HEALTHCARE MARKETING 1 Health Care Marketing Healthcare Marketing Marketing is an integral part of any business and the health care field is no exception. A business can neither attract customers without marketing nor can it make any huge plans without HEALTHCARE MARKETING 2 proper planning (Mcdonald & Wilson, 2016). Vision Care Surgery Centre intends to make revisions for the company's marketing plan in the provision of Lasik surgery. A marketing plan utilizing a marketing mix of product, place, promotion, and price is an effective strategy for this role. Additionally, modern marketing management principles of people, processes, programs, and performance offer a critical guide to achieve success in the new revisions for the company. The aim is to achieve success in customer service, response time, loyalty, advocacy, conversion, and engagement. Patients in the facility will also report increased satisfaction, better outcomes, and value for their money through this new guide. A. Marketing Mix Recommendations (Product) Lasik surgery is the main specialization for Vision Care Surgery Centre and utilizing its efficiency in the new strategic marketing plan is critical. Research shows that a company must think of its product in terms of its experience to the customers, why customers may choose the product over others with the same product/service, what problem the product solves, and the reason for the attraction of that particular product among the population (Maslowska, Malthouse & Collinger, 2016). The facility must aim towards this goal. To achieve success above its competitors, Vision Care Surgery Centre can aim at acquiring modern biomechanical devices to perform the Lasik procedures which offer crosslinking methods that were not possible in the past technology (Yun & Chemyak, 2018). While the opportunity in biometry devices has the opportunity to raise the number of patients in the facility due to an increasing number of prospective patients, they also help the surgeons to provide the surgery safely and effectively for maximum results (Yun & Chemyak, 2018). In turn, HEALTHCARE MARKETING 3 the facility will have satisfied clients, a better reputation, and an increased potential to increase the facility's profit margin. Recommendations (Place) In setting up the Lasik Surgery Centre, the organization must understand that its target market is for those people who can be feasibly made aware of the services of the facility and have a problem that can be solved by the organization. To achieve this, the location of the facility is crucial. There must be a consideration for competition in the area. However, the facility should not focus mostly on the competition but its niche (Aithal, 2017). Focusing on the quality of services helps the facility compete on service delivery and not on pricing (Aithal, 2017). Additionally, the hospital must be conveniently located for the target consumers. A journal of Health Services Research state that proximity is significantly associated with hospital choice (Keating et al., 2016). The hospital, therefore, must focus on the target market by being strategically placed to allow for better access while maintaining a patient’s security and wellbeing. Recommendations (promotion) In an International Journal of Applied Research, Deshwal, (2016) assert that online advertising is a better approach to promotion in the modern world. It increases profit and opportunities compared to the traditional approach of advertising. A reason for an increased profit margin is that it is less expensive to advertise online irrespective of the wider audience. While traditional advertising requires full payment to the advertising agencies, online advertisements only require payments for leads, impressions, and qualified clicks (Deshwal, 2016). Moreover, it is easy to measure results with the existing online-performance and HEALTHCARE MARKETING 4 measurement. Other benefits include speed, better ROI, ease of audience engagement, and better branding (Deshwal, 2016). Online advertising, therefore, provides the company with a cheaper, convenient, faster, and effective platform for promotion. I recommend optimizing web presence to improve on the search traffic for the company. A strong online presence, according to researchers, is paramount in reinforcing the brand of a company (Deshwal, 2016). The organization can consider using an IT team to manage the online platform of the company. They have a role to ensure that there are no broken links to websites and removal of spam web pages and third party links since they have a reputation for providing a negative customer experience (Deshwal, 2016). Another alternative is to optimize the use of paid ads in highly viewed websites and on social media platforms like Facebook. Parackal et al., (2017) show success in the use of Facebook for advertisements with increased likes and shares of promotional content. The organization can utilize the same platform through the use of promotional messages, and branding videos. It is a possible stage to share informational content about the benefits of Laser surgery in people with visual problems. The organization can also manage its reputation by allowing people who visited their website to leave reviews and complaints after their interaction with the facility (Deshwal, 2016). It will help the hospital focus on areas of improvement and promote customer relationships with the organization through direct interaction. The interaction creates a better relationship with the facility and improves patient satisfaction (Deshwal, 2016). It is a feasible approach to marketing in the facility. Recommendations (Price) HEALTHCARE MARKETING 5 The USA is among the countries with the highest health care rates (Papanicolas, Woskie & Jha, 2018). It is a fact that finances have an enormous effect on the minds of patients. Laser surgery costs $1,000 to $3,000 per eye (Lobont & Bucurean, 2018). Based on the highly experienced surgeons in the facility, and other logistics including promotion it should charge on the higher