A segmentation analysis of consumer uses of health information

Public and private health data organizations are receiving increased pressure to produce consumer-level health information. In addition, the proposed health care reforms imply that health care networks will have to market their health plans. However, little attention has been given to what format the information should have and what the consumers' information needs are. This article discusses the health services marketing literature published to date on the subject, compares it to general marketing literature, and suggests some general guidelines for the effective publication and distribution of health information.     

The marketing function in managed care systems

As managed care spreads through the health care service industry, marketing professionals are faced with the challenge of marketing highly integrated systems. This paper explores three questions related to this development: (1) what is unique about managed care marketing, (2) how has managed care impacted health care marketing, and (3) what new strategies and trends will shape these developing markets?     

Distinguishing service quality from patient satisfaction in developing health care marketing strategies

The marketing function in health care is increasingly becoming strategic in nature. The quality of care provided and the level of patient satisfaction are emerging as the core of many marketing strategies in health services as a means to achieve a distinctive competency in ever-more competitive markets. Therefore, it is not surprising that few issues have generated more discussion in both practitioner and research circles. Nonetheless, according to the health services literature, service quality and patient satisfaction have confounded many, the outcome of which may be an inability of health care managers to effectively derive, implement, and control marketing strategies. This article identifies emerging literature that assists in overcoming these limitations.     

The elderly healthcare consumer: a critical review of information source use and advertising recommendations.

A critical review of the literature is undertaken to examine the state of the art and degree of articulation of theories, methods, and findings between health care marketing and the traditional "generic" marketing literature as related to knowledge of information use by and advertising to the elderly consumer. Evaluative criteria suggestive of scientific rigor are applied to this domain as consistencies, discrepancies, and gaps are identified. Recommendations for future research are advanced.     

Cognitive commitments in health services marketing

Armed with valid information about what people expect, health care organizations can make commitments to current and prospective patients, thereby increasing their marketing success and improving patient satisfaction.     

Assessing the viability of situationally driven segmentation opportunities in the health care market

The impact of situational factors has typically been investigated in the context of goods marketing. Very few studies have investigated the influence of situational factors on services marketing. This study demonstrates the importance of situational influence on services marketing by delineating a consumer-based, situationally characterized competitive market structure for health care services. The competitive structure of the health care market is delineated in terms of the similarity/substitutability of the three-factor, situational characterizations of ten health care alternatives. The general marketing implications of the market-structure delineation procedure and the health care-specific implications of the findings are discussed.     

Transcending functional boundaries: the cultural, strategic, and tactical domains of marketing

While debate in the health care literature continues with respect to the role of marketing, many industries are adopting a broadened perspective which recognizes the comprehensive role which marketing may assume at a variety of levels within the organization: marketing as culture, marketing as strategy, and marketing as tactics. A national study of general service hospitals suggests that, in many hospitals, the marketing function is indeed transcending its functional boundaries through enculturation of a marketing orientation, involvement in the strategic process of the organization, and expansion of tactical marketing activities. Hospitals which adopt and support this broadened role of marketing are witnessing a positive effect on performance.     

A multivariate analysis of long-term care nursing services

Marketing, as a useful conceptual framework, has been extended to a variety of nonprofit sectors including the health care industry. Despite ever growing literature devoted to general health care marketing, there appears to be a death of specific application-oriented studies. This paper illustrates the development and application of a multiple discriminant analysis model in the context of long-term care (LTC) facilities. Empirical findings are presented and factors affecting the occupancy rates are discussed with implications for marketers, managers and administrators of skilled LTC nursing homes.     

A Multivariate Analysis of Long-Term Care Nursing Services

Marketing, as a useful conceptual framework, has been extended to a variety of nonprofit sectors including the health care industry. Despite ever growing literature devoted to general health care marketing, there appears to be a dearth of specific application-oriented studies. This paper illustrates the development and application of a multiple discriminant analysis model in the context of long-term care (LTC) facilities. Empirical findings are presented and factors affecting the occupancy rates are discussed with implications for marketers, managers and administrators of skilled LTC nursing homes.     

Competitor analysis in health care marketing.

Health care providers increasingly are relying upon marketing as a means of overcoming growing competition. Competition-oriented marketing necessitates a comprehensive analysis of the competitive setting, a task which the health care marketing literature has generally given little attention. Herein the concept, perspective and tools of competitor analysis are borrowed from strategic planning and adapted for use in health care marketing.     

Ethics in health care marketing: the Twin Cities perspective

Do hospital-based marketers have a common perspective on what practices are ethical for the promotion of health services to consumers? Do they find adequate guidance in making ethical decisions on marketing practices from the mission statements of their institutions? The author sought answers to these questions through a survey of marketers and other health care professionals in the highly competitive Twin Cities health care environment.     

The Influence of Older Consumers' Information Search Activities on Their Use of Health Care Innovations

Researcy has yet to consider the relationship between the older consumers' information search and their use of health care innovations, despite suggestions that such a characterization may prove useful to marketing practitioners. In this investigation of a national sample of autonomous elderly consumers, distinct patterns of information search behavior are observed which distinguish adopters from nonusers of a pair of health care innovations. Implications for marketing health care innovations are discussed.     

The influence of older consumers' information search activities on their use of health care innovations

Research has yet to consider the relationship between the older consumers' information search and their use of health care innovations, despite suggestions that such a characterization may prove useful to marketing practitioners. In this investigation of a national sample of autonomous elderly consumers, distinct patterns of information search behavior are observed which distinguish adopters from nonusers of a pair of health care innovations. Implications for marketing health care innovations are discussed.     

