The impact of marketing on hospital performance

This study examines the effect of traditional and innovative marketing factors on the overall financial, operations and market performance of 71 not-for-profit hospitals in a metropolitan area. Traditional marketing factors of location, services offered and pricing did influence the financial performance of system-affiliated and non-system hospitals. They also influenced the operating performance of urban hospitals and the market performance of non-teaching institutions. In contrast, the innovative marketing factors of physician relations, community relations and specialized sales forces had no significant influence on performance differences among the hospitals in the entire sample and sub-samples based on geography, teaching involvement and system affiliation.