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By Dr. Jim Dahle, WCI Founder
We had an interesting experience here at The White Coat Investor recently. We are always looking for new ways to get the WCI message out to more doctors and other high-income professionals. We have not done a lot of paid advertising over the years, mostly because I'm a cheapskate but also because it's so hard to determine the Return On Investment (ROI). However, we recently decided to do a trial of some paid ads to be shown on display screens in hospitals.
We're trying to reach doctors and other healthcare providers, not patients, so we tried to only have our ads show up in the areas where doctors would see them rather than someplace like a waiting room. Unfortunately, most of the hospital screens are in hallways, cafeterias, and waiting rooms—not the doctor's lounge. But we did the best we could to get the message to our target audience.
Hospitals Don't Want Our Ads
Imagine our surprise when we submitted the various ads to be placed on the screens. The advertising company came back to us and told us that they could not run six of our fourteen proposed ads. The reason was not that they were vulgar or pornographic or false or anything like that. It was simply that the client hospitals did not like the messaging in the ads. Are you curious what those ads said? I bet you are. Here's an example of one of the rejected ones:
Does that ad seem particularly offensive to you? It really didn't to us. As you look at that ad, what bothers you about it? Do you think the hospitals were bothered by the mention of companies like Forbes or CNN? The lack of bias? The gender or skin color of the doctor? Nope. None of that. This is what they said:
“They are worried about referring to physician’s ‘money problems' in a spot that’s used for patients and families—who already think physicians are overpaid. May not go over well. Could you ask if they would consider changing ‘money problems' and saying something like ‘discussing financial options since 2011' or maybe ‘financial solutions.'”
They don't want to suggest that doctors could possibly have any sort of financial problems. The hospitals are worried about what their customers think. We don't actually care what THEIR customers think about our business. Patients and families are not our target market, but the taboo about talking about physician financial problems in our hospitals and society in general is stronger than you might think. If we were going to advertise to the patients, maybe we'd use a slogan like:
“Does your doctor owe more than $400,000 in student loans? Many do. How do you think that's affecting your care?”
or
“Your doctor got her first real paycheck at age 35. That's why it costs so much.”
or
“Stop suing your doctors, they're doing the best they can.”
But we're not trying to reach the patients. We're trying to help the docs so that they, in turn, can concentrate on helping the patients.
More information here:
What IS the WCI Message Anyway?
What My Finances Would Look Like Without WCI
What Hospitals Don't Want You (or Your Patients) to Know
It turns out that wasn't the only ad that the hospitals didn't want.
“Our board reviewed the copy you sent over last week and they are concerned with a few of the slogans. Attached in yellow are the ones in particular that they will not approve—can you provide a few other slogans to replace these ones? If we can keep them as non-soliciting as possible that would be great because those will have a better likelihood of getting approved . . . If/when we come across the issue of being denied by other hospitals, I will let you know and then at that point we will need to find other hospitals to move you into. So I would gather a few other locations that you’re interested in just in case we get denied for other hospitals.”
Isn't the point of an ad to SOLICIT business? Last I checked, that's the whole reason behind advertising. Here were a few other “problematic” slogans:
“Physicians, stop doing dumb stuff with your money”
and
“One in seven doctors get disabled during their career”
and
“Want to still be here at 3am when you're 55?”
The problem with the last one is that “hospitals don't like us telling their employees to go elsewhere.” Here were yet some more rejections (click on the image to enlarge).
Maybe I'm taking it a little personally since I came up with a lot of the ad copy for this campaign, but it sure feels to me like there is some opposition out there to the idea of doctors becoming financially literate, much less secure. Heaven forbid doctors or their patients find out that doctors can get disabled too.
More information here:
The 2023 WCI Survey Results: Here’s How Much You Make and What You Like (and Don’t Like)
New Advertising Slogans for WCI
In case you're interested, here is the rest of the campaign.
Who knew that an advertising campaign designed to boost physician financial literacy would be so controversial? It turns out that there are more industries than the financial services industry that want to keep you down.
What do you think? Do you think it's an issue that patients find out that many doctors struggle with financial problems? Why do you think hospitals would reject these ads? What other advertising slogans do you think WCI should use? Comment below!
