PCH = AIG hmmmm. NO.

When I was approached with the topic for this week’s blog I honestly did not know what I was going to say. Who am I to criticize a company like Phoenix Children’s Hospital? Marketing and other departments in the hospital that don’t directly bring in revenue can sometimes be seen as “company overhead.” I know personally the affects of this issue because growing up my father was laid off numerous times requiring us to move because he worked in Risk Management for different hospitals. From what I have seen the processes that take place in the Marketing department, and the structure of the department here at PCH is far better than other marketing departments at hospitals, but the setup is also very different at every hospital I have visited. The issue of what positions, how large of a team required and which positions to hire comes down to demographics and costs. For example, PCH has a team of four individuals who work as Physician Relations as a part of the marketing team. These individuals bring in about 50% of our patients by developing relationships with Doctors not associated with PCH and creating referrals to our hospital by explaining the specialties in services we can provide (in a nutshell). Even though this team generates half of our patients by a referral program many hospitals, like the one I visited in Missouri, does not have this team of representatives. Should they? Probably not because there is not as much competition between hospitals, and the hospital I visited does not have as many specialty clinics. I could really go on for days talking about this so let’s move on.

Marketers are attempting to establish brand and rapport with its consumers. When it comes down to it, every decision that you make in purchases in products or services whether it be which grocery store you go to, or what hospital you take your child to, the company’s brand and reputation plays a big role. AIG is struggling right now after their recently publicity showing their spending of the stimulus money. All of their exposure deals with media and communications which, when it is out of control, like in their case, it can really hurt an established brand. To completely rule Marketing as complete overhead would be foolish but determining how much funding/positions you provide for a specific company is a trickier thing all together. So, considering all of this, what would I suggest for improvement? Take on more staff. I have noticed that a lot of time is spent on editing work; perhaps an editor in the office would be a good decision. That way more projects can get done. As for the marketing process itself at PCH it is very successful and I really don’t have very much to say about it. Disappointing I know.