Marketing and planning in multihospital systems.

Marketing and planning functions at the corporate level of multihospital systems are examined. Drawing on the experiences of executives in 30 multihospital systems located in the United States west of the Mississippi, this article describes the differences in the marketing and planning functions by for-profit, not-for-profit, and church-owned multihospital systems; examines the impact of age, number of hospitals, and average hospital bed size of the systems; provides insights regarding the primary persons involved in the marketing and planning functions; and highlights the important future of marketing and planning by the top management of multihospital systems.