Although consumer demand for alternative care services continues to grow, hospitals are slow to respond to this $27 billion out-of-pocket opportunity. This oversight prompted
an industry consultant to ask "Why are hospitals competing for the sickness business and not the wellness business?" Leland Kaiser, a consultant for Kaiser Consulting Network in
Brighton, Colo., posed this question at the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development conference in Orlando last week. A quick survey of the hundreds of hospital
marketing attendees found only a handful offering complementary healthcare services at their facilities.
But in the last few years, hospitals have chipped away at barriers between traditional and alternative medicine. Recent examples include Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter,
Fla., Mid-Columbia Medical Center in Dalles, Ore., Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's Center for Integrated Medicine and the alternative services offered at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles.
If your organization is looking to expand into this area, don't do it to cash in. "For a hospital, the decision whether to develop an alternative medicine program is a
mission/value issue -- not a financial one," says Cindy D. Miller, managing director of TriBrook Healthcare Consultants in Westmont, Ill. The good news is that launching
complementary programs requires minimal capital startup. For instance, they can be integrated into existing health promotion efforts and disease management programs and promoted
through health fairs and forums. The Mid-Columbia Medical Center expanded its oncology care by offering alternative services like massage, Tai Chi, yoga and acupuncture.
Folding in complementary services across a hospital's continuum of care tends to yield the most profitable results while offering them at a separate facility can pose more
financial risks. Jupiter Medical Center, which has a freestanding Mind/Body Institute, is struggling to keep it afloat. The facility offers a wide range of healing alternative
therapies, from Tai Chi and massage to hypnosis and homeopathy.
It continues to be challenged by issues that threaten most hospital-sponsored alternative clinics -- limited profitability, minimal healthcare reimbursement and fickle
physician support.
Ultimately the factors that most influence whether a hospital-sponsored alternative health venture will be successful are extensive research and planning. Miller
recommends:
- surveying key healthcare players--patients, medical staff and employees;
- knowing the key patient referral sources (e.g. professional associations of alternative caregivers, health food stores advocacy organizations); and
- developing a community needs assessment for alternative healthcare services.
(Kaiser Consulting Network, Leland Kaiser, 303/659-7311; TriBrook Healthcare Consultants, Cindy Miller 630/990-8070)
Testing the Water
In spite of how strong the demand is for complementary care, hospitals should test the shallow end of the pool before diving into the deep end. In other words, planning is key.
TriBrook Healthcare Consulting recommends a comprehensive planning process that calls for:
- assessing organizational readiness;
- forming a complementary care task force that includes administrators, physician/nurse leaders and marketers;
- developing a planning budget;
- determining measurable program goals that focus on patient satisfaction, provider utilization and development timeframes;and
- selecting low-risk complementary services, like acupuncture and chiropractic care.