Why do hospital ER's advertise??

[nile455]

One of those "things that make you go hmmmm"... I'm driving on I-4 and see a big billboard for Florida Hospital's 60-minute ER. Sounds nice, but why advertise an emergency room? If you're in need of an ER, don't you go to the one that is closest to you? If you get picked up by an ambulance and you're lying in the back bleeding to death, are you asking them to take you to a specific one?

 

[Scurvy]

It depends. Some people live between two ERs and could go to either one, so advertising keeps the name of that ER fresh in their minds and makes them more likely to choose that one. Some ERs specialize in one thing that another ER might not. For example, one of our local hospitals has a Pediatric Emergency Room. Even though it's a few minutes further away I'd be more likely to take my child there. And the wait time is a big issue in many ERs. If someone can drive ten minutes further and wait several hours less they would probably choose to do that. If you're going by ambulance I don't know how much choice you get, but I know a lot of people are driven by friends or family, so maybe the ads are primarily aimed at those people.

 

[NotUrsula]

EMT's will usually ask if you're in good enough shape to answer, or will ask a family member who is present if you're being picked up from home. Hospitals can be in or out of your insurance network, so it can matter from a payment perspective.

The emergency forms that we fill out for our children's school asks us to specify which hospital they are to be taken to if 9-1-1 has to be called for an accident.

 

[Acklander]

Maybe because it's a high tourist area, where people don't know where the ER is, and they don't have a local doctor if something comes up? That's the only thing I can come up with

 

[DawnCt1]

Many people have a choice, and if there is a choice between a long wait, fewer specialists, or one with the best of all worlds, then which would you chose. Furthermore, hospitals are competing for the dollars of the INSURED.

 

[clarabelle]

People go to the ER with things like chest pain all the time
So it may be an emergency -but they can still think about it and make a choice.
Also when I fill out forms for my girls for school/ camps/ sports
they ask which ER do you want us to take your kids to? on the form

Hospitals are big business

 

[lpereira]

The policy where I worked was the patient or family member decided. If no one was able to decide the closest appropriate facility to handle what was going on. And if more than one hospital in an area could handle the call then dispatch told you the name of the next hospital in rotation.

I'm a rambler today To answer your question ERs advertise for 2 reasons- A. Because someone is going to get that ambulance patient and B. People with insurance are actually more likely to go to emergency room for nonemergency situations than the uninsured. Patients= revenue.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Although there are reasons people who are in a serious emergency (life threatening) might choose to go to one hospital over another (e.g., their regular treating doctor for a chronic condiditon works at one hospital), these advertisements are generally aimed at bringing in "emergency" cases (meaning, non-life threatening issues like broken bones and the like). You have a choice in all services, including your emergency room.

 

[NMAmy]

We have two hospitals within a couple of miles of each other. To a certain extent, the hospital we choose depends on the problem--especially with my mother. Her cardiologist is based at one hospital and our GP and a few other specialists are at the other.

One hospital has a new pediatric ER which looks very nice. I don't have a little one so I guess the advertising paid off that I knew that!

 

[Handbag Lady]

I had a situation on Christmas where I felt the need to be taken to the ER. My insurance-related ER was just too far and I wasn't sure I wanted to wait that long.

So, I asked my husband to take me to one particular ER over another one which was two blocks closer. I had a specialist appointment at the ER I chose not to attend and noticed it just wasn't as clean as I'd like my hospitals to appear.

I only knew of this other ER based on their ads as they were an ER specialist for all things, but they were known for being a burn unit in particular. Now, my issue wasn't a burn but I figured burn specialists must be pretty darn sanitary.

I'm pleased with my decision.

 

[SandrA9810]

If you drive down 192 in kissimmee, somewhere by Hoagland is another one of those signs, it tells you the "current wait time". I understand hospitals advertising that they specialize in something, but just being the "shortest wait time" really doesn't grab my attention.

Now my g'mother, she's always taken to Bayer in Dallas. They're specialized for what she needs, and that's where her specialist work out of.

A lot of times, your GP doctor will be able to perform rounds at certain hospitals but not others. So it's good to be in a place that your regular doctor can visit you and take care of you.

 

[luvmy3]

Maybe because it's a high tourist area, where people don't know where the ER is, and they don't have a local doctor if something comes up? That's the only thing I can come up with

Thats what I was thinking too.

 

[luvmy3]

If you drive down 192 in kissimmee, somewhere by Hoagland is another one of those signs, it tells you the "current wait time". I understand hospitals advertising that they specialize in something, but just being the "shortest wait time" really doesn't grab my attention.
Now my g'mother, she's always taken to Bayer in Dallas. They're specialized for what she needs, and that's where her specialist work out of.

A lot of times, your GP doctor will be able to perform rounds at certain hospitals but not others. So it's good to be in a place that your regular doctor can visit you and take care of you.

Coming from somoene who always seems to have to take a family member to the ER on a Sunday evening that would definitely grab my attention. If the wait time was too long I'd look for another or an urgent care and hope it was shorter.

 

[SC Minnie]

One of the hospitals is advertising their ER around here. This particular hosp has had a bad reputation for many years and it trying to turn that around. We have 3 ER's we can go to all with a 10 min drive.

 

[mrsxsparrow]

There are four or five ER's right by me so I understand the advertisements.

I did get a kick out of the new one from my closest ER though... they have a new service where you can text them and they'll text back the current ER "wait times." I guess my ER is the new Disney park?

 

[dislaney]

They are, unfortunately, in business to make money! I've seen lots of advertising around here. We have a few new hospitals and they seem to do a fair share of the advertising, probably making sure everyone is aware that they are here and open.

 

[mickeymedic]

The wait-time billboards are a great idea! Around here, it can sometimes take up to an hour for a patient coming in by ambulance to get a bed in the ER. At one of the agencies I work for, we are instructed to call ahead to the ER to find out for the patient how long they will be waiting on our ambulance stretcher before a bed is available. That way the patient could choose a different ER if they did not want to wait.

 

[ccgirl]

Basically, patients do have a choice in where they want to receive their care. A lot of people don't realize that. I actually have 4 ER's pretty much within the same distance. I can request to be taken to either of the 4. And 1 I would NEVER go to. Same thing when I had my children. I specifically went with an OB affiliated to a hospital that I liked. When my mom was at a hospital I felt she was receiving substandard care. I talked to a nurse manager and demanded she be transferred...amazingly the care improved tremendously. Why??? they didn't want to lose the $$$ to a competitor. Healthcare is a big business now.

 

[Aristomommy]

The hospital system I used to work for had a 30 minute ER policy and used it heavily in their advertising system. This did not affect the people that were brought in by ambulance, but the other individuals who drove there themselves. I went there 3 times, first two were due to my kids asthma attacks and once because my Dr. thought I might have a blood clot in my leg. None of the times were immediately life threatening, as we could have waited, but I would not have wanted to. So many people go there because of coughs and infections and the less time I wait, the less chance I have to get their illnesses.

In my current town I have 3-5 ERs within a reasonable driving distance. I would much rather go to one with a time guarantee than the one where people wait for hours.

 

[MomRN]

http://failblog.org/2010/07/22/epic-fail-photo-er-fail/