Question

The subject is public health
1. Public healthcare facilities cannot advertise their services. These facilities must, however, remain in business because the private sector is giving them competition. Discuss with the aid of examples, five (5) other ways public healthcare facilities can market their services.
2. Explain with the aid of examples five (5) types of research at the disposal of a marketing manager of a healthcare organisation.

Answer 1

1. The public healthcare services cannot advertise their services but they can market them in several ways:

· By using consistent healthcare branding: Having positive customer reviews and setting up a healthcare brand is one of the most convenient marketing strategy. For example, a person is more likely to choose services that have a positive healthcare brand value in the market.

· By building a responsive healthcare website: having a responsive and functional healthcare website can provide additional benefits to the patients. For example, a functional website for booking appointments can reduce the huge cues in the healthcare department and this can promote greater patient satisfaction.

· Evaluating online patient experience: positive patient experiences can be used to market the public health system. Positive experiences of the patients can create a positive brand value. For example, patient appreciating the services of ABC hospital will implant a positive image in the mind of other patients in comparison to a hospital having negative reviews.

· Leveraging social media: creating public health pages that are informative and helpful for the patients can market the public health services positively.

· Developing preventive health plans: developing a preventive health plan for preventable diseases such as COVID-19 can imprint positive brand image. Moreover, the health plans develop trust among the patients which markets the brand.

2. Research for disposal of marketing managers:

· The marketing managers in a healthcare organisation perform several marketing related functions in which the market research include proper analysis and evaluation of the services and the products.

· For example, the marketing manager of a pediatric healthcare service analyze the market value of the latest technologies and medicine used to treat children.

· The marketing managers analyze cost effectiveness and market competition in relation to the products and services offered by the healthcare group. For example, the marketing managers analyze the market cost of a technology and offers it for a slightly lower price than both the patients and healthcare organisation are benefitted.

· It is important for the marketing manager to analyze and research both the pros and cons of a service in order to deliver best and effective services to the patients.

· Market research is important so that the managers makes more appropriate and reasonable choices in the favor of patients as well as the healthcare service.

· The five steps of a marketing research involve defining the problem, developing the plan, collecting relevant data, analyzing the data and reporting findings and taking reasonable actions. For example, market research enable a marketing manager to identify the problem of increased need of technological advancement. Then the manager need to develop a plan to bring up technological advancement, collect relevant market data in context to the selected technology, analyzing the success or failure of the technology in the healthcare service and taking reasonable actions to overcome the problem.