Marketing in the healthcare system has been in existent since time in memorial. In most cases, the marketing strategies bank on both experimental and evidence-based methods to campaign for their products and services. Apparently, this is often done with an aim of establishing a connection with their patients. Presently, many medical practitioners are finding it hard to cope with the regular evolution that is taking place in the marketing technology. This is because some of the strategies that used to be work effectively initially are no longer yielding positive results in terms of patients’ turnout for services. As such, healthcare providers ought not to recycle their marketing strategies yet they suffer negative consequences. Trying something novel, effective and efficient is, therefore, the robust way of tackling the marketing challenges they face. In this paper, the author will provide a few marketing strategies that Meridian healthcare needs to embrace in order for the institution to become more profitable.
About the healthcare
The healthcare under this study is Meridian healthcare facility. This healthcare facility operated under a seven-hospital system. It is found in New Jersey, in the United States.
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Impact of that Direct Marketing will have on Meridian Healthcare Facility
Researchers have established that direct marketing has a significant role in advertising a healthcare facility (Gellad & Lyles, 2007). In fact, scholars state that direct marketing is the most powerful force that health care providers ought to embrace when addressing the numerous challenges they face in the healthcare market. They argue that a well executed direct marketing ought to empower and educate patients. As a matter of fact, the marketing should focus at luring the patients to try products and services from the healthcare providers.
In addition, the proponents to direct marketing state that this form of marketing gives the patients an opportunity to have a direct talk with the care providers about their medical conditions (Gellad & Lyles, 2007). They will use that opportunity to express how their medical conditions have been under-treated or under-diagnosed. Essentially, the responses from the patients will provide the care providers with a chance to t improve health outcomes which will guarantee patients’ satisfaction. Opponents to this type of practice perceive that they system has an inherent conflict in the sense that the decision to conduct direct marketing is not based on the improvement of public health. Rather, it is used as an investment return (Gellad & Lyles, 2007). Nevertheless, involving in direct marketing will not only ensure that Meridian health facility provides the best services to patients in addition to ensuring that it gets good revenues from the services it offers.
Strategy that Meridian Healthcare can Use to Establish the Utilization of its Products and Services
One of the best strategies that Meridian Healthcare can use to find out how its products and services are used is by conducting patients’ assessment to measure how they are satisfied with their services (Uchendu, Ilesanmi, & Olumide, 2013). In any form of business, the level of customers’ satisfaction is essential in establishing whether the client will use the products and services from a particular organization. in the process of determining the level of patients’ satisfaction, the organization needs to develop a key that will help in interpreting the results from the assessment. Normally, a high level of consumer or rather patient’s satisfaction implies that that particular patient is likely to use the services from that healthcare. Importantly, a satisfied patient will also recommend the healthcare services and products to family members and friends. More importantly, Meridian healthcare needs to understand that the quality of the services it is offering are dependent on the level of employee satisfaction (Mosadeghrad, 2014). As such, it is true to state that staff satisfaction is directly related to patients’ satisfaction.
A Marketing strategy for Meridian Healthcare
In the present world, most things have gone digital. As a result, the researcher of this paper prefers that Meridian health care goes digital in its marketing strategy by automating its advertisement process. It should be pointed out that the healthcare facility should not neglect the role played by direct marketing. This is because it provides them with firsthand information regarding the state of the healthcare market. Nevertheless, in addition to the direct marketing, this paper proposes that the healthcare facility should adopt the following protocols in marketing its services. Notably, the methods proposed herein are based on their ability to guarantee patients’ satisfaction with the services being rendered by a healthcare (Grier & Bryant, 2005).
First, this paper proposes that the healthcare ought to organize events where participants are provided with a chance to win a healthcare service. The participants of the contests need to be individuals with particular medical conditions. Therefore, the event should be organized in such a way that persons with same medical issues are grouped and from opposing teams. The winner from each group needs to be rewarded with a service that is relative to the medical condition. For instance, if one of the teams comprised of members with brown teeth, the winner should be provided with free teeth whitening service. Notably, the contests ought to be advertised through social media.
Second, the Meridian health care needs to provide patients or rather the public with preventive care tips for education purposes. This may involve composing messages and sending them automatically individuals via emails, SMSs, or social media. Notably, such messages make the members of the public perceive that the healthcare provider is interested in ensuring that they remain to be healthy. As a matter of fact, this will establish a bond between the care provider and the patients (Grier & Bryant, 2005). Third, many patients find it hard to book appointments or rather go through their appointments with doctors. As such, the healthcare needs to create a notification system that will inform patients’ whenever an opportunity opens up. The system should be designed in a way that the first patient to respond to the notification secures an appointment opportunity. Finally, there is the need for the Meridian healthcare to connect with related health facilities for cross-promotional purposes. Notably, many healthcare providers use the word of mouth to refer patients to other facilities so that they can get certain services like chiropractors and optometrists among others. Using the social media for such purposes would not only keep the local businesses in contact but also increase the familiarity of the services being offered by the healthcare.
How Meridian healthcare would shape the Buying decisions of its customers
First, the healthcare can shape the buying decision its customers by ensuring that information regarding the services and products it is offering are availed to the potential clients. This may require the healthcare to go an extra mile to ensuring that patients are able to watch the television and other forms of media material about the products and services they offer. In the advertisement, the healthcare needs to demonstrate explicitly how its products and services are differentiated from the ones being offered by competitors. Secondly, the healthcare needs to ensure that its products and services are marketed in a manner that is easy for the potential customers. Besides, it should be important to state why its products and services are superior from that of the competitors. Simply put, consumers need to have an insight as to why they need to buy the product and services from the Meridian healthcare (Grier & Bryant, 2005). Third, Meridian needs to ensure that its products and services are readily available to the consumers. Failure to do would make the patients’ go to other places to seek such products or services. Importantly, Meridian healthcare needs to ensure that the purchasing process is made to be easy and enjoyable to the clients.
In conclusion, Healthcare facilities need to advertise their products and services through direct marketing and digitally using the social media. The merits offered by these two mechanisms include ease of communication and understanding consumer needs and behaviors. Essentially, healthcare facilities need to ensure that their products and services are well known by the potential clients. This will increase the buying decisions of the patients.
References
Gellad, Z. F., & Lyles, K. W. (2007). Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Pharmaceuticals. The American Journal of Medicine , 120 (6), 475–480. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2006.09.030.
Grier, S. & Bryant, C.A. (2005). Social marketing in public health. Annual Review of Public Health . 26:319-39. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144610.
Mosadeghrad, A. M. (2014). Factors influencing healthcare service quality. International Journal of Health Policy and Management , 3 (2), 77–89. doi: http://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2014.65 .
Uchendu, O. C., Ilesanmi, O. S., & Olumide, A. E. (2013). Factors influencing the choice of health care providing facility among workers in a local government secretariat in South Western Nigeria. Annals of Ibadan Postgraduate Medicine , 11 (2), 87–95.
