The health care field has changed so rapidly in recent years that experts who study it on a full-time basis are having a hard time keeping up.
First came the managed care invasion in the form of HMOs, PPOs and others, which have quickly pushed indemnity insurance to the brink of extinction. With consumer backlash growing against the restrictions of HMOs, insurers are offering more flexible PPOs as government intervention creeps into the picture.
Now, even the local bastion of community health care, the hospital, finds itself in the midst of a highly competitive battle for market share as national and regional alliances of health care providers fight for profitability.
Just like any business, hospitals are looking for ways to differentiate their products and promote their services through a strong marketing program. As a result, many are searching for expert marketers to head up newly created or revamped marketing departments.
“In the late ’80s, marketing in hospitals kind of went out of vogue,” says Gail Hamity Vergara, managing director of the Chicago office of Spencer Stuart, a global executive search firm. “They were cutting out a lot of their costs, and many of them eliminated their marketing departments. Others turned to outside consultants to do the bulk of their work.”
About two years ago, the pendulum started to swing back toward in-house marketing experts. Vergara got a request for a senior level marketing position in the $200,000 annual pay range.
“I hadn’t done one in a long time, then suddenly I had three in a very short time span,” says Vergara. “This continues to be something I get requests for. What seems to be happening is hospitals have taken about as much out of the cost side as they can, and now they’re looking at stimulating the revenue side through marketing.”
Marketers are also taking a more traditional approach to marketing hospitals. There’s more talk of branding, pricing, product development and the use of brand managers. These experts are being drawn from medical-related fields such as health care products, insurance and managed care. Some hospitals are even bringing in people with experience from companies such as Pepsi or Procter & Gamble.
“There’s so much consolidation in the health care field that those who have an edge with consumers will do better,” says Vergara. “There’s a real premium on someone who can come in and help focus an organization.”
