The referring physician: the key to a successful marketing analysis and program

There are a variety of marketing approaches available to hospitals to help maintain and/or increase their influence in the competitive health care system. This article will focus on one important but relatively ignored aspect tha must be an integral part of any successful hospital marketing program. Referring physicians and the network this group forms around a hospital through the different referral patterns is of primary influence on the hospital's future. This article supports the thesis that the hospital's eventual survival or demise is directly linked to this often unconscious referral network.