Remember the endless “HERO” and BLM propaganda pushed by hospitals during COVID that did nothing for doctor or even patient welfare? Hospitals are run by bureaucrats that will say or do anything to please the donors and financial megaconglomerates that own them. A byproduct of monopolization and corporatization caused by perverse HHS incentives.
Rather than working with the hospitals, maybe you could cut a deal with Chick Fil A to slip some flyers into the drug rep catering orders.
😂
I kind of get it. When I think about it, it could be seen as a little tone deaf to median or lower-income patients (although that did not occur to me when I first read it). If I made a median income and was in the hospital likely incurring more bills, I probably wouldn’t want to see an ad catering to doctors with “money problems” when they make many multiples of income as me.
To many Americans, money problems would be struggling to make ends meet and being able to afford a modest home, not optimizing a high income salary to make sure that you end up (very) wealthy. Again, I wouldn’t have a problem with it because I make significantly more than average but if I was lower-income, I would find it discouraging/tone deaf.
I agree with Jen. It makes me also thank of the phrase “First World Problem.”
I agree. We have issues in the U.S. with medical school debt AND with too-high doctor pay. There can be two problems.
*too-high medical system and hospital costs. Doctor pay hasn’t increased much and, including inflation, has actually decreased in many cases.
Agreed. Seems like all staff wages have gone up except doctors’ wages. Inflation being extremely high recently means that doctors suffer the most, especially that we pay the most in taxes (high income earning employees). Just venting out I guess.
Should be interesting to see how many of your colleagues agree with your assertion that they are paid too much.
Yesterday, I was viewing TiKTok’s and came across about fifty in one morning that criticized Oprah and “The Rock” for creating a direct to victims charity and soliciting donations. The details were not important, just the optics.
The vast bulk of these videos suggested that since Oprah was worth three billion dollars and “The Rock” about a billion, they were tone deaf and bordering on lunacy asking regular folks to contribute to the Maui fire victims charity. They suggested the two pony up the entire Maui bill (which is about 8 billion or so) by selling their assets, including Oprah’s Maui land holdings.
The video makers were piling on, saying they were destitute, couldn’t pay their rent, and couldn’t afford groceries. I did not comment, knowing the first thing that would happen is they would look at my profile of cooking videos and vacations and conflate me to “rich doctor”, about the same as a celebrity.
Personally, I think your ads were fine. Doctors do have money problems, high student loan debt, crappy hours, and they make money mistakes because it’s not in the med school curriculum.
The general population cannot hear this or see this. The consensus is that we are all rich. In addition, I’m sure some think we don’t deserve our pay. Rich and undeserving, we don’t have any problems. Money, even “doctor money” solves ALL problems.
I can talk about money here and with my well off doctor or professional friends. That’s it. There is little empathy or understanding for the financial issues of high wage earners. We might as well be Oprah or “The Rock”.
I groan at the grocery store, but I still occasionally buy scallops or some NY strip. My cart is full of fresh produce. The people near me in line and the clerk look at my $250 worth of groceries and seem to judge me like I must be a some kind of millionaire…which, of course, I am. I have developed “grocery cart guilt”.
I have no love for the hospitals, except it is the place where I can do my job and care for my patients with the most available resources.
At least the for-profit hospitals where I am associated, I see them screwing doctors over very vividly, and at every turn to maximize profit and minimize cost, but honestly at the expense of patient care.
Examples are letting go of all the hospitalists and hiring nurse practitioners and PAs, same with ED and anesthesia, getting mid levels and CNAs.
Now, I will grant that there are some mid-level providers that are excellent, but the vast majority do not have the same knowledge and frivolously order tests and ask for consults that actually decrease throughput and efficiency, but the salary dollars at the end of the month look a lot more nice for the hospitals.
They jeopardize long-term revenue for short-term gain and again, they don’t care about us as people or professionals. They will kiss our butts if we bring a lot of money in like orthopedic surgery and they will crap on us if we are a lowly hospitalist.
And how the crap rains on your head if something goes wrong. Root cause analysis, MIDAS, peer reviews, MEB’s. I have seen plenty of excellent physicians go through psychological abuse via these fake mechanisms for safety that are frankly punitive and enjoyable for the bean counters that are paid to carry out this nonsense, who frankly don’t have the qualifications to put a Band-Aid on a toddler.
So, I am not one bit surprised that hospitals would act this way.
Couldn’t agree more. The medical profession in general has been headed into the crapper for the last 20+ years and I never got a sniff of the good old days that my attendings reminisced about when I was a general surgery resident in the early ’00s.
I’ve been an advocate and supporter of the information from WCI for years. However, I agree that having advertisements within viewing distance of patients, nurses, or most ancillary staff is a little distasteful. My patient population and ancillary staff may be a little offended thinking that the “rich” doctor has money problems or the need for financial literacy.
I will gladly have conversations about WCI information with colleagues and interested friends, but the majority of the people I interact with at work and life outside of work would be a little off put by the discussion of high income professional finances.
I agree 100% with others above and it being tone deaf. While all of us physicians have some level of money problems, I think we are better off than many, many, many of our patients. This of course depends on your patient population, but c’mon. Barring a few exceptions, we’re all in the top 10% of earners in the US, some even in the top 1%. Do we have more students loans and delayed savings? Absolutely! Do we have an ability to overcome those hurdles with a high income and a career that lends itself to growth? Also absolutely. Many of our patients will never dream of having this level of income and it is entirely reasonable for a hospital to not want to run these ads where patients will be seeing them. Its for the same reason that you don’t put double amputees next to the professional sports med clinic. Do they both have problems? Of course. But one will never walk again while the other is fine tuning their stride for the next competition.
We prefer to buy ads JUST on the screens where they will only be seen by docs. Not very many of those unfortunately.
I am no fan of hospital administrators, but I think the headings of this article may be a stretch at best (or misleading at worst)
1. “What your hospital doesn’t want you to know”……”Hospitals Don’t Want Our Ads”
-You mention that the hospital approved 60% (8/14) of the WCI slogans you submitted, so what is the basis for using these as headlines?
2. “Maybe I’m taking it a little personally since I came up with a lot of the ad copy for this campaign…”
-This is probably the case here.
As I said, I am no fan of hospital administrators. But the screenshot email reply that you include from the hospital administrator states that they “understand and love what you are doing…” (hence their approval of 60% of your ads) and that their hesitation with the other 6 ads is derived from their desire to avoid being overly provocative to their employees or patients.
And after comparing the rejected slogans to the accepted ones, I tend to agree. The rejected slogans come across as uncouth.
Based on their emails and acceptance of 60% of your slogans, it sounds like they dealt with you in good faith.
I wonder what they think of the article.
A regional manager of CRNAs once told me with a smirk, “I love it when CRNAs live above their means. They’ll have to work more.” He knew that I lived far below my means, and I think he thought he was stroking my ego, making me feel superior to other CRNAs. Instead, he just made me distrust him.
It was a blatant reminder that no employer ever wants to see their employees achieving financial independence. Why would they? They don’t want us to be “work optional.” That’s nothing but downside for them. I’m frankly surprised they’d let you run WCI ads anywhere at all.
Great article in so many ways. I do agree with the above posters about being tone deaf. In my hospital, our doctor’s lounge has housekeeping in there, food service, nurses, midlevel providers, administrators, and now med students and residents.
So I imagine the hospitals would prefer that you market to all employees or none. Additionally, it would probably also have the hospital inundated with other groups providing financial services. They would have to deal with “….if you let that guy in why not me?” I have never had a financial adviser approach me in the hospital. Drug and product reps were invited in, and they probably had to make a pitch to someone first.
I’m sure you’ve tried seeing if they’ll let you send an email to the employed MDs. I get emails from everything under the sun on my hospital email address. Have you thought about putting the ad in their e-mail? Would the board be a little more receptive to that? You might not have as many eyes on this method. I usually just delete without opening. You would need a catchy one liner.
Which reminds me, we just started our residency/med student program. I have to go to your store and get me a box of your books. I will do my part one student at a time.
Good luck with the marketing. You have a great product/service.
If you think the vast majority of hospitals care anything about physicians’ welfare, you are sorely mistaken. They simply see them as replaceable worker bees employed to enhance admin salaries. How many admins have you seen in the hospital this Labor Day weekend?
Call me paranoid but most hospitals and health systems want us to keep doing dumb things with our money.
