Why do hospitals run advertisements?

Most of us can not afford the care the rich and powerful acquire.

I disagree. I think that the good care available to the average American with decent insurance provides nearly the same outcomes as the most expensive "boutique" care. I have seen lots of VIP patients have more problems in the hospital because the "bigwigs" get involved and muck up the routines of the people who do direct care for a living. Sure you may not get a private room and your doctors cell phone #, but rich people don't live much longer than the middle class in this country.

One of the doctors I used to work with, after seeing a "VIP" case get needlessly complicated because of the involvement of a big shot doctor who was famous but fairly removed from patient care, said to me "If I ever get wheeled in here injured or sick, for gods sake don't tell them I'm a VIP. Let them treat me as badly as everyone else."

Another example: Michael Jackson, rich as can be, killed by a personal physician who got in over his head and caught up in being "doctor to a star". That kind of care few can afford and nobody needs.

Shameless self promotion for my employer follows...

We have a campaign that does not ask for money and, in my opinion, is one of the best and most positive ad campaigns I have ever seen.

[video=youtube;yA3ATkCI8L8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yA3ATkCI8L8&list=PLcEpI-Fg4KYdDgi_sQmTARWP52DdB_yUI[/video]

I thought some of you might enjoy the video clip

My last hospital stay was 2 1/2 days.

They said they noticed something strange with my white blood cell count. Okay... (Later, they found out a number had been transposed on the test or something. The next one my count was fine.)

5 times in 2 hours I was asked if I had any risky behavior for HIV/AIDS. 5 times in 2 hours, by the same doctor.

4 times, I gave him the nice answer. No, I've been married to the same person for 23 years, and had a monogamous relationship with her for 28.

The 5th time, I got mad. I told him to take the m(expletive deleted)g test already.

They did. Negative.

It's a different ball game up here. The only advertising I see hospitals do is fund raising. The folks in the hospital seem to do their best but they're very busy. It's not a bad system but one can wait a while for stuff. Of course after the last health care battle in the US the image of our system created was awful. Frankly I admire a lot of health professionals as they have a hard row to hoe if you ask me.
Cheers
Fred

H_Rocket said:

Shameless self promotion for my employer follows...

We have a campaign that does not ask for money and, in my opinion, is one of the best and most positive ad campaigns I have ever seen.

I thought some of you might enjoy the video clip

Click to expand...

Thanks for the video, Al. Great promo and the station didn't look that good the last time I used it.

H_Rocket said:

Shameless self promotion for my employer follows...

We have a campaign that does not ask for money and, in my opinion, is one of the best and most positive ad campaigns I have ever seen.

I thought some of you might enjoy the video clip

Click to expand...

So was it an actual flash mob with hospital staff and patients?

Health professionals may care and not do it for the money but something's broken. Also what's with all the fancy new buildings and the rest?

My last hospital visit was $11,000 for about 9 hours in there. That's about 8 months income. AND THEY NEVER DIAGNOSED MY PROBLEM. Also the STUDENT who put in my IV was not qualified to work on paying patients. My sister and kid lately got the same bill for 6 hours, though with success. What I'm seeing is lots of expensive tests to cover their ass, and you get the bill.

While it was highly scripted and rehearsed, the people in light blue shirts are both survivors and caregivers. It was done without advising the people in the station. Of course AMTRAK was in on the deal.


Fancy new buildings are just part of the need to keep the patient and staff wheel going. Sounds weird, but most people complain more about amenities than the care. As tot he tests, yes with our litigious society, we are forced to do tests that sometimes border on the absurd. You don't want to know what it costs us to protect your privacy (IT related) the laws forced on us to that end are just another part of what is killing us.