FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Healthcare PR Veteran Bob Chandler Launches MaxAscent™ LLC, an Inter-Disciplinary Communications Consultancy

Announcement comes as part of a new, global micro-network of leading healthcare communications firms, Watershed Bridges™

New York, NY – December 12, 2016 – Healthcare PR veteran Bob Chandler, former President of inVentiv Health Communications and co-founder of Chandler Chicco Companies, has announced the launch of MaxAscent™ LLC, a communications consultancy aiming to work with industry-leading healthcare companies.  MaxAscent™ is designed to ensure that consumers and patients have more productive conversations about health with their doctors, employers, and the increasingly broad array of community-based provider organizations.

“With the constant state of confusion about insurance requirements, preventive-health approaches, new treatment options, and short-and long-term decisions, there are conflicting views that inevitably weigh heavily on the consumer,” said Chandler.  “What’s important to keep in mind is that patients and their families often are hurt by this transitioning state of medicine.  Our excitement about establishing MaxAscent is to initiate and sustain conversations between patients and the communities that treat them, making these interactions more frequent, engaging and, ultimately, more successful.”

The impact of technology in healthcare, from portable medical records, wearables, tele-docs, remote patient monitoring along with dozens of other advances, will profoundly influence how well and how long people live.  MaxAscent is designed to reveal options and facilitate actions that put patients and consumers in a state of Maxengagement, ™ where what the company initiates will effectively hand more control over to those who are willing to be partners with their medical champions.

MaxAscent encourages a multi-disciplinary team approach, maximizing the incredible value of having highly seasoned talent regularly interact with young up-and-comers. By this process, MaxAscent clients benefit from novel, advanced perspectives that connect with audiences through public relations, social/digital initiatives, advertising, public affairs, corporate positioning, and effective issues/crisis management.

“I’ve been in healthcare my entire career and it’s endlessly fascinating but also uniquely demanding,” said Chandler. “The time is right to return to certain basics I’ve always believed in. That means we are fully committed to identifying ever-evolving patient interests, guiding the resolute healthcare consumer, and partnering with forward-thinking companies with the same priorities. This industry deserves nothing less.”

MaxAscent is launching as part of Watershed Bridges™ LLC, a micro-network bringing together leading firms in the fields of patient behavior, medical education, public affairs, policy, experiential marketing, advertising, corporate communications, narrative development, and storytelling, as well as the emerging field of patient intelligence.

Inaugural members of Watershed Bridges include wethepeople® – Michel Dubery, partner, strategy and human science;  PatientWisdom™ – Gregory Makoul, founder and CEO; Brandforming™ – Guy Mastrion, founder and chief creative officer; Publick House –Dan McIntyre, principal; Rothenberg Communication LLC – Craig Rothenberg, founder and CEO; HealthTalker – Steve Simcox, managing partner;  Sawtooth – Kristi Bridges,  president and Chief Creative Officer; Parry Branding Group – Vince Parry, president and chief branding officer; Midnight Media Group, Inc. – Dave Emmerling, partner; and BK Digital – Bryan Kaye, CEO & Digital/Social Media Strategy Consultant, Pharma/Healthcare Expertise.

For more information about MaxAscent, please visit www.maxascent.com; for Watershed Bridges, please visit www.watershedbridges.com.

About Bob Chandler

Bob Chandler is the former President of inVentiv Health Communications and Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications of inVentiv Health. Bob is President Emeritus of Chandler Chicco Companies, a collective of communications and public relations firms focusing on healthcare and consumer health, part of the inVentiv Health network. Having co-founded Chandler Chicco Companies (CCC) in 1995 with his business partner, Gianfranco Chicco, Bob built CCC to become synonymous with healthcare communications and public relations. CCC joined inVentiv Health Communications in 2007, which has since grown into a world leader in healthcare advertising and marketing services, with over 1,600 people in 70 international offices spanning 40 countries, reaching more than 50 markets. While Bob led the Communication Division, clients included all of the top 10 largest pharmaceutical companies, 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, and all of the top five largest biotech companies.

In 2014, Bob was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Communique. In 2010, he received the SABRE Lifetime Achievement Award from The Holmes Report. In 2007, Bob was awarded the Ohio University Alumni Medal of Merit.

Previously, Bob was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Burson-Marsteller’s healthcare practice and president of the agency’s The Biotech Group. He also served as VP/ assistant administrator for marketing and public affairs at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees at The Ranney School. He chairs the Admissions and Marketing Committee, is a member of the Executive Committee, and is the Board lead for the school’s Crisis/ Issues Team. Bob is also a member of the Board of Trustees at the Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, New Jersey.

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