?
Clinical relevance, content expertise, and professional trust have been the winning combination for us over the years. First, we have stuck to our original mission of producing high quality scientific content that is balanced and relevant to the practicing clinician. Second, we immerse ourselves in a disease category and strive to become experts in its pathology, providers, patients, and therapies. Finally, as clinicians, it's easier for us to establish professional trust with key opinion leaders, some of whom we have worked with in clinical practice.
3. How has the industry changed over the past 20 years and where do you see it going?
The founding partners are all healthcare providers and former academic faculty members. We were frustrated with the quality of sponsored scientific information. Much of it was biased and not relevant to our clinical practices. It simply wasn't helping any of us to deliver better care. We knew we could do a better job so we started the company with the goal of producing high quality scientific content that was balanced and relevant to the practicing clinician. We've done our best to remain true to our original mission.
4. What motivated you to establish Churchill Communications in 1989?
Today, the industry is much more heavily regulated and technology has revolutionized everything. The past emphasized the prescriber, but the future is all about partnering with and empowering patients. Patients want and deserve a greater say in the care that they receive. They can access medical information as easily and quickly as clinicians can. They are savvier about healthcare, but they still need help to interpret medical information and understand how it relates to them. Future therapies will need to be tailored to individual patient needs. Industry must change the way in which it conducts trials and publishes results. The concept of clinical relevance now applies to the individual patient and that drives the programs we develop.