Taking On Hospital-owned Practices

By Author: Barnali Gogoi
Total Articles: 11
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These days, hospitals are buying medical practices again. There was certainly a quiet period in hospital and health system mergers during 2008, but the more recent trend suggests a big turnover. If we go by American Medical News, a growing number of physicians are keen on selling their practices to hospitals.
According to an AHA survey released on April 27 last year, it was found that hospitals are seeing an increase in the number of physicians on the look out to sell their practices. In November 2008, 31 percent of doctors were looking to sell their practices. That number increased to 37 percent by March last year. According to the AHA survey, 9 percent of hospitals were contemplating mergers in response to poor economic conditions. The now receding recession and the impending health reform means hospitals want to safeguard themselves in uncertain times. Since the credit market is heading for the better, it's making such deals possible.
That apart, data from the Medical Group Management Association shows that hospital employment of physicians has gone up in the past few years. As per a poll of medical practices ...
... with three, the percentage of hospital-owned went up from 24 percent in 2002 to nearly 50 percent in 2008. While the percentage of physicians employed directly by hospitals jumped from 25 to 37 percent during the same period.
So how do you compete with the hospital?
There are many physicians out there who enjoy private practice and want to remain in private practice until they retire. However, what worries them is competing with hospitals that may have deeper marketing pockets and an in-house marketing staff.
So if you're among those private practices hoping to stay privately owned, you can still compete against the hospital's deep pockets and internal marketing staff. Here's how: By more effectively marketing your strengths to potential new patients and referral sources and by marketing against the hospital's weaknesses. Begin by looking at your practice and the hospital-based practice through a typical patient's eyes.

What would patients like about coming to you in place of the hospital? Have you made your care more personalized than others? Are you more qualified than the hospital's physicians or other specialists in your area of expertise? Do patients have to make a beeline and wait longer for appointments at the hospital than at your practice? Do they have to wait for longer hours once they're in the waiting area? Do they get attentive, focused compassionate care at the hospital? Or for that matter assembly-line care?
The differences may be surprising. They may also provide you with the foundation for a much stronger marketing message. There are various healthcare marketing agencies that help you do marketing and branding of your practice. When you do so, you can compete most effectively with your local hospital and how!