Hospitals as Sponsors: Time for a Second Opinion?
Posted: 6/22/2009 9:00:30 AM by
Diane Knoepke | with 0 comments
Last week I blogged that hospitals “are deciding whether they want to continue to sponsor sports teams and community events.” This got a few raised eyebrows from my colleagues, who know that hospitals and medical facilities are active sponsoring categories. You could even argue they are increasingly active—a quick search of our database turned up over 500 current U.S. deals where hospitals and medical centers are official sponsors.
My observation that we need to keep a close eye on decisions within this sponsoring category stems from the chatter I hear from hospital industry executives and what I can glean from the trade press. I am hearing that these expenditures are under increased scrutiny and slipping in priority as bigger issues may grab the attention and resources once used for sponsorships (and potentially marketing overall). The bigger issues—health care quality and patient safety, non-profit executive pay and charity care, to name a few—are real, yet they are inextricably tied to slippery factors like public perception and legislative agenda.
You’ve heard it before: anything that cannot be measured is discretionary. And any expenditure—including sponsorship—not shown to have a demonstrable impact on patient care could be vulnerable to the hospital budget axe. Certainly these sponsorships can and should be measured, and if they are the right kinds of sponsorship, they can and will have an appropriate and positive impact in the hospitals’ efforts to build substantive relationships with patients and communities. The failure to make those measurable connections is where this sponsorship activity is at risk.
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Filed under: nonprofit, hospitals and healthcare