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Medical Marketing

There was a time when medical marketing included one thing only -- word of mouth. My how things have changed. Today, medical marketing is more high-tech and pervasive than ever. Doctors, hospitals and surgery centers are using a variety of techniques to bring in patients.

Medical marketing defined -- Any actions taken to increase consumer awareness of a doctor, a hospital, or a certain type of medical procedure. All of the usual marketing tools can be applied here as well, such as websites, direct mail, search engine optimization and more.

Once upon a time, the only form of medical marketing was word-of-mouth referrals. But times have certainly changed. Today, there are more hospitals, surgeons and surgery centers in the past. So the need for marketing has increased. After all, with a steady stream of patients, a medical center would not be able to survive. So they have embraced marketing techniques long used by other industries as way of bringing in patients.

Can Medical Marketing Go to Far?

Many argue that certain forms of medical marketing go to far. The fields of cosmetic surgery and weight loss surgery are often cited as examples. The number of weight loss surgeries in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years. This is partly due to the medical marketing techniques used in this field. Where this type of procedure was once reserved for the obese, it has been thrust into the limelight with glitzy marketing brochures, websites, TV commercials and more.

Likewise, I once read an article about a tummy tuck surgeon who spent $2,000 per month on Internet marketing services to promote his business. Is that going to far? Who's to say? This individual is running a business like any other, so he used medical marketing techniques to grow his business.

Regardless of how you feel toward medical marketing practices, they are here to stay. As always, it's up to consumers to decide what to ignore and what to accept.