NEW YORK—Healthcare public relations veteran Bob Chandler is launching MaxAscent, a new consultancy that plans to work with industry-leading healthcare companies and to ensure that consumers and patients have more productive conversations about health with their doctors, employers, and a broad array of community-based provider organizations.

According to Chandler, former president of inVentiv Health Communications and co-founder of Chandler Chicco Companies, “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. What’s important to keep in mind is that patients and their families often are hurt by this transitioning state of medicine.

“MaxAscent will initiate and sustain conversations between patients and the communities that treat them, making these interactions more frequent, engaging and, ultimately, more successful.”

Chandler says the impact of technology in healthcare, including 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 will encourage a multi-disciplinary team approach, to addressing these issues, combining public relations, social and digital initiatives, advertising, public affairs, corporate positioning, and effective issues and crisis management.

MaxAscent is launching as part of Watershed Bridges, a micro-network bringing together leading firms in the fields of patient behavior, medical education, public affairs, 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 partner Michel Dubery; PatientWisdom founder and CEO Gregory Makoul; Brandforming founder and chief creative officer Guy Mastrion; Publick House principal Dan McIntyre; Rothenberg Communication founder and CEO Craig Rothenberg; HealthTalker managing partner Steve Simcox; Sawtooth president and chief creative officer Kristi Bridges; Parry Branding Group president and chief branding officer Vince Parry; Midnight Media Group partner Dave Emmerling; and BK Digital CEO Bryan Kaye.