Have a Nice Stay
Before the 1990s, hospitals were thought to attract patients by attracting physicians, which they often did by investing in high-tech medical capabilities. This “medical arms race” led many hospitals to offer a costly array of duplicative services… Now, yet another style of competition appears to be emerging, in which hospitals compete for patients directly, on the basis of amenities…
[For example,] the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center [has]…private and family-friendly rooms, magnificent views, hotel-style room service for meals, massage therapy, and “a host of other unexpected amenities.”
Full New England Journal of Medicine article on patient amenities in hospital care.
In health care competition is rarely based on price because the customer (i.e. the patient) rarely pays for the services rendered.
Too bad they don’t compete on quality in addition to, or as opposed to, amenities.
I’m for competition across the board: price, quality and amenities.
Let’s hear it for a few more amenities.
The problem with amenities: If it’s nicer than your home, and you’re not paying, you start to see the hospital as a hotel that provides some health care too. It’s better than having your mother take care of you.
I personally think that hospitals ought to charge patients for cable TV and fancy extras. And I bet that they’ll have to pretty soon.
I’m all for amenities.
Give me a private or semi-private room over a ward every time. Attach the bathroom with a shower to the hospital room. Provide sleep chairs for family members. Provide edible food. Make the layout convenient and pleasant for the people who work there.
And do whatever it takes to reduce the noise so sick people can sleep!