Product Development Practices in Hospitals.
Introduction
The healthcare industry has significantly changed over the past 30 years with new development in products and services. The essay is based on the Women’s Birth & Wellness Center
, which specialize in providing birth services and maternal care. It describes the types of products and services offered and the technological impact of the product progress in assisting patient health. It also explains the strategies used to improve the marketing mix of hospitals as a healthcare facility. To further understand the services and products, the study focuses on prenatal care for expectant mothers. With the current trend in health care services, it is only reasonable to be curious about the patient’s opinion on the availability and accessibility of these particular services today. The study describes the importance of portfolio analysis and its differential advantages. The evolution of the healthcare industry has influenced not only the availability and access of healthcare products but also the marketing strategies applied due to increased competition.
Branding Strategy to improve the marketing mix
The revolution of the health care sector has improved competition in most of the health care facilities. Hospitals currently required to be more proactive in making appropriate marking strategies to beat the competition. Thus, branding is one best strategy that the facility mentioned above can apply to enhance the marketing mix of the entity (Gianduzzo, Gardiner, Rashid, Young, Frydenberg, Kelly, 2016). The two main advantages of branding healthcare products are competitive advantage and the creation of consumer trust. The establishment of consumer trust, on the other, is vital in offering healthcare assistance to patients. Branding helps develop a label that sets a hospital part from others. Birth facilities should create labels that fit their brand to gain trust from customers. A brand is a promise to the consumer of the services and products that they can expect. Once customers get the satisfaction they need, the reputation of the hospital is boosted, giving it a competitive advantage. Hospital enterprises have to create an image that sets them apart from other healthcare providers to capture the attention of their clients.
To succeed in branding, healthcare providers have to dig deep a figure out what they need to offer into the market that will make customers more appreciative of their products (Gianduzzo et al. 2016). Portfolio analysis is a tool used in marketing and strategy formulation. The birth facility should incorporate this tool because it enables analysis of their products and their performance in the market in future. Portfolio analysis has several differential advantages; for instance, it helps improve product quality and accessibility. These differential advantages make it possible for the birth centre to charge a premium on its commodities. The mission and vision serve as a promise to consumers of the kind and quality of services they can expect from the centre. It is, therefore, important for healthcare providers to stick to their mission and vision so that they can gain the trust of the market.
Product life cycle and Branding
Prenatal care as a service has three stages, but four stages in the life cycle. The introduction, growth stage, maturity, and the decline stage encompass these phases. Each step is characterized by different attributes that require an excellent strategy to ensure that the product maintains a long period in maturity before it declines. The branding strategy can be useful in achieving this goal. First, they can start by positioning, which is fundamental in establishing a brand. The purpose of the positioning is to set the healthcare providers apart by creating a unique impression on the consumer. It is crucial for the competitive advantage and enterprise has over its competitors as well as the targeted market of its products. The second way in which a healthcare firm can create a unique image is through identity. The use of visual characters, such as symbols, helps customer’s identity uniquely with a company. The birth centre should provide content in the form of testimonials, photos, and live events that show proof of excellent and reliable services. Testimonials from other patients who have had their lives changed while undergoing care in hospitals can draw customer attention to give them a competitive age against their counterparts. Digital marketing is another way that a hospital can initiate its branding strategy through the use of websites to improve patient engagement. And lastly, hospitals can use customer experience as a way of promoting their brand. When a healthcare centre invests in providing the best healthcare services to its patients, they are likely to get referrals from their patients leading to an increase in patient flow. These five identifies strategies under branding that can help a hospital achieve a more significant advantage over its competitors when applied successfully.
Technology is improving Patient information accessibility.
Technology has improved efficiency in patient care by ensuring availability and easy access to patient information. Before technological evolution, patient records were kept manually. This resulted in the pilling of patient records, as too much documentation was involved. As hospitals grew more significant and patients increased, it became challenging to keep track and each patient’s information. It was difficult for doctors to get a hold of patient medical history and make an appropriate diagnosis and prescription of medication. With the use of hospital databases, information is now readily available and accessible from a remote location to both the patient and doctor. Computerization of hospital entries has enabled easy access to medical services. The use of the Electronic Patient Order Entry CPOE, for instance, uses electronic gadgets to make medication orders, consultation, and order testing (Mackert, Mabry-Flynn, Champlin, Donovan, Pounders 2016). This has improved service delivery in the healthcare industry in general, as less time is required to handle patients. With more inventions coming in the future, the healthcare industry is likely to show more advancement than ever before.
A Survey by NCBI on accessibility and availability of prenatal care
Availability and accessibility of medical services are vital in healthcare. It is an indication of the quality of the healthcare system. Poor convenience and reliability of services and products is an indication of a failing healthcare system. The survey by NCBI presents a comprehensive insight of the patient satisfaction concerning prenatal care. The study was carried out in three domains of satisfaction include; satisfaction with clinic services, clinic accessibility, and physician interaction. The average age of participants was 26.7, with 70% of them either married or living with their partners (Alotaibi & Federico, 2017). A majority of people who participated in the survey were either from Samoa or areas surrounding it. The three domains formed the basis of the survey questions. The results of the study showed low satisfaction in all three fields. The birth facility should, therefore, improve the availability and access of these services to their client to ensure quality in the healthcare system. Considering the significance of these services, a hospital can reap significant benefits by branding itself in providing efficiency and regular prenatal care.
Conclusion
The healthcare industries have evolved over the years from the type of products offered, how it makes its products and technological trends. The products provided by Women’s Birth & Wellness Center have been differentiated to suit specific patient needs. Just like any other industry, the medical industry, there is stiff competition among medical practitioners and, therefore, the need for the development of strategic approaches to survive in the market. The branding strategy is one strategy that has been identified and known to produce good results for hospitals wishing to increase their patient flow. The approach applies five tactics, which include; positioning: identity, content, customer experience, and digital marketing. The impact of accessibility of healthcare services has also been discussed with the help of a survey conducted by NCBI organization on prenatal care for pregnant women in American Samoa. Technology has had a significant influence on improving service delivery. Information accessibility and access to information on products and services provided by the healthcare centre have now been made easier.
References
Alotaibi, Y. K. & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi medical journal, 38(12), 1173. DOI: 10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631
Gianduzzo, T. R., Gardiner, R. A., Rashid, P., Young, R., Frydenberg, M., & Kelly, S. (2016). Impact of branding on public awareness of healthcare‐related governing bodies: a pilot study of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand brand. BJU international, 118, 23-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.13469
Mackert, M., Mabry-Flynn, A., Champlin, S., Donovan, E. E., & Pounders, K. (2016). Health literacy and health information technology adoption: the potential for a new digital divide. Journal of medical Internet research, 18(10), e264. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.6349