In my opinion, general economic factors play a role in the success or failure of any organization that provides a service to consumers. This would include organizations providing health care services. Remaining competitive in a service industry is a critical success factor especially in an economy in recession. Even if someone is able to think of medicine as a service industry, it is difficult to know which competitive factors most patients with consider important when selecting their health care provider. Nevertheless, whether the health care provider is a doctor, a medical group, a clinic or a hospital, in order to be viewed favorably by patients, certain fundamental marketing concepts must be utilized.
When people think of marketing, they often think of salespeople, cold calls, and advertising. The term marketing also brings to mind concepts such as market share, promotional campaigns, coupons and other techniques intended to take market share from competitors. That model, which works well for many companies including companies selling consumer goods, does not work well in the healthcare field. Nevertheless, health care providers must recognize that they are in competition to retain patients. Even in a Health Maintenance Organization, patients usually have a choice about which healthcare provider to use.
Therefore, the issue is not whether competitiveness and marketing are important in the health care industry; it is what type of marketing healthcare service providers should be using. Patients, who are consumers, are typically concerned with quality of care, convenience, and choice. To the extent that a health care provider is not monitoring and measuring the quality of care that it provides, it is missing an opportunity to improve its services and in doing so to increase its market share by retaining existing customers and attracting new patients. To the extent that a health care provider is not...