In light of recent media attention of hospital advertising spending, healthcare marketers are continuing the debate about how much is too much. According to a HealthLeaders Media column, entitled "In defense of hospital ad spending," for the vast majority of hospitals, advertising is not only necessary, it also provides patient education and generates business in the interest of quality care.
In response, a separate blog post by healthcare marketer Chris Bevolo in his "Jerry Maguire" memo to the industry, said, "Just because we can use mass advertising as a means to compete doesn't mean we should use it in such overwhelmingly ineffective ways." Calling the current marketing strategies "wasteful mass advertising on which we seem to be addicted," Bevolo suggests hospitals don't need to spend millions on the old TV-spot brand campaigns that are outdated. Blog post