Don't lose your hospital brand when changing names

by Andrea J. Simon A wave of renaming activity has been taking place among healthcare organizations throughout the past two years. Our research shows almost 75 hospitals or healthcare systems have changed their names, and the list is still growing. So what are hospital administrators' reasons for changing their institutions' names--never a simple or inexpensive undertaking--and what are the real consequences--seen and unseen--that accompany these name changes? Whether these new names are actually going to help their brands during changing times is up in the air and only time will tell. But hospital leadership that believes a name change is necessary to rebrand and reposition their healthcare system for the future may be seriously mistaken. Common reasons to change a hospital's name: Mergers and acquisition: One institution bought another, or was part of a system of hospitals without a common name--a clear and legitimate reason for changing the name. Or two or more hospitals, often with multiple services along the continuum of care, required some nomenclature to integrate them. The typical solution? A brand architecture with one name driving the entire system, i.e., a "branded house." However, what most often happens is once the name change takes place and the signage and business cards get redesigned, the branding efforts stop. That's when branding should really begin in earnest. Institutional change: The old name is out of alignment with the new scope of services. I...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs