Problems in Healthcare Marketing - Research Paper Example

Problems in Healthcare Marketing Healthcare marketing is one of the most significant developments of the modern world mainly because it affects the lives of a large number of people who it influences. It is fast becoming a major source of information concerning the various medical institutions that are available for those individuals who need them. As a result of intensification in healthcare marketing, there have developed concerns about whether healthcare institutions that market themselves are actually competent enough to handle the diverse medical problems that affect individuals in society.

This paper seeks to show that healthcare marketing has both advantages and disadvantages and how the latter are more prominent as a result of a risk to public safety. Healthcare marketing has developed in unexpected ways and it has become big business for those who run medical institutions because many individuals have been influenced by this type of marketing (Revere, Robinson & Coates, 2010). As a result of healthcare marketing, highly efficient medical institutions that were previously little known have become beacons of hope for many individuals who need medical attention and this has ensured the swift expansion of these facilities.

Not only have these institutions become more recognized by the public as specializing in different diseases, but it has also allowed for the growth of the businesses of some of these institutions to such an extent that they have become corporations in their own right. The ability of these institutions to take advantage of the diverse marketing options available to them has been to a large extent influenced by the highly competitive nature of businesses in the healthcare sector in recent years.

Furthermore, the increasing number of healthcare institutions in the country today has made it essential for them to market themselves in order to achieve recognition as well as to show their strengths so that they can receive more customers. Healthcare marketing helps individuals to have an increased understanding of the different medical institutions that deal with various ailments. This form of marketing seems to empower consumers in making their own decisions concerning the medical institutions that they would like to treat the ailments affecting them and it creates an avenue for them to be more informed concerning the institutions that are available for them (Geangu, Dumitru, and Gârdan, 2013).

Healthcare marketing is believed to be essential for the continued well being of those patients who would like to have more information concerning the medical institutions that specialize on different diseases and when seeking medical advice, they are able to discuss the best place to go for specialized treatment with their physicians to ensure they make the correct choice. In order to live up to the public expectations of them, healthcare marketing has forced medical institution to upgrade their services to such an extent that they have become more competent.

Through the influence of marketing, healthcare institutions have attracted a large number of patients with diverse medical problems who have received the medical attention they need (Radulescu, 2012). The competence of these institutions has allowed for an increase in the confidence of the public in healthcare services, making it possible for people to seek treatment for different ailments where they previously would have lost hope. Specialist institutions have attained the recognition necessary to ensure that people who need them are able to find them and receive the treatment that they need for their ailments.

The increasing number of people visiting such institutions as a result of marketing has forced the latter to increase their investment in research so that they can develop their capabilities in dealing with different aspects of diseases. This increase in investment has in turn led to more benefits for patients because various ailments can now be treated more efficiently and in a cost effective manner. Despite the advantages mentioned above, it should be noted that healthcare marketing that has been adopted by many medical institutions to promote their products has served to undermine the confidence of the public in some institutions in favor of others; a situation that has been detrimental to the practices of the latter (Ewert, 2010).

This is because despite lesser known institutions being competent enough to handle diverse medical conditions, they have been ignored by patients in favor of those that market themselves. This form of advertising has come to revolutionize the way individuals in the society view medical institutions, tending to look at them as quick fixes for their medical problems without any need of considering whether what these institutions say about themselves is true. This type of marketing, while being very effective in the provision of information concerning medical institutions to the public, also has the negative effect of making individuals disregard lesser known institutions and this is likely to create a future crisis in the healthcare sector.

Because of the disregard lesser known institutions, many individuals in the United States tend not to investigate the advantages of the institutions that they intend to seek medical help from and this makes it difficult for the efficient treatment to be assessed. The disregard for lesser known institutions in favor of larger ones that have the capability of funding massive marketing campaigns creates a situation where it becomes difficult to judge how treatment in marketed institutions may end up affecting patients since proper precautions are not taken.

Healthcare marketing tends to create a positive perception concerning all the products that are advertised because they only show the benefits of institutions being marketed. Despite this being the case and amid some opposition to the use of such marketing tactics by medical institutions, healthcare marketing is an aspect of healthcare that is here to stay and that it is in the best interests of the general public that medical institutions cooperate with government agencies to ensure the safety of the public from unscrupulous medical practices (Friedrich and Witt, 1995).

However, it should also be recognized that this form of marketing is not as responsible to the public as it should be and as a result, it has to be heavily regulated to ensure that there is accountability from the medical institutions towards the consumers of their products. Despite healthcare marketing having the effect of providing more information to institutions that are likely to provide treatment for various diseases and other medical conditions, there is also concern that this form of marketing does not show the full treatment history of the institutions involved and only concentrates on positive aspects.

This is the reason why regulations on this form of marketing should be put in place to ensure that the public is protected from those institutions that may be harmful to them. In conclusion, the discussion above has sought to show that healthcare marketing has both advantages and disadvantages and how the latter are more prominent as a result of a risk to public safety. Healthcare marketing has developed in unexpected ways and it has become big business for medical institutions as a source of income from an influx of patients seeking their services.

Moreover, it has helped the public to have an increased understanding of the different specialist medical institutions that deal with the diverse number of ailments. Furthermore, healthcare marketing is advantageous because it has forced medical institutions to upgrade their services in order to achieve more competence. However, some disadvantages of healthcare advertising have also been recognized and one of these is that it has served to undermine the confidence of the public in some institutions in favor of others, a factor that has been detrimental to the practices of the latter.

Finally, it tends to create a positive perception concerning all the products that are advertised because they only show the benefits of institutions being marketed, bringing to question the credibility of the institutions which are marketing themselves. References Ewert, B. (2010). Economization and marketization in the German healthcare system: How do users respond? German Policy Studies, 6(3), 21-44,169. Friedrich, H., & Witt, J. (1995). Consumer product branding strategy and the marketing of physicians services.

Health Marketing Quarterly, 13(2), 87. Geangu, I. P., Dumitru, I., & Gârdan, D. (2013). Ethical and legal aspects of marketing activity in the field of dental healthcare services. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 5(2), 904-918. Radulescu, V. (2012). Healthcare marketing contribution to the sustainable development of society. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(11), 351-358. Revere, L., Robinson, L., & Coates, K. (2010). How healthcare organizations use the internet to market quality Achievements.

Journal of Healthcare Management, 55(1), 39-49