Does Hospital Adverstising Really Work?

A fellow RN told me about a recent conversation that took place in her hospital unit in a highly respected facility that's part of an equally respected hospital system.

The conversation went something like this: "So, we have a low incidence of medical errors, our infection rate is low, we have a stellar record of patient satisfaction, we appear to be doing everything right. Now, how do we market ourselves? How do we draw in more patients? How do we promote our hospital as the go-to, primo facility in our area?"

I’m assuming that many of us have noticed advertising of hospitals popping up on television, in newspapers and in magazines. Does all that advertising really have patients stampeding through their doors? I am not an advertising expert—far from it, actually. While I might admire a certain hospital’s beautiful, state-of-the-art facilities as pictured in a print ad, I don’t choose my hospital that way.

In fact, I don’t choose my hospital. I choose my doctor and, then, if I need hospitalization, I go to the hospital where he or she has privileges.

In the area where I live, the small cities scattered about have one hospital each, with no in-system options. When I choose a doctor in a certain town, it’s a given that I will go to the hospital in that town. I suppose, if I were looking for a new doctor and had a preference for a particular hospital, I might restrict my doctor search to those who practiced at that favored facility. But, for me, a doctor’s expertise is what comes first. My supposition is that excellent doctors would demand their hospitals be excellent as well. Am I wrong?

Advertising is expensive and those who control the hospital’s purse strings are not likely to spend money on efforts that don’t pay off in some way. Advertising must be producing positive results for some hospitals, otherwise their continuing to appropriate funds to ad campaigns couldn’t be justified.

Does anyone have insights to share?