end of $3,000 an eye. In turn, the facility must ensure that they provide high-quality services through the ultra-modern equipment used in the surgery and the highly qualified personnel. Insurance may not cater for the costs since laser surgery is considered elective (Lobont & Bucurean, 2018). However, surgeons may offer benefits and reduce the out-of-pocket costs for the patients. It is important that they have this discussion with the doctors about procedure fees before the actual surgery. In the discussion, they must break-down the cost of the whole process and allow the patients to make informed decisions (Lobont & Bucurean, 2018). Nonetheless, the differentiation in the facility must be so high that patients choose the facility over the competitors without the need to compete on price. B. Modern Marketing Management Recommendation (People) The organization must consider pooling a group of highly qualified Laser surgeons for the procedure. They are critical in utilizing their experience in the procedure, better in selecting patients for Lasik surgery, and in educating patients of the procedure's potential (Sandoval et al., 2016). Other personnel like optometrists, laser technicians, patient advisors, receptionists, and the manager must at all times put the patient's interests first. It includes knowing the patient at an individual level, being responsive to a patient's interests, provision of meaningful care, HEALTHCARE MARKETING 6 respecting a patient's values and cultural preferences, fostering trusting relationships, and promoting emotional comfort ((Lorie et al., 2017). Recommendation (Process) Due to the expected level of patient care, I recommend the use of Femtosecond Laser technology in the facility. The technology utilizes laser technology instead of a blade in cutting the corneal flap (Callou et al., 2016). The technology has a reduced chance for flap complications and has reduced re-treatments. Moreover, patients often get 20/20 visual acuity (Callou et al., 2016). It is consistent with the expected level of satisfaction and outcomes for the facility. Recommendation (Performance) Having the best personnel and equipment is meaningless without data on the performance of the organization. The facility can focus on the key performance indicators (KPI’s) like customer service, response time, loyalty, advocacy, conversion, and engagement (Pankka, 2019). Through this, the facility will boast of having a process that targets, acquires, and converts consumers into being loyal customers. Through this, the facility has an effective performance measurement. Recommendations (programs) The program of the organization includes the provision of Lasik surgery to the people by utilizing high-end technology in creating a value-based approach to patient care. Proximity is HEALTHCARE MARKETING 7 crucial to access the organization and proper promotion through online platforms ensures that the facility reaches a wider audience and provides information to acquire and keep its customers. I believe that the proposed strategies have the potential to benefit the organization in improving customer satisfaction, promoting better outcomes, and increasing the organization's revenue through direct patient visits and referrals. By picking Lasik surgery as a specialization of the facility, utilizing new biomechanical devices, proper online promotion, focus on KPI’s and choosing highly qualified optical surgeons, the facility will operate ahead of its competitors. They can guide the organization in becoming a center of excellence in Lasik surgery. HEALTHCARE MARKETING 8 References Aithal, P. S. (2017). Industry Analysis–The First Step in Business Management Scholarly Research. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education (IJCSBE), 1(1), 1-13. Callou, T. P., Garcia, R., Mukai, A., Giacomin, N. T., de Souza, R. G., & Bechara, S. J. (2016). Advances in femtosecond laser technology. Clinical Ophthalmology (Auckland, NZ), 10, 697. Deshwal, P. (2016). Online advertising and its impact on consumer behavior. International Journal of Applied Research, 2(2), 200-204. Keating, N. L., Kouri, E. M., He, Y., Freedman, R. A., Volya, R., & Zaslavsky, A. M. (2016). Location isn't everything: Proximity, hospital characteristics, choice of hospital, and disparities for breast cancer surgery patients. Health Services Research, 51(4), 1561-1583. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12443 Lobont, O. R., & Bucurean, R. (2018). Cost-Benefit Analysis Methodology For Investments In Refractive Surgery. Lorié, Á., Reinero, D. A., Phillips, M., Zhang, L., & Riess, H. (2017). Culture and nonverbal expressions of empathy in clinical settings: A systematic review. Patient education and counseling, 100(3), 411-424. Maslowska, E., Malthouse, E., & Collinger, T. (2015). The customer engagement ecosystem. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2694040 HEALTHCARE MARKETING McDonald, M., & Wilson, H. (2016). Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to profit from them. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119309895 Pankka, C. (2019). The Key Performance Indicators of Influencer Marketing. Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L. R., & Jha, A. K. (2018). Health care spending in the United States and other high-income countries. JAMA, 319(10), 1024. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.1150 Parackal, M., Parackal, S., Eusebius, S., & Mather, D. (2017). The use of Facebook advertising for communicating public health messages: a campaign against drinking during pregnancy in New Zealand. JMIR public health and surveillance, 3(3), e49. Sandoval, H. P., Donnenfeld, E. D., Kohnen, T., Lindstrom, R. L., Potvin, R., Tremblay, D. M., & Solomon, K. D. (2016). Modern laser in situ keratomileusis outcomes. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 42(8), 1224-1234. Yun, S. H., & Chernyak, D. (2018). Brillouin microscopy. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology, 29(4), 299-305. https://doi.org/10.1097/icu.0000000000000489 9
