The Essay Explores Marketing Concepts In Healthcare. (70 Characters)

1, Discuss fundamental marketing terms and processes commonly used in the sector of the health care system related to your career.( my career is healthcare management)
2 ,Summarize the four P’s of marketing concept.
3, Explain why the characteristics of health care make it difficult to apply the four P's of marketing concept to health care systems.
4, Summarize the seven P’s of marketing concept.
5, Analyze a specific example or situation that illustrates how the seven P’s of marketing are more applicable and appropriate than the four P's for the health care industry.

The Evolution of Marketing in Healthcare

Fundamental Marketing terms and processes

The genre of marketing is a very dynamic one and thus it is seen that in the present times various terminologies related to marketing has gained prominence and even the older ones have undergone significant changes (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2015). Thus, the concept of marketing itself which in the earlier times was concerned only with the process of presenting the products or the services to the customers in an attractive manner is presently also concerned with the concept of promotion as well. In the particular context of the health care industry the term is used to market the treatment facilities provided by the concerned health care organization and also the effective promotion of them (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2015). At the same time it is seen that the concept of integrated marketing and market segmentation have also gained significance. The term integrated marketing can be defined the process which the health care organizations use to integrate the core competencies of their organization and incorporate them within the marketing strategies used by them (Langabeer & Helton, 2015). Market segmentation, on the other hand, generally refers to the process that the various health care organizations use to effective segment the customer base that they have, targeting the customer that they have in the best possible manner and positioning the services offered by them before the patients so that they feel the need to take the help of it (Langabeer & Helton, 2015). In addition to these, other important concepts of marketing like marketing mix, marketing strategies and others have also gained a significant amount of prominence in the present day health care industry.

4P’s of marketing concept     

The 4P’s of marketing or commonly called by the name of marketing mix is one of the most basic as well as important concepts of marketing which is being used by the majority of health care organizations for the process of marketing the health care services offered by them (Finkler, Ward & Calabrese, 2018). This particular framework takes into effective consideration four important entities, namely, the services offered by the concerned health care organization, the price of the services offered by the concerned health care organization, the place at which the concerned health care organization is offering the services and finally the promotional means that they are using for the promotion of the services offered by them (Kemp, Jillapalli & Becerra, 2014). Thus, as per this particular framework the products that the various health care organizations offer to the patients are the health care related treatment facilities that they offer to the patients (Kemp, Jillapalli & Becerra, 2014). It is significant to note that these health care services are very beneficial for the concerned patients it is often seen that they help the patients to not only get cured from the illnesses or the diseases that they are facing but at the same time often helps in saving their lives as well (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018). The price that these health care organizations charge from the patients is generally nominal and depends on the complexity of the treatment undergone (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018). The place generally refers to the physical location of the concerned health care organization. Finally, the promotional means that the various heath care organizations generally take the help are traditional means like newspaper, television, word of mouth and others and also the modern forms of promotion like the electronic media and social media (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018).

The Importance of Integrated Marketing and Market Segmentation

Difficulty in applying the 4P's of marketing concept to health care systems

One of the major difficulties that the health care organizations face is particularly in regards to the marketing of the health care services offered by them to the patients (Lovelock & Patterson, 2015). It is significant to note that the entire concept of marketing had been designed into taking into effective consideration the requirements of the business world and it is a reflection of this particular fact that the majority of the models as well as the frameworks that the health care industry is utilizing at the current moment are primary being used in the world of business (Lovelock & Patterson, 2015). Furthermore, at the same time it is also seen that the framework of the various health care organizations as well as the services offered by them is drastically from the ones of the business organizations of the business world (Kitapci, Akdogan & Dortyol, 2014). In addition to these, the end users that the health care industry serves as well as their requirements are also very different from the ones of the business world (Kitapci, Akdogan & Dortyol, 2014). These are generally attributed as one of the main reasons for the difficulty of the implementation of the traditional concepts of marketing mix within the framework of the health care industry.

7P’s of marketing concept

The 7P’s of marketing mix includes the four entities of 4P’s of marketing along with the incorporation of process, physical evidence and also the people or the end users of the services offered by the concerned organization (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2015). The people or the end users of the products are important since it is they who take the help of the services offered by the concerned health care organization and the effectiveness as well as the efficiency of the concerned organization thus depends to a large extent on the quality of services that are being provided to them (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2015). The physical evidence, on the other hand, generally refers to the evidence that shows that the services provided by the concerned organization have actually helped the concerned patients in a significant manner (Langabeer & Helton, 2015). Furthermore, the process that is being used for providing the services to the patients or the end users of the services that is being provided to the concerned health care organizations is also significant to note and to a large extent determines the quality of the services provided by the concerned organization (Langabeer & Helton, 2015). It is significant to note that the effective cumulative use of these seven entities determines to a large extent the fortunes of the concerned health care organization.

Effectiveness of the 7P’s of marketing over 4P’s

It is generally seen that within the health care industry the 7P’s of marketing has delivered better results than the 4P’s of marketing. A detailed analysis of the marketing strategy of the New York City hospital Lenox Hill Hospital would make this particular fact more apparent. For example, in the earlier times the health care organization was taking the help of the 4P’s of marketing mix and this completely avoided the perspective of the patients and the processes used by them for this particular aspect (Northwell Health 2018). This is generally been attributed as one of the main reasons for the lack of success attained by the organization in the earlier. However, the health care organization soon realized its mistake and integrated the entities of patients and the processes used to deliver the services to the patients and also the physical evidences and this has helped the concerned hospital in a significant to achieve better results in the recent times (Northwell Health 2018). The 7P’s of marketing is generally considered t o be more effective than the 4P’s of marketing because it takes into consideration the different entities like people, physical evidence and the processes used to deliver the services.

References:

Finkler, S. A., Ward, D. M., & Calabrese, T. (2018). Accounting fundamentals for health care management. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

Jacobs, L., & Skocpol, T. (2015). Health care reform and American politics: What everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press.

Kemp, E., Jillapalli, R., & Becerra, E. (2014). Healthcare branding: developing emotionally based consumer brand relationships. Journal of Services Marketing, 28(2), 126-137.

Kitapci, O., Akdogan, C., & Dortyol, I. T. (2014). The impact of service quality dimensions on patient satisfaction, repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth communication in the public healthcare industry. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 148, 161-169.

Langabeer II, J. R., & Helton, J. (2015). Health care operations management. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Lenox Hill Hospital | Northwell Health. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.northwell.edu/find-care/locations/lenox-hill-hospital

Lovelock, C., & Patterson, P. (2015). Services marketing. Pearson Australia.