As the word "hospital" has largely disappeared from its own industry, a stronghold for the term remains.
Children's hospitals.
Even though they've grown beyond their flagship facilities, pediatric health systems like Boston Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Children's Hospital Los Angeles still go by their longtime names.
"We have done some market research, and the term 'hospital' connects more directly with the community than health system," Children's Hospital Association President and CEO Matt Cook told Becker's. "Health system can feel a little bit more corporate and a little bit less personal, if you will."
But, as he acknowledged, children's hospitals now "operate far beyond their four walls" with outpatient clinics and even home-based care. Several pediatric health systems have changed their branding to reflect that trend, with some dropping "hospital" off the end of their names (i.e. Phoenix Children's, Seattle Children's). These changes are often a natural evolution, as the organizations adopt as their official branding what community members had already been calling them informally, Mr. Cook said.
"We very much think of ourselves as a health system with primary care, a lead hospital and over 13 community and outpatient locations," said Kary McIlwain, chief marketing and communications officer of Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "We are investigating incorporating this into our brand naming structure as many of our peers have."
Still, the shift to outpatient and the home is less pronounced at pediatric health systems, where the hospital remains the "anchor" and is thus reflected in the branding, said Eric Berkowitz, PhD, emeritus professor of marketing at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
"When parents are facing an acute healthcare issue for their child, the focus is on specialty care and the treatment found often at a specialty institution," he said. "The days of a community hospital offering a pediatric department have declined over the past decades and thus, I believe, this anchor hospital positioning — with a large pool of specialists on staff — remains."
Mr. Cook, of the Children's Hospital Association, was previously an executive at two pediatric health systems that went different directions on this branding trend — one that maintained "hospital," and another that dropped it.
At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he served as executive vice president of strategic planning and business development, the organization decided to preserve "hospital" because of its historical brand recognition — the hospital was founded in 1855 — and since the system is commonly referred to as CHOP anyway.
On the other hand, Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where Mr. Cook was president, became Riley Children's Health because it is part of a larger health system (Indianapolis-based IU Health) whereas CHOP is independent.
CHOP's chief marketing officer, Stephanie Hogarth, said the health system has conducted quantitative research on its brand and found the name still has strong resonance in the community.
"We confirmed that the word 'hospital' wasn't too limiting to convey the breadth of our modern enterprise and also learned that consumers appreciate that hospital brands have elasticity and can stretch to include many things," she said.
That includes, for CHOP, two hospitals, two behavioral health centers, a research institute, a care network and a charitable foundation.
Mr. Cook said he expects the trend of pediatric health systems moving away from "hospital" to continue but that many legacy institutions — particularly those with the word in the middle of the name — will keep it.
"Each of the organizations has to think through, 'How do I convey that I am more than a single building or more than a single campus?'" he said. "But I think the community has become used to knowing or associating that 'hospital' doesn't necessarily mean just one building or one campus."