The dynamic evolution of life has inevitably affected the healthcare systems generating
significant changes and imposing healthcare marketing as an indispensable element
of health brands. Healthcare is a field in a permanent evolution, the plethora of
opportunities stimulating creativity, enthusiasm, and will exploit the specialists
in the field.
As the philosophy and marketing techniques in other fields cannot find applicability
in the healthcare services, healthcare need their own approach and present certain
features that are not found in other industries (Thomas RK. Health Services Marketing,
A Practitioner’s Guide, 2008, Ed. Springer).
Through its specificity, healthcare marketing is an interdisciplinary field because
it uses certain concepts, methods, and techniques specific both to classical and social
marketing. The specificity of healthcare marketing is that there are services and
markets but no money equivalent. This means the effectiveness of its application can
be found in the image of a healthy population, the detection of a chronically ill
category of people, ensuring the treatment of ill people by going through the whole
rehabilitation process, professional reintegration, social reintegration of ill people,
etc. The application of marketing in the field of healthcare was imposed by the problems
in the health of the society.
An effective marketing approach involves in-depth investigation of the patients’ needs,
identifying latent needs and offering new health services that patients have not explicitly
requested (Purcarea VL. Marketingul Ingrijirilor de Sanatate - curs Universitar, 2017,
Ed. Universitara “Carol Davila”).
Patients’ involvement in the achievement of the medical act has become a necessity
of present life with wide and complex meanings, not only beyond changing the mentality
of the providers but also with significant changes like lifestyle, consumption habits
and medication of beneficiaries. As the daily process evolves, change will be fundamental
to the fundamental purpose of our existence: life. In addition, this will undoubtedly
bear the hindrance of how the relationship will harmonize the need for health. Structural
changes forces health systems to accelerate towards the future, considering the current
needs, and the future strategy cannot be viable without performing management and
marketing abilities (Popa F, Purcarea Th, Purcarea VL, Ratiu M. Marketingul serviciilor
de ingrijire a sanatatii, 2007, Ed. Universitara “Carol Davila”).
The marketing of healthcare services differs primarily through the nature of demand
for health services. Secondly, the beneficiary may not be the target of the marketing
campaign, the physician being the one who decides what, where, when, and how much
will be provided for a particular service. The decision-maker may be the doctor, the
health plan representative, a family member. Healthcare services also differ where
the product can be very complex and may not be easily conceptualized. Many of the
procedures used in healthcare, especially those based on technology, are complicated
and difficult to explain to a person who is not specialized in that particular field.
Another healthcare challenge, especially for service providers, is that not all potential
clients are considered “desirable” for a particular service. While service providers
are required to provide services to all applicants, regardless of their ability to
pay, there are certain categories of patients whom the marketer may not encourage
to request a particular service. The marketer faces the challenge of attracting customers
to healthcare organizations, however, without attracting too many from the category
of those who are likely to represent economic debts.
Over the past decade, healthcare has experienced many marketing trends that have fundamentally
altered marketing. These trends are the follows:
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From a mass marketing approach to a more specific approach.
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From image marketing to service marketing.
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From “one measure for all” to personalization.
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From the emphasis on a health episode to a long-lasting relationship.
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From “ignoring” the market, to market intelligence.
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From low-tech to high-tech (Thomas RK. Health Services Marketing, A Practitioner’s
Guide, 2008, Ed. Springer).
Marketing plays an important role in helping healthcare professionals to create, communicate,
and provide value to their target market. Modern marketers start from customers rather
than from products or services. They are more interested in building a sustainable
relationship, than in ensuring a single transaction. Their aim is to create a high
level of consumer satisfaction so that they return to the same supplier. Marketers
have used many traditional methods that include marketing research, product design,
distribution, pricing, advertising, promotional sales, and sales management. These
methods need to be joined by new ones, related to new technology and new concepts,
to attract customers through messages and offers.
Although the consumer typically receives most of the information about a product through
the commercial media. The most important information comes from recommendations or
from publicly available independent authorities. The two categories of sources provide
complementary functions; commercial media – informs, while personal or expert sources
legitimize or potentiate the evaluation process. For example, physicians often find
out about new drugs from commercial sources, but they turn to other physicians for
legitimate opinions.
