Hospital Ad Budgets Jump 13%
Hospital ad expenditures are up in spite of managed care's cost-cutting and belt-tightening. Commercial advertising budgets jumped 25 percent in 1997 from 1996 and another 13 percent in 1998 from 1997, according to a new study released by the American Hospital Association's Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.
The study, based on 124 marketers at hospitals and integrated delivery systems, found that advertising consistently commands the largest spending levels of total hospital marketing budgets, an average of about 37 percent this year. Branding campaigns are on the upswing as marketers focus on establishing brand identities in the wake of the industry's vast number of mergers and acquisitions.
The next wave of marketing opportunity is in launching advertising campaigns that integrate service line positioning and identity messages to help meet market share objectives, according to the report's authors. The survey is co-sponsored by the Opinion Research Corp. Int'l, an Evanston, Ill.-based market research firm.
Other topics in the report include marketing trends, budget allocations by function and the changing media mix. The study costs $20 for Society members and $35 for nonmembers.
(Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, Liz Liwazer, 312/422-3897)
Uninsured Women Less Likely To Obtain Mammograms
Public health efforts targeting uninsured women for mammograms need to be improved. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that uninsured women are less likely to receive a mammogram than their insured counterparts.
The report found that nearly 71 percent of insured women over 40 reported receiving a mammogram in 1996 to 1997 compared with just 46 percent of uninsured women. The study, derived from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, is based on data collected in 1991 to 1992 and1996 to 1997.
Overall, 65 percent of insured women and 39 percent of uninsured women received mammograms in 1996 to 1997, according to the report.
Some states are doing better than others in screening uninsured women for breast cancer. The percentage of uninsured women who were screened in 1997 was up from the previous year in 33 out of the 47 states surveyed.
- The largest increase occurred in Alaska where the number of uninsured women receiving mammograms jumped to 64.8 percent from 33.8 percent.
- In New Jersey, the figures increased to 47.6 percent from 23.7 percent.
- In New Hampshire, however, the number fell to 32.4 percent from 51.1 percent. (CDC, 404/693-3311)
HIV Preventive Program Works
A preventive program emphasizing counseling and outreach for HIV/STD (sexually transmitted diseases) in public health clinics reduced the rate of STDs by 30 percent in six months, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The study suggests that straight-forward counseling approaches are effective in reducing the rate of STDs. Instead of transmitting information passively -"These are the facts about transmission and how to protect yourself" - CDC's Dr. Mary Kamb, who conducted the research, suggests more pointed questions which require the patient to think actively about prevention, such as:
- What's the one thing you should do next week to reduce your risk?
- How would you broach the subject of condoms with your partner?
As a result of more interactive counseling sessions, the rate of STD transmission remained 20 percent lower among study participants a year after they were counseled.
The program involved 5,758 people over age 14 who attended one of five public STD clinics in large US metropolitan markets.
The study is published in the Oct. 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. (CDC, 404/693-3311)