By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: New Marketing: Improving Service Line Profitability (Part One)
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Finance > New Marketing: Improving Service Line Profitability (Part One)
BusinessFinanceHospital Administration

New Marketing: Improving Service Line Profitability (Part One)

Stewart Gandolf
Stewart Gandolf
Share
4 Min Read
profitability
SHARE

profitabilityEditor Note: [First of a two-part article] Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, authored this article for print and online publication by Strategic Health Care Mar

profitabilityEditor Note: [First of a two-part article] Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, authored this article for print and online publication by Strategic Health Care Marketing. It is presented here with permission.

Clinical service department profitability is a constant challenge for hospitals. What’s changed, however, is just about everything else. Boosting service line profitability requires adjustments to various “new school” marketing shifts.

The newly empowered patient now regards medical services with the critical eye of a retail shopper. The dynamics of healthcare reform, facility mergers and acquisitions, and increasingly intense competition have business savvy CEOs and marketing pros laser-focused on Return-on-Investment (ROI).

More Read

word cloud of content marketing words on Siren Interactive's blog SirenSong
The Importance of Content Marketing For Orphan Drugs
Four Principles of Patient Care for Nurses to Remember
Top 5 Facts About CPPA Accreditation
State Dental Commissions Protect Not Just Your Teeth; They Also Protect…Dentists
Startup Founder Reacquires His Patient Portal Business

Change is so rapid and pervasive that relatively recent marketing goals, strategies and tactics are being challenged as “old school.” One course—usually the longer path—is to create a completely new service line where the payback potential is long term.

But for most hospitals, the more natural starting point is to apply fresh thinking to the process of attracting patients to departments that already harbor the widest appeal, best margins and maximum profitability.

Traditionally, service departments representing the best business opportunities include cardiovascular, general surgery and orthopedics. And, depending on market dynamics, geriatrics, neurosurgery, urology, PCP/FP, oncology and others have demonstrated business strength.

Shifting to a New Course for Greater Success

Hospital executives understand that being the generic medical commodity in a community—being all things to everyone—is no strategy at all. Specific services differentiate hospitals in the mind of the public and lay claim to a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Moreover, patients and hospitals first encounter each other at the service line “front door.” How the public sees and experiences the hospital is not as an institution or system, but as an intimate resource for an immediate and personal need.

There are several concepts that can drive greater success for existing and emerging hospital strategies. Most require rethinking past concepts where hospital “service silos” were narrowly based on individual medical specialties.

If you have been relying on the ways and means of doing “business as usual,” carefully consider the following ideas and shifting to a new course for going forward.

Shift: From self-centered to New Consumer-centric…

In our work with clients throughout the US, a high-altitude perspective of hospital adverting trends is revealing. A lot of the hospital material that we find—and that which characterizes an “old school” approach—is self-centered, with a message of “look how great we are.”

Old school approaches brag about the wondrous “new robot,” or spotlight a “top doctor” or other individual. We suspect that these early marketing efforts—where features or egos overshadow patient benefits—were born of internal pressures, marketing inexperience or both.

The preferred, and now virtually required, alternative is to communicate a message of “how we are better able to help you.” Healthcare marketing professionals understand that today, patients are better informed and increasingly empowered buyers.

The selection of a hospital—by the individual or family member—is no longer exclusively doctor-dictated. Patient/consumers—now with financial “skin in the game”—are increasingly selective. More than ever, their purchase decisions are strongly influenced by benefit-driven marketing messages.

This article continues in Part Two where Stewart discusses other significant marketing shifts that may require course adjustments for continued or greater service line profitability.

© Copyright 2014 Healthcare Success Strategies

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Washington State Care
BusinessHome HealthPublic Health

Using Homecare for Positive Change in Healthcare

November 4, 2014
pediatrics
BusinessFinancePublic Health

Pediatric HCAHPS Model, First of Its Kind

February 19, 2015
Nursing Shift Changes and Patient Handoffs
Hospital AdministrationWellness

Dealing Effectively with Shift Changes and Patient Handoffs

March 3, 2016
E-myth Physician
BusinesseHealthHospital AdministrationSocial Media

Physician Reading: Mental Fuel to Shape Successful New Year Resolutions

December 26, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?