Although much has been written about subliminal decisions, current models look at
the process from a cognitive perspective, which means the consumer/patient, makes
his own judgements on a rational basis (Kotler P, Shalowitz J, Stevens RJ. Strartegic
Marketing for Health Care Organizations. Building a Customer Driven Health System,
2008, Ed. Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint).
In an attempt to meet a need, the patient expects certain benefits from the chosen
health service and provider. The patients’ attitudes, judgements, and preferences
about certain brands through a procedure of evaluating the attributes of these brands,
develop a set of beliefs about the attributes that correspond to each brand (Kotler
P, Rackham N, Krishnaswamy S. Ending the War between Sales and Marketing, July 2006,
Harvard Business Review).
The main actor who marks the process of production and delivery of healthcare services
is the patient and his presence is part of the delivery system.
In the field of healthcare services, the performance occurs only in the presence of
the healthcare consumer and his wiliness to the service. Thus, the consumer becomes
an indispensable factor for any service; the consumer interacts with the supplier,
becomes co-provider of the service, participating with time and effort in the delivery
process (Popa F, Purcarea Th, Purcarea VL. Ratiu M. Marketingul serviciilor de ingrijire
a sanatatii, 2007, Ed. Universitara “Carol Davila”).
Healthcare consumers are actively or passively involved in delivery, but their presence
has implications for the medical organization’s activity because any specialist who
meets the patient will contribute to the service production. In addition, any tangible
element, which the healthcare consumer meets, is part of the health service delivery
process; in fact, any changes occurring at the place of service delivery, will lead
to changes in the patient’s behavior.
From a marketing perspective, the process of providing healthcare services must be
conducted in full compliance with patient requirements, activities are being designed
to meet these requirements. However, achieving such a goal implies the identification
of all points of interference of healthcare staff with the healthcare service consumers
and the assessment of the extent to which the activities carried out at these points
correspond to the needs and expectations expressed by the patients. Since the behavior
of the health services consumer is difficult to predict, the presence of the patient
in the delivery process may be a source of major uncertainty.
Far from having a passive behavior, the consumer has multiple functions in the production
of services as a “co-producer”, which determines many specialists to consider him
an “external human resource”.
Patient satisfaction must be the main objective of any healthcare organization and
this requires a thorough knowledge of their needs and expectations. Providing a high-quality
healthcare service is based on meeting certain requirements so that the service attains
the level desired by the patient. In order to gain the trust of healthcare consumers,
the specialized staff of the organizations in the field must be more receptive to
the wishes, suggestions, patient complaints and, at the same time, become more sensitive
to their concerns. The effectiveness of this approach depends on how the medical organization
has an effective communication with patients, presents a correct image of the health
service, and delivers the promised service properly, and presents a permanent concern
for the continuous improvement of the service provided to exceed the expectations
of the patients (Ciurea AV, Cooper CL, Avram E. (coord). Managementul sistemelor şi
organizaţiilor sănătăţii, 2010, Editura Universitară “Carol Davila”, Bucureşti).
By acting in a dynamic and unpredictable environment, (in order to survive) the health
service provider must be able to detect the opportunities and threats of the market
on which it operates. In this context, the formulation of a realistic, coherent, and
explicit strategy by the medical unit is of crucial importance in anticipating its
future and reducing uncertainty in the activity.
The marketing strategy is the way an organization acts under the influence of environmental
factors. In practical terms, marketing strategies outline a path following the analysis
of environmental factors. The marketing policy defines its general framework of action
in order to carry out its entire activity, including several strategies.
Developing the marketing policies and strategies specific to health services providing
units is a complex process. Taking into account many internal and external factors,
the interdependencies and conditioning links between them, as well as the favorable
or unfavorable impact they can exert on the health unit, they must be analyzed in
depth, interrelated, and interpreted for making strategic and firm decisions regarding
the future development of the medical institution.
The core of the marketing strategy in the field of health services is represented
by the quality of services. Successful organizations in the healthcare field have
a clear, competitive, strategy that empowers and forces them to adapt to environmental
conditions. The marketing strategy in the healthcare services field is in fact the
attitude of the medical organization in relation to the marketing environment and,
at the same time, its position in relation to its components.
