Hospitals use perks to attract patients

Credit card companies, airlines and hotels all have customer loyalty programs. Maybe it was only a matter of time before hospitals got in on the act.

A growing number of hospitals are seeking to attract new patients and keep existing ones by offering them an array of perks, from free parking and gift-shop discounts to wellness seminars and health screenings.

It’s all part of a changing competitive environment in which hospitals market themselves directly to patients, who have begun to take a much more active role in choosing their healthcare providers.

“Hospitals will have an expanding share of risk in their patient populations going forward,” said Tony Paquin, CEO of Paquin Healthcare, an Orlando consulting and technology firm that has worked with more than 150 hospitals to develop loyalty programs. “Healthcare providers are just starting to figure out that they need to develop patient relationships if they're going to improve their health long term.”

Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills, Mich., started issuing free “Very Important Patient” cards in 2010. The program got its start as a referral service to link potential patients with Botsford doctors. The cards entitle VIP members to free parking and a 10-percent discount on nonprescription drugs at the outpatient pharmacy and the gift shop, said Lynn Anderson, marketing and public relations manager at the 330-bed hospital in the Detroit suburb. VIP members can also get discounts at restaurants and service establishments such as an oil-change garage.

The program, which has more than 900 members, is open to anyone in the community. In addition to financial perks, it offers regular health education seminars on such topics as hip replacements, back problems and acid-reflux disease, said Anderson.

“This is a way to get a mailing list and send them information,” she said. “In this day and age, with so much competition, you need to make a connection with patients.”

Luanne Dunigan, a 78-year-old retired nurse, signed up for Botsford's VIP program after receiving a letter from the hospital. Dunigan had never been a patient at Botsford Hospital, but she told her grandson to take her to the emergency department there twice recently, once when she was having trouble swallowing and again when she had chest pain.

The VIP program was a factor in her decision, she says, and she was pleased with the care she received. “It was the best hospitalization I ever had.”

One of the most popular loyalty program events sponsored by Baystate Health, a four-hospital system in Springfield, Mass., is the annual “Spirit of Women” conference, said Tracy Whitley, manager of loyalty programs. Up to 400 people attend the event, which showcases a nationally recognized motivational speaker. The conference also gives hospital officials a chance to showcase services they offer related to women, such as the comprehensive breast cancer center and urogynecology, she said.

Baystate also offers a range of free educational health programs aimed at women and at people age 55 and older. “We like to build relationships with all people, and hopefully they will use our services in the future,” said Whitley.

These sorts of marketing activities make sense, according to experts. “Customers will go to a provider and judge the experience based on things that they can understand: good food, ease of parking, attentiveness, nice sheets,” said Paquin.

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan healthcare policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.