Young women should be a primary focus for hospitals wanting to grow market share.

Women have always been the primary target for healthcare advertising.  They are, after all, the primary decision makers for a family’s healthcare  including even their husband’s.

But recently released statistics prove that it’s even more important to pay attention to females and particularly younger females.  Philip Betbeze writing for HealthLeaders Media cited some very interesting statistics from HCUP Facts and Figures: Statistics on Hospital-Based Care in the United States, 2007.

• Conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth were the reason for more than one out of every five female hospitalizations in 2007

• When combined with stays for newborn infants, these hospitalizations account for one-quarter of all stays.

These are pretty astounding numbers.  They indicate that hospitals and the marketing messages of hospitals should be heavily favored toward young females.  The fact that a full one-fourth of hospital stays are related to this demographic should make every hospital and hospital marketer take notice.

Also cited from the study:

• Maternal discharges increased to 5 million in 2007, a 16% increase since 1997

• Infant hospitalizations increased to 4.7 million in 2007, a 21% increase.

If a hospital wants to take advantage of increasing trends and wants to grow market share, heavy attention should be given to younger women and their healthcare needs.  And it’s not just about targeting the marketing messages to this audience; it’s also about meeting their healthcare needs.

Confirms what we have known all along – women are the ones in charge.