Health Care Marketing and Promotion - Research Paper Example

 Bringing it altogether Abstract Health care marketing has been promptly changing in the recent years. Apparently, the domain has grown from a simplistic dependence on public service promotions to a more refined methodology which draws from effective systems engaged by commercial marketers. Instead of dictating the medium of conveying information from top to bottom, public health authorities are learning to pay attention to the requests and needs of the consumers themselves, and establishing the suite from there (Donald, 2009). This vital emphasis on the target audience absolutely calls for comprehensive research and relentless assessment of all aspects of the suite. Really, research and assessment together form the very foundation of the health care marketing process. Introduction Health systems are repeatedly subjected to external challenges over which they have no direct control. Just to mention but a few, the external factors are; politics, continually changing Federal Acts, waning recompenses, the intensification of consumerism and the rise in competition from privately owned specialty health centers among others. Specifically, the absurd growth in Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising (DTC-PA) has stimulated severe modifications in the health care realm (John, 2011). This development, in consort with the consumers’ rising interest in controlling their expenses, has substantial insinuations for hospital and health care marketing experts. All elements of customary marketing functions such as cost and product promotion present a challenge for health care marketing authorities. In the health care domain, several processes hinge on several experts performing several specialized tasks. As a result, it is not amazing that most hospital and health care marketing authorities every so often struggle to inform their prospective customers precisely what they do. As a matter of fact, it is still not an easy task to make all the relevant experts inside the organization appreciate what health care marketing is all about (Duff, 2008). Accordingly, the health system marketer must stay in touch with the most modern medical technology, health care marketing and finance trends as well as health care regulations. In addition, he or she must also be an intelligent mentor and instructor to his or her contemporaries, assisting them to appreciate the role they are expected to play in establishing trust, hope and confidence in the minds of the target audience. Q1) Marketing Approach All health care marketing professionals admissibly yearn for the ability to point to explicit and concrete marketing approaches to display the value of marketing. Nonetheless, it is within the elusive techniques that the worth of marketing is established (Middleton, 2009). For instance, it is neither the slim upsurge in the inpatient market share nor the intensification in positive coverage by the media that displays the health benefits professionals’ success. However, the true value of marketing is set up in the common struggle to make life better for the target groups. In point of fact, some health practitioners may once in a while take for granted the mutual goal to restore the patients’ health and good fortune (Clein, 2011). As the one aspect of health care management that interlocks all the dots, health marketing clearly outlines the role of health care experts in the health and well-being of the public. Hospital care marketing authorities must consequently uphold healthy marketing approaches in order to establish strong relationships within the health centers and with main players in the service domain. Such strategies encompass creating positive product and service impressions along with understanding the working environment. First impressions are extraordinarily significant. As a result, the marketing professionals must definitely observe that most clients make conclusions on the quality of products and services based on factors such as hygiene and friendliness of the individual delivering the product or offering the service. In other words, first impressions can make or break any setup ranging from hospitals to restaurants to grocery stores to other retail businesses. For instance, locating a parking space or making out which room to enter may make hospitals extremely infuriating to navigate (Lev, 2006). Nonetheless, some health centers contemporarily utilize outstanding customer care boosters such as valet services which serve well to impose exceptional impressions of the institutions on the clients. For effectiveness, health care marketers must also have more than a momentary understanding of the clinical and upkeep services that work in partnership to meet the health needs of the target group (Middleton, 2009). For instance, a new marketer may choose to devote his first days in office to work in different hospital departments with the intention of experiencing the responsibilities of his contemporaries firsthand. Furthermore, marketers must as well understand the clients’ needs, desires and beliefs by exemplifying the institution’s corporate values. What is more, hospital care is apparently the most expensive component of the health care delivery unit. As a result, any entity that seeks to transform and advance the scope of technology must ultimately appreciate that hospitals and other health centers play an essential role in the public economy. The field engages vastly learned experts and clinicians. Traditionally, the experts are likely not to duplicate or offer health services that may be below average regardless of their need to compete. Therefore, they must always be informed about the key role they should play in contributing to the well-being of the clientele, and hence must be responsible for safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of the latter. Q2) Health Care Climate in North Carolina In the past, a number of industrious Americans in North Carolina and the United States at large paid the price for decrees that put hurdles between patients and their consultants and gave free rein to insurance enterprises. Today however, reforms in the health sector have made a difference in the lives of the people of North Carolina. The Affordable Care Act presents citizens in the state with the safety they deserve (Pender, 2007). This new health care policy compels insurance entities to play by the laws, barring them from imposing lifetime dollar restrictions on health aids subsequently liberating patients suffering from cancer and other chronic diseases from missing out on treatment due to their lifetime limits. Currently, 3,091,000 North Carolina residents, consisting of about 1,190,000 women and 80,000 youngsters, have been liberated from lifetime limits on insurance coverage thanks to the new policy. Besides, the new law also protects Americans from losing their insurance coverage when they get fired or change jobs and makes a significant venture in community-based projects that endorse public health and inhibits diseases. It also offers new insurance coverage opportunities for young grown-ups. Today, more than 100,000 young people in North Carolina have acquired coverage owing to the health care law which permits parents to take account of kids below 26 years of age in their family coverage. This number translates to about 3.1 million nationally. On the other hand, contemporary pricing policies and objectives present significant impacts on North Carolina’s health care system. Today, the Affordable Care Act takes into account schemes that make Medicare coverage more affordable to the general public. Since the policy was legislated, individuals with Medicare in North Carolina have saved over $140,000,000 on their prescription medications. The policy also covers precautionary services such as free yearly doctor-consultation among others. In 2011 alone, about one million North Carolina residents received the free services without cost-sharing. In addition, the new health care policy also compels insurance companies to deliver a grander value of the premium dollar to the clients by spending no less than 80 percent of it on health care services rather than on executive salaries. Otherwise, they must accordingly reduce the premiums or provide the clientele a rebate (Pender, 2007). The law also champions for the inspection of irrational premium upsurges. In North Carolina and other state of America, insurance establishments must openly substantiate their actions if they are planning to increase premium rates. North Carolina has been awarded about $5,000,000 to assist in fighting any unreasonable premium hikes under the new legislation. Q3) Communication Strategy Health care marketing is all about influencing behavior. For many years, public health authorities have directed marketing professionals to structure and avail their associate communication strategies. In most cases, marketing experts were fundamentally used to doll up the prevailing monumental strategic communications programs, pushing their marketing proficiency to the posterior end of the whole process. Today, however, marketing experts have the opportunity to assist the authorities reduce costs and stimulate admirable member behavior by tactfully providing strategic backing at the anterior end of the process (Krimmel, 2001). A key element in accomplishing today’s healthcare goals is through the establishment of influential communication strategies that enlighten and inspire associates to take constructive actions that improve their life standards. To achieve this, benefits specialists must think like marketers from the word go. As a health care firm decision maker, there are myriad operative communication approaches that I would employ so as to channel the right message to highly revered stakeholder groups. The marketers can employ these tools to aid in cutting costs and impact healthy behaviors. The first step is to engage marketing approaches that subdivide the member target group geographically into sets that require diverse communication approaches. It enables the marketer to select messages that suit each of the distinctive segments. This involves the establishment of where they dwell and work as well as determining their proximity to health care and upkeep services. The subsequent step is to explore the demographic breakdown. It is possible to find out demographic perceptions to make straight communications with subdivided elements and see noteworthy improvements without necessarily using private health records (John, 2011). Associates diligently tangled in their healthcare programs have a propensity for making healthier decisions about the utilization of their benefits, which in order assists them to become more productive. Besides, demographic dissection can subsequently reveal new techniques of reaching associates in both customary and modern means by leveraging media channels that aid in generating the anticipated response from each subdivision of the target group. Targeted marketing assists the marketing authority to effectively set up all the existing communication networks ranging from direct mails to emails to podcasts to social networks to other apt channels. While these networks present better ways of reaching the stakeholders, print media remains to be the leading layout for healthcare communications. This is predominantly significant in setups where opportunities for insurance coverage must be shared. Also, targeted marketing allows the marketers to tailor communications to every phase of the member connection (Duff, 2008). A communication strategy should progress all through the associate lifespan, from onboarding to commitment to strengthening the connection. As the member gets old, preferences and manners may change. For instance, life events like the diagnosis of a chronic disease may determine the preferred communication approach. The other approach is the use of the Location Intelligence Systems (LIS). LIS allows health care marketers to relate records to geographic locations, either as conventional tables or graphically in charts and maps. This subsequently enables them to condense the amount of data sent to members cutting on the postage charges. Tools such as Variable Composition (VC) could also be used to establish tailored templates that customize communications to precise target groups. Q4) Advantages of the Advertising Classification The outlined marketing and promotional approaches present more benefits than harm to the contemporary health care domain. For instance, operational costs have earnestly reduced in the recent years thanks to demographic segmentation. Basically, the overall hospitalization charges can be split up into three components namely: the level of care, for example the intensive care unit; the cost per day depending on the level of care; and the number of days. Understanding these aspects can lead to significant comprehensions not only for communication strategy but also for civic laws. This is possible through both the demographic segmentation and Local Intelligence Systems. Besides, the advertising classification also heavily influences the intensity of service to the public. The first element to be considered in this case is the level of service. For instance, does the patient need intensive care or not? As soon as the level of service is identified, the cost follows (John, 2011). The intensity of service also encompasses the use of clinical technology, which includes the drugs, medical instruments, and processes. Each of the technological components bears its own cost. Quality is still a key concern in the health care domain. Contemporarily, lots of lives are lost or wounded by challenges or faults in health care service delivery. The said marketing approaches help in improving the quality of hospital services. At present, more health centers are striving to establish healthier infection control practices. Still, a lot has to be done to shrink surgical difficulties (Donald, 2009). The Health Care Improvement Institute recently flung a Five Million Lives drive to sign up about four thousand health centers that would help in addressing