Last year was not a good year for Los Angeles-based UCI Medical Center. On top of a 10 percent loss of its operating budget, it was battling to overcome a highly-publicized scandal involving some of its doctors.
From the financial side, UCI's annual funding for treating local indigent residents in Orange County plummeted by $20 million, to $180 million. In addition, the medical center also suffered a significant loss of MediCal (state assistance program) patients when the county switched to a managed care program for these patients last year.
To fight back, executive director Mark Laret increased UCI's annual marketing budget by 50 percent to about $1.5 million last year. Along with a sound marketing plan, the efforts have secured UCI's place as an efficient competitor against other hospitals in the competitive California managed care marketplace.
If a 50 percent increase sounds a bit excessive for a nonprofit institution devoted to medical research, training and providing healthcare for Orange County's poor, Laret makes few apologies.
"We're first and foremost a business --a business in an industry undergoing significant consolidation. Those who don't make the kind of measures we're taking will be out of business," said Laret, who has led scandal-scarred UCI Medical Center out of its financial hole.
Meanwhile, even as it put its marketing plan in full force, the medical center was still recovering from last year's nationally publicized scandal involving three doctors at its Center for Reproductive Health who allegedly stole human eggs from patients and implanted them in others without permission. A $1.1 million out-of-court settlement has been reached with the plaintiffs. The doctors, however have denied any wrongdoing.
Such a scandal, however, wasn't going to stop the health center from convincing prospective partners to align themselves with UCI.
Last spring, Laret's marketing staff persuaded Anaheim-based Gateway Medical Group Inc. to refer pediatric patients requiring specialty care to UCI. Gateway had been looking to replace its former provider, Children's Hospital of Orange County, with one more willing to contain costs, said Deidra Benson, Gateway's contract manager.
UCI staff worked hard to allay Gateway physicians' fears about referring patients to a scandal-plagued institution. Part of that was done through extensive tours of the facility and meetings with doctors. A dozen Gateway pediatricians toured UCI's pediatric facilities and met with the medical staff and residents. The pediatricians came away "pleasantly surprised," said Benson.
The Gateway agreement was part of UCI's aggressive marketing effort to lure more patients on employer health plans. The center also cut deals with local medical groups to refer those patients to UCI's 462-bed hospital.
"You must diversify your customer base," said Laret. "We learned the hard way what it means to have not done that."
Overcoming Economic Struggles
To make up for a loss of nearly $8 million from patient drop-off in 1995, UCI reached out for more lucrative business _ which was not an easy task for an institution with image problems.
Laret took over last year from former executive director Mary Piccione, who was fired for her handling of the scandal. The new director, who earned his stripes as UCLA's marketing director, has quickly moved to repair the image and build business with local managed-care organizations.
In a more sweeping move, UCI recently announced that it is expanding its relationship with the larger Friendly Hills HealthCare Network in nearby La Habra, Calif.
Earlier this year, UCI began dispatching its ear, nose and throat specialists to see patients at Friendly's clinics in Los Alamitos and Irvine. Friendly, which pays a monthly retainer to UCI, also promised to send any of those patients requiring surgeries or other procedures to UCI's hospital.
These agreements with Friendly Hills and Gateway have added about $2.5 million in revenue since last spring.
In the hope of being heard above competitors' marketing pitches during the fall sign-up season for people on employer's health plans, UCI has launched a campaign that trumpets its doctors' standings in a West Coast edition of the highly publicized book "Best Doctors in America."
Recent newspaper ads have hyped the fact that 57 UCI physicians made the listings, while rival Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Calif., had 15 and St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif., had seven. Another round of ads, which are scheduled to appear next month in local newspapers such as The Los Angeles Times, advises readers: "If choosing a health plan is keeping you awake, then read a book_ "The Best Doctors in America."
As part of UCI's campaign, representatives also are scheduled to appear this month at a dozen health fairs at school districts and employers around the county. Within weeks, UCI will mail out promotional brochures to 150,000 county residents.
Separately, UCI is taking a softer sales approach to drum up more referrals from local medical groups.
Three weeks ago, it mailed a resource guide listing its 350 doctors and their specialties to 16,000 doctors across Orange County, as well as parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
It's also promoting its speakers bureau, lining up 120 engagements for its research and medical professionals over the next few months. (UCI Medical Center, 214/754-1100)