Strategic Marketing for Healthcare Organizations
Question 1
The Kid In patient Database (KID) is an essential part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). The database functions under the sponsorship of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The KID is unique because it is the largest public all-player pediatric inpatient care database in the U.S. The database is essentially a sample of all pediatric discharges from community and non-rehabilitation hospitals that willingly participate in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). According to KID, pediatric patients are those that are of ages twenty and below. The entire database focuses on the analysis of congenital anomalies and uncommon treatments in pediatric care like cardiac surgery.
Through its large sample sizes, KID derives more accurate and suitable solutions to pediatric problems. The database is used to study a wide array of topics like the economic burden of pediatric conditions, the quality of pediatric care, and access of healthcare services in the U.S. The KID collects data over a timeframe of three years since 1997. Data on the population of 2018 KID states compared to the population of the U.S. shows how extensive and accurate the database is. For instance, the Midwest has a population of 67, 978, 168 children and young adults, and the entire population is registered under KID (AHRQ, 2016). Trends in the database include elimination of State identifiers and vital data identifiers to increase hospital security.
The KID data is essential in making informed healthcare decisions because it studies trends in the medical industry. Therefore, a healthcare administrator would recognize helpful trends and forgo lagging medical procedure especially in children. Moreover, the KID helps in analyzing the risk of mortality, thus guiding hospital decision making practices. Gaining access to the large AHRQ databases gives a healthcare administrator an incline on the healthcare patterns in the U.S. For instance, the KID database records the severity of all pediatric discharge illnesses, hence helps in mitigation and prolonging patient lives.
Question 2
A pediatric nurse plays a crucial role in healthcare because they have to interact with both the children and their guardians in a professional manner. Patient-centered care in pediatrics primarily means that a healthcare provider has to understand that the family is the core source of a child’s support and strength (Pediatrics, 2012). A pediatric nurse should, therefore ensure that the patients, together with their family obtain all the necessary information about the hospital, policies, and the patient diagnosis procedures and treatments. By using complete transparency, a pediatric nurse could boost the patient’s health and increase their family’s trust in the hospital.
All healthcare workers should adopt ways of encouraging word of mouth marketing through their patients and families. It is the sworn duty for a nurse to provide quality care to as many patients as possible. Increasing a hospital’s credibility through marketing allows healthcare organizations to facilitate the provision of treatments (Martin, 2017). Just like in business where consumers usually talk to others about the quality of a product bought, patients also warn or encourage their friends on hospitals. The most successful way to facilitate rapid and positive word of mouth patient feedback is to allow more patient freedom. Patients should have the right to autonomy and also be involved in the hospital’s decision-making. Having comprehensive healthcare information makes patients feel safe and thus, encourages word of mouth transmission. Furthermore, giving patients viable and comprehensive information about the hospital prevents the spread of wrong facts.
Digital marketing allows healthcare organizations to modernize and eliminate risks associated with human error. Direct communications about the patients’ progress using modern communication pathways increases recovery chances. Since the current world is highly technological, people often communicate through phones than face to face. Therefore, Facebook and other known social media platforms are also word of mouth pathways.
References
AHRQ. (2016). Data resources: Introduction to the HCUP kids’ inpatient database (KID) https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/nation/kid/KID_2016_Introduction.pdf
Martin, S. (2017). Word-of-mouth in the health care sector: a literature analysis of the current state of research and future perspectives. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 14:35–56
Pediatrics. (2012). Patient- and Family-Centered Care and the Pediatrician’s Role. 129 (2): 394-404 https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/2/394