More hospitals are using marketing data to promote services — such as cancer screenings and cholesterol tests — to certain patients with private insurance, according to a USA Today report.
According to the report, Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill., is one hospital adopting this new strategy. It sent out oversize postcards for lung cancer screenings to people who lived near the hospital and were more likely to be smokers based on age, income, insurance status and other demographic criteria.
The report says more hospitals are using detailed information about patients, compiled by consumer marketing firms, to market certain services more aggressively. This strategy is very commonplace in the retail, travel and communications industries and can boost hospitals' revenues if it works.
Still, some opponents call it discriminatory since the type of insurance people have is taken into account. The executive director of a California-based consumer advocacy group said the practice discriminates against patients who still have every right and need for medical information, but may not have the type of private insurance that hospitals are seeking.
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According to the report, Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill., is one hospital adopting this new strategy. It sent out oversize postcards for lung cancer screenings to people who lived near the hospital and were more likely to be smokers based on age, income, insurance status and other demographic criteria.
The report says more hospitals are using detailed information about patients, compiled by consumer marketing firms, to market certain services more aggressively. This strategy is very commonplace in the retail, travel and communications industries and can boost hospitals' revenues if it works.
Still, some opponents call it discriminatory since the type of insurance people have is taken into account. The executive director of a California-based consumer advocacy group said the practice discriminates against patients who still have every right and need for medical information, but may not have the type of private insurance that hospitals are seeking.
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