That's why two of Worcester County's hospitals-Milford Regional Medical Center and Saint Vincent Hospital, located in Worcester Medical Center-have recently announced affiliations with big-name Boston hospitals. They recognize what names such as Beth Israel Deaconess and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have accomplished in Boston and hope that now the big names will keep Worcester County patients at home for healthcare.
Milford Regional, in cooperation with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, both in Boston, opened a newly constructed cancer center in January. Saint Vincent began an academic affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in July 2007, bringing surgical residents to Worcester. The hospital also contracts with the associate physicians of Harvard Medical Faculty-Beth Israel Deaconess to work in the hospital's radiation/oncology, emergency, and cardiac surgery departments.
"We're proud and pleased to be affiliated with associate physicians of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians-Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center," says Dennis Irish, spokesperson for Saint Vincent, a 348-bed hospital. "It may be an understatement, but it doesn't hurt us to be affiliated with Harvard faculty."
Since its affiliation began, Irish says that Saint Vincent has seen an increase in the number of cardiac procedures performed at the hospital, as well as a bump in volume in the emergency department.
"[The ER volume increase] is a result of a number of factors that I would speculate includes the performance of associate physicians of Harvard Medical Faculty-Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center," Irish says.
Although its too early to tell how having Dana-Farber Cancer Institute physicians running its radiation and oncology program will affect patient volume, Terri McDonald, director of PR and marketing for the 121-bed Milford Regional Medical Center, says that the cancer center has created buzz in the community unlike anything she has seen before.
"There's never been a service offered when I've had as many people call my office to find out when the facility is going to open," she says.
A growing community
Between 2006 and 2007, Worcester County's population of 784,992 grew 1.4%, with the city of Worcester itself increasing 4.1%, says Mark Cherry, a market analyst at HealthLeaders-Interstudy, a Nashville-based healthcare research company. The population growth that the Worcester area has seen in recent years has helped to fuel hospital competition, he says, as has the growth and success of the county's largest hospital, UMass Memorial, an academic medical center.
"UMass Memorial has put out the message 'Stay here in Worcester and we'll take care of you,' " says Cherry. It has earned a reputation of offering excellent healthcare, allowing it to overcome a $24 million deficit in 2002 and become a "financially sound powerhouse," Cherry says in his November 2007 report about the Worcester healthcare market.
This powerhouse status has other hospitals in the county scared, he adds, resulting in the affiliations with Boston hospitals. With these partnerships, Saint Vincent and Milford Regional are David fighting back against Goliath, says Cherry.
"They can use the [Boston] name, and it's great publicity for them. It's leverage against UMass Memorial, which has been trying to say that it's one of the top 10 medical training centers in the country . . . With these affiliations, Milford Regional and Saint Vincent can now say, 'We offer that, too.' "
But representatives from both Milford Regional and Saint Vincent hospitals say the HealthLeaders-Interstudy analysis overstates the competitive aspect of the relationships.
"In the report, it references antagonism between UMass Memorial and Saint Vincent, but I think that's a strong word," Irish says. "We have a healthy respect for UMass Memorial and healthy competition, but we believe that competition benefits the community. While we compete clinically and intend to outperform them in terms of outcomes and patient satisfaction, where we do not do so already, there is also a significant amount of collaboration between the two institutions."
Francis M. Saba, CEO of Milford Regional, agrees. "We've had a very strong relationship with UMass Memorial," he says. "We are a teaching site for [its] medical students and residents. We feel that our relationship with [it] is not competitive but complementary."
Satisfying patients close to home
Before its new cancer center opened earlier this year, Milford Regional Medical Center had its own cancer care program but was unable to offer radiation services to its patients, meaning that those in need of such treatment would have to drive to UMass Memorial in Worcester or one of the Boston hospitals several days per week for treatment. Now, having treatment available close to home will certainly bring new patients to Milford Regional, Saba says.
"Boston is certainly a Mecca of healthcare, but it is also crowded, congested, landlocked, and difficult to get to at times," he says. "When you're dealing with such a serious illness, it's nice not to have the hassles and still get the same level of care that you would in Boston."
Milford Regional, located 25 miles from Worcester and about 40 miles from Boston, raised the money to build the new cancer center and located it right next to the hospital's main building. Milford Regional will act as a landlord for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's physician organization, which will occupy the space. Diagnostic imaging, a laboratory, and radiation services will be offered at one location.
McDonald emphasizes that the affiliation with Dana-Farber was made not to take patients away from UMass Memorial but instead to do what a community hospital does best-offer care close to home. "The reality is we are a community hospital. We depend on UMass Memorial. We have long-term affiliations with [it] because we recognize that we are a community hospital. We focus on doing the basics well, but we recognize our limitations, and we value our affiliations."
Marketing the relationship
At a time when quality is a hot topic in healthcare, Irish says being able to market health services with a big-name Boston hospital connection is an advantage for Saint Vincent.
"Partnership, and I mean that figuratively, with a Harvard Medical School-affiliated Boston teaching hospital implies a certain degree of quality," he says. "From both a regulatory perspective and a marketing perspective, it's important that Saint Vincent has an emphasis on quality. "
That quality reputation is important everywhere, McDonald says, but especially in Worcester County, where people are invested in their healthcare and very interested in the happenings at their local hospital. During an open house at the cancer center in December 2007, more than 1,800 came to preview the new facility. Even the state's governor, Deval Patrick, has come to visit, she says.
"We had a great oncology program, and there are a lot of people who are dedicated to that program but would have to travel elsewhere for radiation," she says. "I think that's why people are so excited. We're bringing in the piece that is missing."
To communicate the arrival of the missing piece, Brigham and Women's and Dana-Farber have been running billboards in Milford and surrounding towns, and print advertisements were scheduled to run as the opening of the new center approached. "There's been a lot done to make individuals aware that we'll be opening in January," McDonald says.
Irish adds that Saint. Vincent has also worked hard to publicize the arrival of Harvard Medical Faculty/Beth Israel Deaconess physicians at its facility, specifically its emergency department.
"We've done some promotions around the emergency [department] relationship, because it is a gateway to all of our other services. We've made several mentions of the fact that our department is staffed by associate physicians of Harvard Medical Faculty-Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center," he says.
Editor's note: HealthLeaders-Interstudy is owned by Decision Resources, LLC, and not affiliated with HealthLeaders Media, a division of HCPro, Inc.
Maureen Larkin is the editor of Healthcare Marketing Advisor. She may be reached at mlarkin@hcpro.com. This story first appeared in the February edition of Healthcare Marketing Advisor, a monthly newsletter by HealthLeaders Media.