LVH Marketing Director John Stavros said his hospital targeted its campaign to suburban Philadelphia after research showed public recognition and visibility in Northampton, upper Bucks and Montgomery counties was not as high as expected. A Morning Call analysis of Bucks County residents admitted for bypass surgery showed that Philadelphia hospitals increased their share of the market from 71.8 percent in 1993 to 90 percent in 1997. We have no razor wire around our campus,'' he said, adding that LVH is 50 percent cheaper for some services than Philadelphia hospitals. Hospital officials acknowledge the gamble. I don't credit the campaign, but I think it plays a role,'' he said.
Researchers offer no guarantees.
Ed Roberts, a former hospital public relations director who teaches health care marketing for Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales and the Illinois-based University of St. Francis, said his students have studied various advertising styles employed by area hospitals.