Hospital Affiliations, Co-Branding, and Consumer Impact

Abstract

Alliances, affiliations, and partnerships continue to grow as one way for health care organizations to better serve their customers and compete with other organizations and networks. These organizational relationships are often promoted through co-branding joint programs and services. A study of consumers was conducted and shows that these organizational relationships positively affect consumer future behavior and benefit the organizations involved. Most importantly, the benefits of these organizational relationships grow as familiarity and understanding of the "new" partner in the market increases.

Differential Safety Between Top-Ranked Cancer Hospitals and Their Affiliates for Complex Cancer Surgery

“…The study focused on hospitals ranked among the top 50 best hospitals for cancer by U.S. News and World Report at least once between 2013 and 2016 (n = 59). The U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings were chosen because reputation is a major component of their ranking method, 21 these rankings are the most frequently advertised by larger hospitals, 14 , 15 and these rankings are known to influence patient choice for care. 14 , 15 Several other publicly available reports of “best cancer hospitals” are derived from U.S. News and World Report rankings (eg, Medscape, CNN, Livestrong, and Men’s Health ), further highlighting the influence of our top-ranked cohort.…”

“… 13 , 14 Each hospital’s name evokes a reputation for safety and quality that becomes the hospital’s “brand.” Particularly favorable reputations, including those supported by prominent national rankings (eg, U.S. News and World Report ), can generate positive brand recognition and influence patient choice. 14 , 15 , 16 During the past several years, leading cancer hospitals have increasingly shared their brands with smaller hospitals through affiliations. However, this brand sharing may confound patient choice, as patients may no longer be able to distinguish individual hospital reputations for safety within cancer networks.…”

Determinants of physician networks: an ethnographic study examining the processes that inform patterns of collaboration and referral decision-making among physicians

“…Specifically, smaller affiliated hospitals may benefit from 'brand-sharing' with larger hospitals, which would result in an increase in incoming referrals based on patients and referring providers perceived higher quality of care based on the larger hospitals reputation. [156][157][158][159] Thus, this area of research merits further investigation into the role of 'brand-sharing' on referral patterns, and its impact on reshaping of network structures as more hospitals continue to become affiliated with larger and highly ranked AMCs.…”

Full Issue Vol 10 No 1 (2021)

“…Integrating the brand in all hospital's initiatives involves several benefits. First, hospitals can implement a unique way of working that help the company to improve their patients' perceptions and satisfaction (Gombeski et al, 2014).Second, based on this brand, hospitals can implement personal branding plans for some health professionals working in the organization in order to influence stakeholders' attitudes and perceptions about the hospital (Trepanier & Gooch, 2014). Third, many stakeholders, especially patients and their family, can become brand ambassadors engaged with the organization and its communication initiatives, what helps the hospital become a credible brand (Johnson, 2014).…”