Question

Overview: For this task, you will examine how a healthcare organization’s vision, mission, and values are aligned to its marketing goals, and you will recommend marketing strategies to ensure a larger profit for the organization.

Prompt: First, consider the following scenario: You are the new assistant to the chief operating officer (COO) at a pediatric surgery group practice in Chicago. The practice has 15 physicians, 7 nurse practitioners/physician assistants, 27 nurses, and 10 support/administrative/office staff. You report directly to the COO, and the COO reports directly to the Chief Medical Officer (CEO) of the practice. The market for pediatrics in Chicago is very competitive, and your group practice has managed to make a slim profit every year in the ten years it has existed. The Board of Directors, which consists of all the physician owners, has charged the COO with creating and implementing a plan to ensure that the organization's values not only support the practice's mission and vision but also ensure a larger profit margin. The COO has passed this assignment down to you.

The Teal Trust, a former leadership organization most known for its leadership style indicator, suggested that the following five activities encourage people to uphold behavioral norms that support the achievement of their organization’s mission and vision:

1. Communicate values clearly and constantly both within and outside of the organization. Everyone inside and outside the organization knows what you represent.

2. Enroll new members of the organization in the culture of values immediately. Value-focused information and indoctrination should start with the selection process.

3. Revisit and refresh your values periodically. Healthcare is constantly changing; you must ensure that your organizational values have kept pace.

4. Confront contradictory behavior. Provide feedback to those who do not live the organization’s values.

5. Periodically solicit feedback. Ask people, both inside and outside the organization, what they believe the organization’s values are.

Next, use the Teal Trust's five behavioral norms presented in Chapter 3 of Healthcare Marketing: A Case Study Approach to develop a 1- to 2-page paper that addresses what you, as assistant to the COO, will present at the next board meeting. Be sure to address the following in your response:

 Values/Mission/Vision:

How can you ensure that the organization’s values support the practice’s mission and vision?

 Marketing Strategies:

What marketing strategies can you recommend that will ensure a larger profit margin for the organization? Be sure to justify your recommendations.

Reference

Cellucci, L. W., Wiggins, C., & Farnsworth, T. J. (2014). Healthcare Marketing: A Case Study Approach. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.

Answer 1

a. Values are driven by vision and mission. The healthcare organizations aim at successful management of people through a number of qualitative characteristics such as honesty, trust, co-operation, establishment of essential practices and much more. The following steps can ensure that organization’s values support mission and vision :

(i) High quality clinical instruments and patient safety must be the priority of the organization.

(ii) Attract and retain the best quality healthcare professionals.

(iii) Be quick to respond to patients and their companions in order to build mutual trust and respect.

(iv) Maintain an affordable system of healthcare services in order to attract more footfalls, without compromising with the quality of services.

(v) Pay handsomely to healthcare professionals who give their heart to the selfless service.

(vi) Provide inpatient as well as outpatient facilities to the customers and ambulance services must be available as and when needed.

(vii) Teamwork, integrity and co-operation must be taken care of as the main pillar of working in the organization.

b. The marketing strategies that would ensure a higher profit margin can be enlisted as follows:

(i) Responsive website : A responsive website can act as a profit booster as technology has made getting updated so easy. One click can help in knowing the facilities being offered by the organization.

(ii) Ads for Healthcare marketing : Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and many more social media platforms can act as a great customer attraction platform for the healthcare organization as a good ad can force anyone to click on the full link.

(iii) Online feedback from patients : Online feedback from patients can act as a magnet to attract potential customers as a lot of people rely on these reviews before going for a particular service.

(iv) Health checkup camps : Health checkup camps at a low price can help in generating leads for a lot of potential customers of the organization.

(v) Traditional media : Use newspapers, radio and magazines to inform masses about the organization and its services.

(vi) SEO strategy : Use optimum SEO to rank yourselves up against your competitors in the search results.