Marketing: a necessary art under DRGS

Saint Michael's Medical Center, like most healthcare facilities in the country, didn't realize the need for marketing until 1982. At that time, the loss of the surrounding community and a trend toward becoming only a tertiary care facility prompted the parent corporation to look at marketing as a solution to the occupancy and fiscal problems. During the process of development and implementation of the marketing plan, the following issues were identified as needing an immediate answer: 1) What does the hospital stand for? 2) What do we wish to achieve with our marketing plan? 3) How can we identify the hospital's deficiencies? 4) What kind of patient mix is desired? 5) On what type of care should we focus? The marketing plan was based on a full participation of the hospital staff in answering these questions and the developing of a plan of action tailored to the answers. Implementation proved successful. The number of admissions increased by 12% between 1982 to 1984. In addition, the hospital realized a 3% increase in admissions in 1985. Originally, occupancy raised to 92%, but in 1985, one of the goals was to lower the length of stay. At the end of 1985, the occupancy rate fell to 82.5%. But, the number of emergency room visits increased by 3%.