these types of challenges. The other benefit attributed to the marketing practices is the availability of resources. This aspect basically refers to the proximity of health care product and service providers to the patients. For example, availing free prenatal services to women from rural setups is a fruitless effort except when they have a means of getting the services easily and affordably. In point of fact, even if health care is easily accessible but services are in inadequate supply, the needs of the customers may not be effectively met. Through the modern communication approaches, health care authorities are able to identify such loopholes and fix them in time (Lev, 2006). Besides availability, sustainability and infrastructure are the other two elements of access that we must take into account. The aspect of infrastructure comprises not only the customary elements, such as roads and buildings, but also health support services like information systems that record and trail the flow of drugs and other medical tools. For instance, in the treatment of HIV/AIDS supplying drugs is essential but not adequate for effective treatment schemes. Consequently, the infrastructure must take account of health care staffs to ensure that the patients take the drugs as recommended and are available for care when side effects certainly arise. Envisioning the aspect of infrastructure certainly gives rise to contemplations of sustainability. Sustainability begins with serious commitments by aptly empowered establishments. Even if ordinary activities are meaningful, their purpose is often to sway decision makers to perform. Most hospital authorities are usually hesitant to take large donations for constructions owing to the expected unfunded maintenance expenses (Krimmel, 2001). As a matter of fact, funding is also significant. In the same way, pertinent follow-up accomplishments must be planned. Eventually, sponsors must often commit sufficient resources for the entire project. In other words, the resources must be available for both intermittent interventions as well as continuity. Q5) Health Care Marketing Policy on Ethical Violations Despite being at liberty to market their products and services, all health care establishments must adhere to certain ethical policies. For instance, it is unethical for health care marketing authorities to advertise their products or services with overstated statements, unsupported claims, or statements characterized by omission of information. In other words, the patient-doctor relationship is built on trust. As a result, health care marketers must conform to the standard ethical policies to prevent violation of the trust. In the past, internet marketing was evaded in health care domain down to myriad fallacies about the insurance policies. Nonetheless, as people become more tied up on the web to discover treatments for their health complications, such practices can no longer be evaded (Middleton, 2009). One common aspect of health care ethics is confidentiality. The disclosure of patients’ private information with the intention of attracting more clients is illegal. This comprises personal dialogues as well as medical reports. Lawfully, practitioners are not authorized to disclose such details even in the courtyard. Nevertheless, this subject may call for flexibility in certain circumstances. For example, criminal cases like gunshot injuries must be reported to the law enforcement agencies. In addition, doctors may also be compelled to report cases of underage abortion even against the victim’s will (Clein, 2011). Besides, the patient-physician relationship is occasionally constrained to a mere discussion of health complications. Lengthy interactions may, however, lead to an attachment, sharing of delicate, private information or even the craving for a sexual relationship. Incidentally, the border between what is decent and what is not is unclear. Another aspect of health care ethics is the use of social media. With the upsurge of this trend, practitioners are now conducting online health care services. Still, this aspect is likely to result in disclosure of privacy. For instance, a health care practitioner may disclose patient information when discussing a given case online. Patient welfare is also an element of health care marketing ethics. Basically, health care specialists have a legal responsibility to provide directions in the best interest of the patients’ welfare. According to the patient welfare, health care institutions have to attend to patients with severe health conditions, whether or not they can afford the treatment. Besides, health care marketing has an additional responsibility to the community in accountability unlike other marketing fields (Pender, 2007). On account of the grander obligation of trust, health care marketing authorities must be ready to display total transparency in their practices for the general public to witness the impartiality and honesty in the health care marketing policies. Health care marketing ethics also assert that medical practitioners should not recommend unnecessary treatments to patients, just to get more profits. Normally, the unnecessary treatments do not have to be hazardous to be classified under this category. For instance, a specialist who subjects a patient to a surgical process that is not dangerous but is also unnecessary for his financial advantage is considered to have dishonored the health care marketing ethics. Conclusion The study and exercise of healthcare marketing is based on the responsibility that the field has toward the client or patient. More precisely, Patients and customers basically rely on the health care specialists for advice relating to their health and welfare. As a result, the marketers must always safeguard and embrace the role of health care ethics in mind. On the other hand, advertising fundamentally buoys up clients to trail items that they are deemed to need though they may not be actually in need of them (Duff, 2008). Any medical care or health related advertisements are expected to be as precise and even without prejudice as possible. This is basically aimed at avoiding convincing the consumer or the patient to a course of action that may eventually appear to be unnecessary or unbeneficial to him or her. References Clein, B. (2011). Health Care Marketing and Promotion. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press. Donald, S. (2009). HealthCare Ethics. London, LDN: Earthscan. Duff, W. (2008). Health Care Services in the United States of America. New York, NY: Tate Publishing and Enterprises. John, D. (2011). Medical Service Providers: Doctors and Other Experts. New York, NY: Tate Publishing and Enterprises. Krimmel, B. (2001). Modern Health Care and Hospital Services. New York, NY: Routledge. Lev, R. (2006). Hospital Benefits Management. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Middleton, D. (2009). International Medical Marketing. Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford. Pender, L. (2007). Health Products and Services. Stanley Thornes: Cheltenham. Read More