Birth is BIG BUSINESS! Many (possibly most) people have their first real interaction with a hospital when they are having a baby. If that is a positive experience, then a family returns to this same hospital for future births, and also for any future health needs. Because birth is the entry point for your health care consumer dollars, there is a great deal of competition between hospitals. When one hospital upgrades by renovating maternity suites, it isn’t long before others follow.
In the eyes of most consumers, “The HOSPITAL” is one unified system. However, it helps to understand several parts of the hospital structure as it relates to birth:
As you can see, these various parts may not always function as a smoothly integrated whole. To illustrate that fact, let’s look more closely at two examples from our area: Brookwood and St. Vincent’s.
In the eyes of most consumers, “The HOSPITAL” is one unified system. However, it helps to understand several parts of the hospital structure as it relates to birth:
- The Marketing Department is focused on getting people to choose their hospital. The in-house marketing team works with outside advertising agencies and web content designers to create engaging marketing campaigns. It is important to note that they work with market data, and information provided by the in-house marketing team, but possibly do not get direct input from care providers, staff or patients. (This is the marketing company that created the iDecideHow campaign )
- OB/GYN Care Provider Groups contract independently with the hospital to provide obstetric services to hospital patients. As contractors, they control their own practices, set up their call schedules, and may have their own set of patient care protocols/policies. Additionally, within each care provider group, Individual practitioners have autonomy, which means that within a group, you find providers who treat pregnancy and birth in a variety of ways ranging from a normal physiological event to a medical emergency waiting to happen.
- Hospital Administration establishes hospital protocols and policies, hires and manages staff, including nursing staff, and contracts with providers. Hospital administration and staff have direct patient contact.
As you can see, these various parts may not always function as a smoothly integrated whole. To illustrate that fact, let’s look more closely at two examples from our area: Brookwood and St. Vincent’s.
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