Marketing in Health Care

MARKETING IN HEALTHCARE

BY:

DANIEL CLAYBROOK

January 16, 2012

ABSTRACT

This paper will discuss what the four P’s of marketing are and how it impacts healthcare organizations. It will also give you a brief definition of each P and how it is used in my healthcare organization. Then it will explain some economic issues that face my clinic today and what we are doing to get through these issues.

“Markets change, tastes change, so the companies and the individuals who choose to compete in those markets must change." (Morrison, 2011) In modern medicine, disease treatment is more importance than disease prevention, as doctors focus more on treatment of symptoms of rather than determining its root cause. This is mirrored in the media by the large numbers of direct-consumer advertisements aimed at persuading patients themselves to ask their doctors about various drug. Direct consumer marketing in the health-care industry is allowed in the USA. 

The health-care industry includes numerous subdivisions devoted to make available health-care services and products. The health-care industry comprise of health-care equipment and services as well as life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. The subdivisions connected with these are: diagnostic materials, hospitals, medical instruments and equipment, diagnostic laboratories, drug delivery, drug manufacturers, nursing homes, home health-care and providers of health-care plans. Health-care consists of medical practice, dental practice, hospitals, activities of, or under the supervision of, midwives, nurses, physiotherapists, diagnostic or scientific laboratory, pathology clinic, ambulances, nursing homes, or other paramedical practitioners like optometrist, medical massage therapist, music therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, chiropodist, homeopathic practitioner, acupuncture practitioner, etc.

American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the process of planning and executing the...