As healthcare costs and industry competition rise, hospitals are using direct-to-consumer television advertising to draw in profitable patients seeking high-end services, according to a Kaiser Health News.
As an example, the report cited a commercial from the living-donor liver transplant center at Pittsburgh-based UPMC, which has aired nationally on cable. The narrator in the commercial says, "If you're waiting patiently for a liver transplant, it could cost you your life." Hospital officials told Kaiser Health News the ad is aimed at people on the nation's liver transplant list.
The report also cited a nationally broadcast ad for Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital, depicting a cancer survivor at a bicycle race saying the hospital "did give me my life back."
Direct-to-consumer television advertising by hospitals can have multiple effects. They may help an organization expand their brand by highlighting specific care offered, or potentially give them more leverage during insurer negotiations, the report stated.
However, some analysts told Kaiser Health News they are concerned the ads are misleading or don't provide enough information to patients.
Yael Schenker, MD, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, who has studied hospital advertising but was not involved in UPMC's ad, told the publication: "We want to spend our money wisely, and need information about the quality and cost of healthcare services. Healthcare advertising — which purports to offer that information and fill that need for consumers — really doesn’t."
In total, U.S. hospitals spent more than $450 million on advertising in 2017, according to the report, which references figures from firm Kantar Media.
Access the full report from Kaiser Health News here.
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