Top 3 Hospital Rebranding Trends

A new year means a fresh start, and for many hospitals that means launching a renaming and rebranding campaign.

It is not a task that organizations take on lightly, as every single outward facing aspect of the brand is affected, from websites to signage to public opinion. For some hospitals it is a last-ditch effort to save a sinking ship, while for others renaming and rebranding is more of a course correction, realignment designed to get the organization where it wants to go, only faster.

Thus far in 2013, I've noticed three trending reasons why hospitals are deciding to take the plunge and change their identities.

1. To promote an affiliation
If an organization's brand is faltering and it is affiliated with a more prominent hospital, a name change may be just the fix.

Durham (NC) Regional Hospital is hoping to use this tactic to change its name to Duke Regional Hospital, in order to further stress the relationship with its parent health system.

Hospital board members have officially asked the county to allow the name change because they fear losing patients long-term as Durham residents increasingly identify Duke as the county's leading health care provider.

Without changing the name and drawing strength from  Duke's brand, "the marketing budget we have we simply [couldn't] compete with other hospitals in the area," Mike Pearl, chairman of the Durham Regional Hospital Corp. board of trustees told local press.

Hospital trustees decided to propose a name change after a 2012 survey found that about 62% of Durham residents named Duke University Hospital when asked the first hospital that came to mind. Just 15% said Durham Regional. In fact, it barely finished ahead of UNC Hospitals, which is in Chapel Hill.

For Durham Regional, and many other smaller, struggling hospitals, strengthening ties to an affiliated organization is a wise business move and a relatively easy way to increase market share.

2. To promote expanded services
Earlier this month, Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital in Calaveras, CA, announced it is rebranding under the name Mark Twain Medical Center, in order to communicate the organization's goal to become "more than just a hospital," as its CEO Craig Marks puts it.

The change in name and mission was emphasized three days later, when the organization opened its new cancer treatment center. Mark Twain is also employing the first trend in hospital rebranding by identifying its parent system, Dignity Health, in its tagline. Officially, the organization will be referred to as Mark Twain Medical Center—a member of Dignity Health.

Both of these tactics are a step in the right direction. While the change from "hospital" to "medical center" may seem small, it indicates to the public that the organization is moving forward with strength. And like Durham Hospital, the affiliation with a larger health system will likely positively affect the brand.

Similarly, Greenville Hospital System will become Greenville Health System in 2013.

"We're more than just a hospital," CEO Michael Riordan says. "We changed from hospital to health because that better connects with what we do. We have one of the largest integrated medical staffs in the state... and we wanted to start letting people know how comprehensive we are."

He's right; the word health is more encompassing than hospital. It also ties in with our last trend.

3. To emphasize a focus on health
As healthcare reform has prompted an increase in population health initiatives, "health" has become more of a buzzword than ever. Some marketers I've spoken with worry that swapping "hospital" for "health" will make people confuse their organization with a gym, but many are taking that risk.

One of them is Lodi (CA) Health, which changed its name from Lodi Memorial Health System this year.

"Honestly, we've been an integrated health system for a long time now," Lodi Health President and CEO Joe Harrington said in a statement. "We need a name that better reflects our system, and believe Lodi Health captures that."

The health system is also rolling out a new tagline—"Your care, our compassion"—to highlight its renewed emphasis on personal health.

I will particularly keep an eye on this trend. I'm curious to see if the change from "hospital" or "medical center" to "health" resonates with patients.

In branding, as in life, there is no reward without risk. Time will tell if these three trends were worth it.