Hospitals Specialize To Remain Competitive - Brief Article

Healthcare Financial Management, Dec, 1999

Many hospitals are adopting a specialization strategy in response to marketplace competition and cost-containment pressures, according to SMG Marketing Group Inc., Chicago, Illinois. These hospitals are restructuring as specialty-oriented centers of excellence and offering services designed to attract large numbers of patients in a specific market segment.

New hospital-physician alliances are giving hospitals needed specialty expertise and physicians greater control over patient-care decisions. Suburban hospitals are positioning themselves competitively as one of a kind, promoting their cutting-edge equipment, new centers, and specialized medical staff skilled in treating and managing a specific disease.