Healthcare Competition: Private vs Public Providers - Essay Sample

Introduction

The healthcare care industry has become very competitive as a result of the increasing number of healthcare providers. The private sector provides a stiff competition to the public or governmental healthcare facilities. Each private health provider has the zeal and focus of providing the best healthcare service to the patients and hence become the health provider of choice among the citizens of the United States. Apart from the provision of quality, efficient, and affordable healthcare, healthcare providers have extensively invested in marketing of their products and services (Sarkees, 2016). Each healthcare provider devises a marketing strategy that will outshine its competitors and result in a fruitful acquisition of clients seeking healthcare services.

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An example is the UCLA health provider located in the Los Angeles region. UCLA Health is a wholly equipped healthcare provider offering excellent healthcare services and the use of modern technology. Furthermore, UCLA has the best marketing strategies that give it an upper hand in the competitive healthcare industry.

Impacts of Marketing

UCLA has greatly benefited from its marketing strategy in various dimensions. Firstly, the marketing strategy has offered UCLA a competitive advantage over other healthcare providers in the market (Sarkees, 2016). UCLA has been ranked as the number one healthcare provider in the United States due to the services it offers and the comments from the patients who have had the experience of their services. Secondly, marketing has enhanced the visibility of UCLA. Through efficient marketing, UCLA has created its awareness globally from the services they offer to the exact location of the healthcare facility. Furthermore, UCLA has eased the accessibility of its services since medical guidelines and information is offered online through their website.

Thirdly, marketing has helped the health provider to develop a firm reputation among health victims. From the perspective of only providing medical care to patients, UCLA has moved to the extent of creating a long-lasting relationship with patients (Sarkees, 2016). Through marketing, UCLA can realize the expectations and demands of the consumers of their services. Knowledge of consumer demands and expectations plays an important role in shaping the quality of services in the health facility. Additionally, marketing has helped UCLA to create a long-lasting, productive and superior brand name in the healthcare industry.

Strategy to Determine the Utilization of Products and Service

UCLA Health aims and tries to achieve balance in healthcare by providing healthcare services that are cost-effective through the use of new medical technology. With the target of optimizing costs in the provision of health care services, UCLA developed a value analysis program. The program is managed by a committee and focuses on improving the quality of healthcare services while controlling the costs. The value analysis committee evaluates the products and services of UCLA and their financial repercussions to UCLA Health. UCLA Health utilizes an electronic submission form that helps in the value analysis program.

Marketing Strategy

UCLA Health has a wide variety of marketing strategies that focuses on creating awareness from the entire healthcare marketing area dimension. The healthcare marketing areas are specialty healthcare marketing, Preventive healthcare marketing, destination healthcare marketing, Hospital marketing, marketing for recruitment of physicians and medical product marketing (Kotler, Shalowitz & Stevens,2008).

Through the use of media, experiences, and paid formats, UCLA Health can pass marketing information for the purposes of promoting its reputation and increasing the competitive nature in the market. UCLA Health marketing strategies are classified into four categories. First is the plan development that uses tactical procedures to gain support for medical programs. Plan development entails the creation of effective techniques, media advertising, and budgeting. Secondly, is the partnership marketing that focuses on creating relationships with other partners that will further foster the brand name and growth of the organization. Mostly, UCLA Health utilizes entertainment and sport partners.

Thirdly, UCLA Health uses community-based programs and engagement of consumers to increase client referrals and improve the reach to the specific targeted audience. Affiliate and regional marketing are used by UCLA Health to create an outstanding image in the market and promote its competitive nature in the healthcare industry.

UCLA Health has richly invested in the use of the internet and modern technology for advertising its products and services (Sarkees, 2016). UCLA Health has a website that contains all the information about its services, products, staff details, and the location of the health facility. UCLA Health has invested extensively in the use of social media for its marketing. The large percentage of the United States population using the internet and having access to social media creates a convenient platform for UCLA Health to reach a larger audience. UCLA Health has Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts on social media that serve a great deal in the marketing of their services and products.

On Facebook accounts, UCLA Health can interact with potential customers. Through the Facebook pages, UCLA Health gives information about the services and products they offer. From the consumer comments and likes on their posts, UCLA Health realizes the needs of the consumer and hence reciprocates by offering what is demanded. Since social media sites are more interactive, UCLA Health utilizes the platform to give feedback to inquiries and to give relevant health information (Rooney, 2009). An example is the UCLA Health twitter handle, which is always updated and on-trend with health requirements in the seasons. UCLA Health utilizes the twitter platform to give health precautions to be taken in various seasons or during the outbreak of certain diseases; hence, many people tend to rely on it for health information.

Recommendations for Shaping the Buying Decisions for Customers

Despite the excellent and most efficient marketing strategies used by UCLA Health, the health organization can still engage in other practices that will lead to the shaping of the buying decisions of its customers. Firstly, the organization can adopt a culture of asking for reviews from patients that have been attended to in the health facility. Patient reviews are a critical tool that can be used to offer better services and enhance satisfactory patient levels.

Secondly, the organization should focus on making follow-ups on patient feedback. The organization should take appropriate actions to respond to feedback from patients. Building a good reputation entails how the organization responds to customer complaints ( Vladeck & Rice, 2009). However, an organization's reputation can be easily tainted by a negative comment from a patient if the comment goes viral. Therefore, the organization should focus on promoting ethical behavior and responding effectively to patient feedback.

Additionally, the organization should encourage doctor referrals. Doctor referrals are a vital strategy for attracting more patients to a particular health facility. Patients prefer personalized attention from the doctor and will often feel more satisfied if they engage in a one to one conversation with the doctor. Patient satisfaction ultimately leads to referrals and hence promoting awareness of the organization.

References

Kotler, P., Shalowitz, J., & Stevens, R. J. (2008). Strategic marketing for health care organizations: Building a customer-driven health system. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Rooney, K. (2009). Consumer-driven healthcare marketing: Using the web to get up close and personal. Journal of Healthcare Management, 54(4), 241-51.

Sarkees, M. E., & M, P. F. (2016). The changing landscape of off-label prescription drug promotion. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 10(2), 148-160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-08-2015-0042

Vladeck, B. C., & Rice, T. (2009). Market failure and the failure of discourse: Facing up to the power of sellers. Health Affairs, 28(5), 1305-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.28.5.1305