Background
Diabetes is a prevalent problem in the United States. There are more than twenty-five million people in the United States who live with diabetes (CDC, 2020). To make the problem worse, more than a third of individuals in the United States who are pre-diabetic (CDC, 2020). As a result, the disease is among the most common and preventable diseases across the country. Similar to most healthcare system areas, diabetics care is becoming outsourced to professionals as well as medical entrepreneurs. This has created opportunities to establish diabetes care centers to meet the increasing demand and the high number of patients. The entrepreneur, who is a professional in public health, seeks to establish a diabetic’s clinic to provide professional healthcare services to both diabetic and pre-diabetic patients.
Business Description
Medlin Diabetes Center will be a clinic in the specialty hospital industry. It is a sole proprietorship owned by (Student’s name). (Student’s name) will also be the chief executive officer of the center. The center will offer diagnostic and medical services to individuals with diabetes, diabetes-related conditions, and pre-diabetics in the inpatient and outpatient levels. The business will employ qualified and skilled healthcare workers to provide different services. Medlin Diabetes Center will operate on a 24/7 basis to attend to all patients. Client relationships will be managed using CRM software to ensure business success. Medlin Diabetes Center will be a 90-bed facility. Medlin Diabetes Center will provide services to patients with health insurance and those who make out of pocket payments.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Proposed Services
The services that will be offered at Medlin Diabetes Center include:
Health monitoring
Personalized/customized nutrition counselling services
Insulin therapy and diabetes medication and other supplies used in diabetes management
Inpatient and outpatient management of diabetes and illnesses associated with diabetes
Diabetes education to both diabetics and pre-diabetics as well as those at a high risk of developing diabetes
Prescriptions for exercise
Target Market
Medlin Diabetes Center seeks to provide its services to a wide range of people within and around New York City. The business targets both insured and uninsured diabetes and pre-diabetes patients. Our target market is broken down into segments to ensure the development of effective marketing strategies for each segment. The categories are based on clients who share the same interests or characteristics. The target market can be divided as follows:
Diabetic and pre-diabetic individuals living in the area where the diabetes center is located
Diabetes patients who are injured
Expectant diabetics
Health management agencies
Marketing Plan
The marketing plan for Medlin Diabetes Center applies strategies based on the four Ps of marketing, which are product, place, price, and promotion. The business is located in an area that has a high number of individuals living with diabetes. New York City is among the cities in the United States, with a high number of diabetic people. In addition, its location is easily accessible. It is located at the heart of the city and can be easily accessed by clients from neighboring areas. Medlin Diabetes Center will provide personalized services to its clients. This will help the development of long term relationships between the organization and its clients. Unique and all-round services for diabetes management and prevention will be provided by highly qualified and equipped staff. Through this, it is approximated that the number of clients will grow by approximately 22 percent in the first year of operation and with more than 40 percent in the following years. The facility will ensure that none of the diabetes-related services is missing. This will help ensure that Medlin Diabetes Center captures a large percent of the existing market in New York City.
Medlin Diabetes Center will provide its services at very competitive prices compared to what is offered by other such businesses across the country. The pricing strategy will put into consideration the fact that most diabetes patients do not make out-of-pocket payments, but rather, their bills are paid by insurance firms and federal government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid. The organization will leverage on health insurance payments while determining the prices while at the same time, consideration will be made for clients without insurance. Also, instead of using the fixed price approach for the services offered at Medlin Diabetes Center, an hourly billing per visit approach will be implemented. Therefore, services will be billed based on the hours of treatment needed.
Medline Diabetes Center will advertise its diabetes services in different media platforms such as newspapers and television stations. The facility will also be added to the local directories. Advertisements to promote the business will also be placed on different social media platforms such as Facebook. Medline Diabetes Center will also use its social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as its website to advertise and promote its services and reach a wider market. Today, social media use is prevalent, and to reach more clients; it is important to leverage on the internet ( Kreutzer, 2018) . Also, direct marketing will be applied, and brochures and leaflets will be issued to market the clinic and the services offered. The organization will also rely on word of mouth to market its services. This will be ensured through the provision of high-quality services to clients. Finally, Medlin Diabetes Center will partner and collaborate with different health management organizations, health and fitness organizations, health insurance firms, and various government organizations to grow its market share.
Operations Management (3-year Operations Timetable)
| Milestones | Responsibility | Date |
| Business Registration | CEO | 2 nd January, 2021 |
| Open business bank accounts | CEO | 4 th February, 2021 |
| Lease facility | CEO | 16 th February, 2021 |
| Obtain relevant licensing | CEO | 1 st March, 2021 |
| Prepare employee handbook and recruitment needs | Alex Martin | 30 th March, 2021- 30 th , April, 2021 |
| Prepare all the legal documents such as contract forms | Alex Martin | 5 th May, 2021- 30 th May, 2021 |
| Create business website and social media pages as well as promotion materials | Rose Jane | 12 th May, 2021- 30 th May, 2021 |
| Develop collaboration with suppliers as well as insurance companies among others. | CEO | 15 th May, 2021- 30 th May, 2021 |
| Purchase equipment, furniture and supplies | Mike Tony | 6 th June, 2021- 30 th August, 2021 |
| Prepare the facility for operation. Example, arrange equipment, put labels etc. | Mike Tony and CEO | 6 th September, 2021 – 10 th October, 2021 |
| Recruit employees | Alex Martin and CEO | 18 th October, 2021- 11 th November, 2021 |
| Launch business | CEO | 18 th December, 2021 |
| Increase the number of clients by 22 percent | Marketing manager | By the end of 2022 (1 st year of operation) |
| Increase the number of clients by 40 percent | Marketing manager | By the end of 2023 (2 nd year of operation). |
Resources and Budget (3-year Budget)
| Resources | Cost |
| Registration, licensing, and permits | $2,000 |
| Leasing and rent | $800,000 |
| Website and social media content development | $1,500 |
| Marketing and advertising | $9, 200 |
| Computer software purchase | $1,000 |
| Facility remodeling | $30,000 |
| Operational costs including salaries | $496,000 |
| Start-up inventory | $120,000 |
| Equipment and furniture | $250,000 |
| Two ambulances | $50,000 |
| Drugs and other needed supplies | $9,000 |
| Miscellaneous | $8,000 |
Evaluation, Quality Improvement, Sustainability, and Exit Strategy
The business will be evaluated based on its financial performance in the first two years of operation, market share, and quality of care and services provided. These will be the indicators that will be used to determine the progress of the business for appropriate action where there are problems. An evaluation will be conducted every year, and the outcomes will be compared with the expected performance or figures. The future of the Medlin Diabetes Center will depend on the loyalty of its clients, employees, and the various strategies used. Therefore, in order to ensure its sustainability, the business intends to apply the marketing strategies described in the marketing strategy section of this plan so that the Medlin Diabetes Center can survive on its own cash flow without having to seek support from an external source after the operation has commenced. In addition, the business is ready to survive on a profit margin that is not high for the first two years because prices will be a little bit lower to attract and retain clients. Quality improvement efforts will include training staff to ensure that they provide quality services and care to clients. In addition, best practices will be applied to ensure that the staff has a conducive work environment for safe and quality care provision. Medlin Diabetes Center will consider a merger as an exit strategy if the business goes down.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.Pdf
Kreutzer, R. T. (2018). Social media und social-media-Marketing. Social-Media-Marketing kompakt , 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-21147-9_1