Public views on health care rationing: a group discussion study

This small-scale study develops a new methodology for investigating which ethical principles of health care rationing the public support after discussion and deliberation. In ten groups of about six people, members of the public are asked to discuss a hypothetical rationing choice, concerning four identified patients who are described in general terms but without detailed information. It is explained to respondents that the purpose of the exercise is to find out what general ethical principles they support. Discussions are chaired by an academic specialising in health policy, whose role is to encourage debate but not actively to participate. On the basis of an innovative qualitative data analysis, which translates what people say into ethical principles identified in the theoretical literature, the public appear to support three main rationing principles: (1) a broad 'rule of rescue' that gives priority to those in immediate need, (2) health maximisation and (3) equalisation of lifetime health. To our knowledge, this pluralistic viewpoint on rationing has never been developed into a coherent theoretical position, nor into a quantifiable model that health care managers can use for guidance.     

A survey on the current status of health care marketing

This article presents the results of a survey, conducted by Market-PULSE Measurement Systems, reflecting the growth of health care marketing and the marketing perspectives of health care professionals. The survey results echo the opinions of two groups of professionals: chief executive officers of hospitals over 100 beds; and administrators as well as directors of marketing, planning, and public relations who attended a recent health services marketing conference. The survey, a telephone interview, was conducted to determine: The degree to which hospitals are market oriented. The degree to which hospitals use survey research. The following is an analysis of what the surveyors found.     

Patient-Held Maternal and/or Child Health Records: Meeting the Information Needs of Patients and Healthcare Providers in Developing Countries?

Though improvements in infant and maternal mortality rates have occurred over time, women and children still die every hour from preventable causes. Various regional, social and economic factors are involved in the ability of women and children to receive adequate care and prevention services. Patient-held maternal and/or child health records have been used for a number of years in many countries to help track health risks, vaccinations and other preventative health measures performed. Though these records are primarily designed to record patient histories and healthcare information and guide healthcare workers providing care, because the records are patient-held, they also allow families a greater ability to track their own health and prevention strategies.A literature search was performed to answer these questions: (1) What are maternal information needs regarding pregnancy, post-natal and infant healthcare, especially in developing countries? (2) What is known about maternal information seeking behavior in developing countries? (3) What is the history and current state of maternal and/or child patient-held healthcare records, do they provide for the information needs of the healthcare provider and what are the effects and outcomes of patient-held records in general and for maternal and/or child health in particular?Specific information needs of pregnant women and mothers are rarely studied. The small numbers of maternal information behavior results available indicate that mothers, in general, prefer to receive health information directly from their healthcare provider as opposed to from other sources (written, etc.) Overall, in developing countries, patient-held maternal and/or child healthcare records have a mostly positive effect for both patient and care provider. Mothers and children with records tend to have better outcomes in healthcare and preventative measures. Further research into the information behaviors of pregnant women and mothers to determine the extent of reliance on interpersonal information seeking is recommended before expending significant resources on enhanced patient-held maternal and/or child healthcare records including storage on mobile devices. In particular, research is needed to explore the utility of providing targeted health messages to mothers regarding their own health and that of their children; this might best be accomplished through mobile technologies.     

Transcending Functional Boundaries

Abstract

While debate in the health care literature continues with respect to the role of marketing, many industries are adopting a broadened perspective which recognizes the comprehensive role which marketing may assume at a variety of levels within the organization: marketing as culture, marketing as strategy, and marketing as tactics. A national study of general service hospitals suggests that, in many hospitals, the marketing function is indeed transcending its functional boundaries through enculturation of a marketing orientation, involvement in the strategic process of the organization, and expansion of tactical marketing activities. Hospitals which adopt and support this broadened role of marketing are witnessing a positive effect on performance.     

Consumer perceptions of medical information sources: an application of multidimensional scaling

Multidimensional scaling is widely used in marketing research to characterize the perceived relationships among a set of consumer products. The technique is also well suited to study a number of issues that are of interest to health care marketers. This paper explains multidimensional scaling and provides an illustrative example of a health care application. In the research study reported here, the perceptions of various sources of medical information give important insights to a health care organization that is designing a new medical information service for consumers. Other potential applications of the technique for health care marketing are also explored.     

Modeling patient satisfaction and service quality

The authors attempt to clarify and extend the conceptualization and measurement of consumer satisfaction and service quality in health services. Although the two constructs serve as cornerstones in the design and implementation of health care marketing strategies, a literature review suggests that satisfaction and service quality are currently difficult to distinguish--both conceptually and operationally--in health care settings. The findings from two studies conducted by the authors to distinguish the nature of these two important constructs within a health care marketing context reveal that a nonrecursive relationship between service quality and patient satisfaction may account for much of the conflicting evidence in the literature.     

An Exploration of the Applicability of Situational Segmentation in the Health Care Market

Competition in the health care market has intensified in recent years. Health care providers are increasingly adopting innovative marketing techniques to secure their positions in the marketplace. This paper examines an innovative marketing technique, situational segmentation, and assesses its applicability to the health care market. Situational segmentation has proven useful in many consumer goods markets but has received little attention in the context of health care marketing. A two-stage research process is used to develop a taxonomy of situational factors pertinent to health care choice. In stage one, focus group interviews are used to gather information which is instrumental to questionnaire development. In stage two, the responses of 151 subjects to a 51 item questionnaire are factor analyzed. The results demonstrate that situational segmentation is a viable strategy in the health care market.