Hospital Advertising Doesn't Work

An article in the July 29 issue of Crain’s HealthPulse, aptly titled “It’s an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World for Local Hospitals” references a report that says that hospital advertising expenditures in the New York area have increased by over $10 million, or 28%. The article’s title, a play on the 1963 movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” is apt, in that hospitals spending this kind of money for advertising makes about as much sense as the madcap chase across the California desert that was launched in the movie after Jimmy Durante “kicked the bucket.”

For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, let me simplify my premise: New York-area Hospitals are flushing more money (over $10 million more) down more toilets (by running costly and ultimately ineffective ads) than they did last year (when they flushed almost $70 million down their collective commodes).

Simply put, advertising to attempt to build hospital business or to enhance a hospital’s reputation is almost entirely a fool’s errand. Why? Because, frankly, hospital advertising doesn’t work (go ahead and try to find bona fide research – not some overblown “case study” puffery that ad agencies love to put on their websites – that shows otherwise).

99.9% of the time, hospitals use ads to merely “push” information at their intended audience – an audience that long ago turned its back on this type of one-sided communication, and which fails to find any personal relevance in your newest state-of-the-art thing-a-ma-bob. As a result, traditional hospital advertising doesn’t engage the intended audience. Almost always, these ads are done to pacify doctors who insist that the hospital run ads (after all, 4 years of medical school, various internships and hospital residency certainly qualifies you as a marketing expert!) that showcase their undeniable talents. This approach is akin to going to a cocktail party, and beginning a conversation with “Hey, let’s talk about ME!”

Against the backdrop of already-thin hospital margins being squeezed tighter and tighter, it is astounding that hospitals continue to waste money at these levels.

The rules of marketing and advertising changed a few years ago, yet apparently nobody told the hospital community. Today, merely touting your “state-of-the-art facility,” your “world-renowned specialists,” your “latest technology” – regardless of how “unique,” “innovative” or “leading-edge” it may be – will earn your ad nothing more than a yawn and a quick trip to the recycling bin. The key to successful hospital promotion is to achieve true engagement – connecting with your customers, fostering two-way communication, and delivering value to them as a result of their engagement with your brand. And this can be done successfully for a fraction of what hospitals now spend for advertising space.

Hospital Patient Satisfaction - A Short Story

In the world of hospitals, it is well documented that superior patient satisfaction leads to higher quality scores, a better market position, and greater revenues.

Much of the same research also tells us that the single biggest driver of patient satisfaction is employee engagement.

Despite all of this compelling research, far too many many hospitals continue to believe that patient satisfaction can be influenced by consumer advertising -- billboards, newspaper ads, radio, etc.

So here's a story -- one that I swear is 100% true.

It starts with the unfortunate fact that my wife is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. We've entrusted her care here since the beginning of October, and we've found the people who work here, from top to bottom, are beyond compare.

So here's the story: About 2 months ago, I was at Sloan with Lyn. I went to get a cup of coffee, but the coffee machine was being serviced by two people -- one training the other. As I approached, I overheard the trainer emphatically​ saying to the trainee, "The way we do things here at Sloan is simple. Everyone you deal with -- everyone -- is to be treated like they are a member of YOUR family."

I think that speaks volumes about this place.

I have now blogged that story twice, and told just about anyone who would listen -- no doubt many are telling their friends as well. Oh, and the hospital didn't need to spend $10,000 on a billboard to get that kind of good will, did it?

What does YOUR hospital do to foster a similar culture among its employees?

Minnesota Newspaper Sorts Through Nurses' Strike -- and Gets it Right

The hospital industry has been abuzz over the past several weeks, over the prospect of 12,000 nurses at 14 Minnesota hospitals striking over a variety of issues. The brief, but acrimonious strike that took place last week was punctuated by leaders of the nurses union accusing the hospitals of pressing for procedures and work rules that would lead to unsafe patient care.

Shockingly, in the end, it seems it was all about money.

An editorial published in the Pioneer Press of St. Paul hit the nail on the head. Its title: Nurses Care. So Do Hospital Bosses.

In the editorial, the paper took the nurses to task for their cynical (and apparently transparent) approach to gaining public and union support:

By relying on an argument that demonized hospital managers and attempted to raise panic about pervasive mortal danger in Twin Cities hospitals, the nurses union undermined its own credibility and the cause of intelligent discourse.

The paper went on to state: Arguing that hospital managers and the citizen boards who direct them care only about money and not at all about patients or employees is...outrageous.

More and more hospitals will be faced with labor issues -- not only among nurses, but also among support workers and technicians -- as healthcare dollars continue to get tighter and tighter. Moving forward, let's hope that these disputes can be resolved by reasonable people undertaking a discussion that centers around the best and most effective utilization of available resources, and not on a cynical attempt to demonize the opposition.

Because hospital bosses care, too.