At present, patients have so many options regarding the choice of healthcare services
and providers that the only way the healthcare practices can really be distinguished
is by establishing a well-differentiated, memorable, and unique proposal alongside
a marketing strategy adapted to the digital era.
A valuable proposal must have the following characteristics:
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It is true
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The value offered is superior to the one of the competition
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It is important to the target public
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It is memorable and easy to remember
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It is difficult to copy by the competition.
According to a Harvard Business Review, 64% of the consumers have “genuine common
values” as the main influence on their relationship with the brand (Hirsch L. The
8 Most Important Marketing Strategies for a Healthcare Practice – Part 1, November
22, 2017, retrieved from: https://hirschhealthconsulting.com/8-important-marketing-strategies-healthcare-practice-part-1/).
Today, major healthcare organizations focus on content to win the race of digital
supremacy. Content marketing strategies for the healthcare field are not just about
blogging and producing tangible results. Since hospitals are linked to patients and
physicians, digital marketing is the way to bring this process to a completely new
level.
At present, digital content helps build positive brand impressions. The use of new
digital marketing strategies is essential to maximize the efficiency of marketing
expenses and generate higher return rates. By applying innovative health marketing
principles to reinvigorate the medical organization’s marketing initiatives, organizations
will be able to better position their service offers to consumers.
For healthcare providers, the use of informative blogs or articles published on social
media can be effective ways to stay relevant to patients. Moreover, infusing targeted
keywords into the content can add a marketing boost.
For organizational marketing to be effective, the digital platforms in which the organization
will operate on must be identified, the target public will have to be segmented correctly,
and customized marketing messages will have to resonate with the audience.
Figure 1:
Marketing strategies for marketing a healthcare practice in the healthcare field.
Source: Hirsch Healthcare Consulting, https://hirschhealthconsulting.com/8-important-marketing-strategies-healthcare-practice-part-1/.
To understand the impact of marketing strategies on the quality of healthcare services,
it is important to understand today’s medical consumer who prefers to look for medical
information online, where he also has a wealth of healthcare services, healthcare
providers, reviews from patients who contacted the provider, etc.
With digital marketing, almost everything can be tracked and measured. Healthcare
professionals and healthcare organizations no longer need to insight what works and
what does not work. With the help of marketing performance information, healthcare
professionals, and healthcare organizations can make an informed decision on how to
improve their efforts, along with the ability to continually measure and evaluate
them.
The healthcare industry has the potential to significantly increase its coverage and
effectively engage consumers with digital marketing tactics.
As the marketing progress grows, organizations are moving towards more digital approaches
to remain relevant to consumers. Digital marketing expenses have been the highest
of all time, with healthcare companies spending over $ 2.5 billion on marketing, estimated
at $ 4 billion by 2020 (Health Works Collective, Digital Marketing Dominates Healthcare
Advertising, October 20, 2018, retrieved from: https://www.healthworkscollective.com/digital-marketing-dominates-healthcare-advertising/).
In this context, 44% of the marketing costs for health-related products and services
are dedicated to mobile and digital platforms. TV advertising costs have dropped to
less than 33% and are expected to continue to decrease, as the cost-effectiveness
of placing a product or service on TV seems to no longer justify the investment.
The way consumers use the internet to find hospital units and healthcare providers
evolves in favor of smart devices. With more than 80% of the patients who frequently
use smartphones, to either identify or interact with physicians, it is essential to
reconfigure marketing initiatives to better fit the era we live in. In addition, as
Google reconfigures its search algorithms to favor mobile-friendly websites, now it
is the right time to prioritize rethinking digital ads.
At the same time, the marketing mix strategy is necessary in medical organizations
to ensure their success. Thus, the strategy leads to a significant impact on the medical
organization, including its performance measured by patient satisfaction, the co-ordination
of planned marketing efforts to address organizational performance being essential.
Therefore, the benefits of implementing marketing strategies are
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to improve the competitive advantage,
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to increase the visibility,
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to create a solid reputation among patients,
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to understand the needs and expectations of consumers,
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to understand the patients’ perceptions of the quality and results of their experience
within the medical organization, offering memorable experiences to patients and, of
course, building a strong, effective, dominant brand on the health services market.