It is easier to control slaves than FI doctors.
I came to the comments expecting to be the loan contrary opinion but it looks like the majority here are understanding the hospital perspective. Not wrong for you to try these ads. I don’t think they’re tone deaf per se. But not wrong for Hospital to not want them where patients can see them. Capitalism. Your best interest is the ad. Their response isn’t political. It’s just saying it might hurt their business. You pick your advertisers. They get to pick theirs. I’m not a hospital defender but I get it here.
I heard a doc recently complaining to staff about overhead going up and how it’s a struggle for him now with his new house, car, and private schools. When we make tenfold what our staff does it’s important to be tactful. Doctors lounges and targeted FB ads would be likely easier to approve than ones in places patients (and staff) can see.
No sir, you cannot say anything that would let anyone know the worker bees are not totally happy to be here every hour of every day. Don’t want to send, “the wrong message” – whatever that means.
Great observation Jim this is absolutely fascinating. But it does sort of makes sense that many of the ads would have to justify why doctors may not be the stereotypical rich doctors that patients and other people in see. It’s almost as if the approved ads are pointing out things that might understandably make a rich bit doctor not rich to patients, such as the first approved ad slogan regarding student loans.
My family, friends, and everybody not a doctor thought I was a rich doctor when I was in $31,000 of credit card debt. Seeing an ad insinuating doctors aren’t rich really needs a narrative to breakdown a layperson stereotype that doctors may not be rich and may need financial help, such as high student loans.
Jim, how about adding an ad featuring “got screwed financial advisor” or other slogan like that. I think laypeople and hospital execs might relate to doctors being screwed by the finance industry.
The comments:
Hospitals are using mid levels to replace docs…
Hospitals don’t care at all about their docs…
Hospitals want the docs to remain “slaves”…
Hospitals are all about money, theirs that is…
Makes me glad I’m almost done with hospitals in general. I only do a few weekends a year and some vacation coverage on an inpatient psychiatry unit.
The place I go has a nice physician CMO. They pay me well, and are fairly supportive. All they advertise on their hallway monitors are new docs, hospital services, their quality surveys, and public service “ads”. I do a good job. They pay me.
Based on the replies, it’s a bold move to try to advertise financial services for doctors in hospitals, but they did allow some of the ads. As a group, we are already so fortunate, well paid, and problem free, truth lands like a lead balloon. We are not allowed to have problems.
These days, I don’t tend to tell people I’m a doctor. It is attached to a large group of preconceived notions. Anymore, I just say I’m retired, which can come with a load of similar notions.
Not sure how pointing out that financially secure people have better work and home lives is problematic, nor that disability is a doc’s biggest risk professionally.
Regarding the first ad, surely there’s a physicians lounge where that would work. Wouldn’t put that in the patient lobby where a concerned woman is going for a mammo or in the ER where some guy is clutching his chest. But that’s a location question for hospital admin and shouldn’t constitute a rejection of patently unobjectionable material.
Interesting how many physicians here have taken the position that they should be apologetic about making a well-deserved high income.
Ha these are pretty fun to read but yeah, it’s a bit poke your finger in the eye of the patient or family members fearing a hospital bill in excess of their net worth. And also some of the slogans imply docs are dumb and/or foolish, which true as it can be financially, isn’t quite the image of the wise competent docs the hospital would want to convey.
I’m a practicing physician and chairman of the board at our regional children’s hospital. I can credit WCI for saving my financial bacon. I am a huge supporter of the website, podcast content, courses, and even WCI’s old postings on Bogleheads forum. I have given finance lectures to residents and attendings, started a personal finance physician ‘club’, and actively evangelize the WCI message as much as I can. So I comment as a grateful WCI consumer and supporter. I have 3 thoughts on this article:
1. I agree with the hospitals in this case. Hospitals want to project amazing care, quality, competence, and compassion. In my opinion, running the ads you proposed may undermine that message. If I take my family to Disneyland and I encounter ads targeting Disneyland employees saying: “Are you feeling depressed…..?” Although we can probably assume Disneyland employees have the same rate of depression as the rest of the population, it’s just not what I want to be thinking about when I’m taking a trip of a lifetime to the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’. Although your proposed ads are compelling, it’s just not what hospitals want their patients and coworkers to be thinking about when inside their wall. [It is not lost on me that most children’s hospitals have a Ronald McDonald house and some even have a McDonalds in the cafeteria area…..so there’s that little bit of irony].
