New Marketing Technique Benefits Hospitals and Patients

05-18-2010

National Public Radio (NPR) and Kaiser Health News recently reported that some hospitals are trying a new approach to generate additional patient business.  The marketing technique resembles “speed dating,” the matchmaking process through which individuals spend a few minutes conducting timed interviews of several prospective suitors.  Hospitals have taken this concept and expanded it to the physician-patient relationship, allowing patients the opportunity to interview several doctors at one time.  While this benefits patients by giving them the opportunity to choose a physician from a large pool of one-on-one contacts, it also benefits the physicians and hospitals by increasing their market share.  In theory, patients will select physicians with whom they feel they have a good connection, thus enhancing the possibility of a long-term physician-patient relationship, while also increasing the hospital’s chances of yielding business from these physicians. 

For more information, visit NPR.