2. I found it interesting that at least one of the hospitals brought the decision to run your ads to their Board of directors. I have a difficult time imagining a hospital operations bringing that mundane level of decision making to the board level. I think I’d be annoyed if such small potato decisions were discussed at our board meetings. I guess I should be thankful.
3. I pity all the physicians whose comments are along the lines of: they want us to be enslaved…..they don’t care about us…..they need us to be financially DEpendent. To all those docs, please familiarize yourself with Hanlan’s razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by [anything else].” It will serve you well. Are there some administrators hospital executives who dislike physicians? Of course. But to assume they want you as slaves tells me more about you as a person than it tells me about them. Do you treat your own staff like slaves? I hope not. Do you care about your own staff and employees? I hope so.
WCI, ads or no ads, your work and impact on physician finance across the globe is nothing short of miraculous. Most docs I know have either heard of WCI or actively follow it. There will always be the proverbial horses who were led to water, but refused to drink. Your most powerful advertising rests in all of us who have been enlightened by your work.
Thanks for all you do!
Great comments!
this same reasoning is why CMGs have proliferated in the field of EM.
I’ve been a WCI avid reader and gifter since the beginning (when I was a second year resident and you just started). Jim you’ve emailed me back countless times valuable insight and my family, friends, and all future generations will always you owe a debt we cannot repay.
Your book is the most common gift I give new grads, and similar to Patch I’m a WCI zealout.
That being said – as hospital CMO, in a community hospital with 1200 physicians on staff – I personally dont think that having a screen-saver advertisement suggesting that docs should be more financially savvy is really relevant or useful in a general health care setting.
It would be no more effective than an email from me, or a grand rounds, or having you speak at our next semi-annual med staff dinner (which has about 400/attendees – and I’ll be emailing you about).
– On the flip side, some people could interpret it as “poor physicians making 6 figures”, or “do physicians need more wealth?”.
– I’d much rather have advertisements about the new sepsis guidelines, or hand washing, or updates to the EMR.
I’d also like to echo what Patch said about how sad it is that so many people have had – or have the perception – of so many hostile hospital administrators. My C-suite, and the C-suites of the hospitals I’ve been at prior to my coming here were people that genuinely cared about the mission of the hospital and caring about communities and yes – physicians. Happy, financially secure physicans provide great care and are a joy to work with and alongside.
I’m not surprised at the hospitals response as they want their “preferred message” in your ads.
I think the best way to advertise your business is at large medical conferences with a booth or table, Facebook and instagram. You get more bang for your $ and don’t have to deal with hospital administrator rules.
Good luck and thanks for all your work. Your financial education has made me a better doctor and thus a better dad/ husband.
Jim, I agree that ads in the hospital would be beneficial in spreading your content to those who are not drawn to consume it on their own. If the language is the pain point with the hospital, why not change up the terminology to something that still grabs the physician’s attention while also being palatable to the hospital admin? The goal is to get them to your website, so you could focus on a secondary benefit derived from having a financial education or being financially independent such as freedom, optimization, unlocking potential, increasing happiness etc.
Some examples that come to mind:
“Helping doctors unlock their full potential since 2011”
“Optimize your life and improve focus-so you can be fully present for your patients and family”
“Plan for success with us-set yourself up for a worry-free future”
“CME worth you time -take your life to the next level”
Lots of comments here. And while I agree with most that I probably wouldn’t put money advertisements in patient areas…I disagree with the hospital having advertising campaigns in the hospital at all. Seriously WTF.
While I understand that the hospital wants to make money in any way possible, this is pretty slimy. So if they have a problem with your ads, maybe they should look in the mirror and realize that the underlying problem is not the content of the ads, but the fact that there are ads in the first place.
If they are going to allow ads, then you accept the ads and display them and take the money for them. That is the entire point.
The local medical school approved my lectures for my new financial/wellness class only after I agreed to remove a potentially offensive phrase from one particular lecture: “one house, one spouse,”
Interesting. But well worth it to get the information out there.