Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC Order Instructions:
For the first component of the Session Long Project*, your task is to write a 4-page essay about a health care organization with which you are involved, or are familiar (Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury, NC.). Specifically, your tasks are to select an organization and describe it. Then, discuss the main challenges in marketing that organization. For the second part of this SLP, your task is to discuss segmentation and target marketing of your selected organization. Be sure to specifically address the following questions:
1. How does your selected health care organization segment the market(s) that it serves?
2. What is your organization’s target market(s)?
3. How are your organization’s services positioned to meet the demands of its target market(s)?
*Components of the SLP:
Module 1: Description of the Organization and Main Marketing Challenges and Segmentation and Target Marketing
Module 2: Marketing Wellness and Prevention
Module 3: Branding Strategies & Online Marketing
Module 4: Pricing Strategies and Costs
You will be expected to:
1. Focus your response to this component of the SLP specifically on the main marketing challenges that the organization faces.
2. Apply principles from the background materials in discussing the organization.
3. Provide a scholarly basis for your response.
4. Justify your opinions with evidence from the literature.
5. Cite several scholarly references for this assignment.
6. Properly cite your references in the text of your essay as well as at the end.
Suggestions: Be sure to gather as much information as you can about marketing within your selected organization as early as possible in the session. The tasks of subsequent components of the SLP require information gathered for the first Module.
Required Reading
https://www.salisbury.va.gov/
Astuti, H. J., & Nagase, K. (2014). Patient loyalty to healthcare organizations: relationship marketing and satisfaction. International journal of management and marketing research, 7(2), pp. 39–56. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Clariture; The Martin Companies Accelerates Healthcare Marketing Innovation via Clariture (2014). Marketing Weekly News, 68.
Codourey, M. (2013). The Public Handshake, the Pushed Gossip and Healthcare Marketing. Economics & Sociology, 6(2), 11-27. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Garcia, M. R., & Gonzalez, L. I. A. (2013). The untapped potential of marketing for evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations: a framework proposal. International review on public and non-profit marketing, 10(2), pp. 87-102. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Fellows, J. (2013). Rebranding Helps Sharpen Marketing Strategy. Healthcare Marketing Advisor 14(11), 4-7.
Legato Healthcare Marketing, Inc.; NRHA selects Legato Healthcare Marketing as a marketing partner. (2013). Marketing Weekly News, 232.
Health care brands
Sell, S. (2014). Healthcare brands. Campaign Asia – Pacific [Hong Kong] 46,48-49.
Stamats Healthcare Marketing; Stamats Healthcare Marketing Acquires Wellness Outreach Product, Lighten Up 4 Life. Mergers & Acquisitions Week (Apr 30, 2014): 36.
Star Life Sciences Medical Monitor Research Captures Healthcare Communications Trends. (2013). Business Wire [New York].
Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC Introduction
We begin this course by defining “Marketing.” According to Rooney (2009), the American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activities and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Marketing “…is a broad endeavor that involves relationship-building methods that rapidly multiply as technology evolves” (Rooney, 2009).
Health care organizations are increasingly recognizing that they face marketing problems. Shrinkage in clients, members, funds, and other resources remind them of their dependence on the marketplace.
Many public agencies face tough marketing problems. These organizations are confronting changing client attitudes and societal needs, increasing public and private competition, and diminishing financial resources.
Marketing is geared toward examining how, why, and when people satisfy their interests and desires, so as to attempt to influence the decision-making process. Marketing is carried out through the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services. The goal of marketing is to create internal and external exchanges in order to satisfy individuals or organizations. Powers & Jack (2008) assert that the marketing of health care services must often be tailored so as to be volume-flexible in the face of changing demand, especially when considering patient satisfaction as an outcome.
As we will learn in this course, marketing is all about people, just as business and health care are about people-oriented industries. Successful marketing is built on strategic human bonds. Personal relationships occur before business relationships.
Not only does marketing drive an organization’s competitive position and overall success, but marketing activities also influence a broad range of activities and people within a health care organization, from planning to the medical staff.
Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC Marketing Mix Principles
The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 ps.) are used extensively by businesses.
The marketing mix is a part of the organization’s planning process and consists of analyzing:
•Product strategies
•Price strategies
•Place strategies
•Promotion strategies
The four components must be carefully controlled to meet the needs of the defined target group.
The second part of this module is devoted to marketing in non-for-profit organizations. We will examine how marketing techniques differ in the for-profit vs. the not-for-profit sectors of the health care arena.
As you have perhaps learned in your other coursework at TUI, competition is very strong in the health care industry. In an interview, John Kaegi (group vice president of marketing with BlueCross BlueShield of Florida) asserted that non-profits are able to build their brands quickly and effectively by advertising through public education and engagement of consumers by appealing to their health (McPherson, 2008). We will learn more about the concept of branding in Module 4.
By contrast to not-for-profit organizations, profit-seeking organizations utilize marketing to enhance their operations. Despite the fact that many health care providers operate as non-profit organizations, such organizations also need to implement marketing strategies. One example of non-profit marketing in the health care arena is the recruitment of students to careers in health care.
Not-for-profit organizations also appeal to a different aspect of the marketplace than for-profit organizations, such as public education programs. For example, according to Jeffrey Cowart (Chief Marketing Officer of Inova Health System), nonprofit organizations may devote a considerable portion of their advertising budget on heightening awareness of the availability of health and wellness classes, HIV clinics, or other subsidized community programs (McPherson, 2008). In the next Module, we will examine in greater detail the way wellness programs can be marketed effectively.
Please proceed to the background readings for this module.
Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC Sample Answer
Introduction
In the healthcare industry, marketing can be defined as the process of developing, communicating as well as delivering healthcare interventions using customer-centered services. It also involves planning and managing available resources so as to promote the population’s health. Marketing in healthcare is geared towards examining and understanding patient’s interests and preferences that influence their decision-making processes (Codourey, 2013). This paper explores Veterans Affair hospital (VA) in Salisbury, NC segmentation and organization targeted marketing.
Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC on How VA Salisbury, NC segment the markets it serves
Market segmentation refers to the processes of identifying clients’ responses and how they are expected to respond differently to market variables such product, price, distribution, and promotion. Market segmentation involves subdividing markets into groups. The VA Salisbury, NC provides care to military veterans, spouses, and children of military veterans. The targeted audiences are veterans who have served a minimum of 90 days in the military. The organization uses a post hoc segmentation method. This is where variables are identified and then grouped using analytical technique using variables such as demographics, region, and the community demands (needs based segmentation). This implies that segments are derived according to the causal factors that relate to health resource utilization in this organization. This is an effective method because it divides the market based on the unique needs of the service users such as co-pay price, premium price, availability of preventive services and network sizes among others (VA Healthcare, 2013).
The organization utilizes conjoint surveys to understand the targeted markets Attitudes, behaviors, and products preferences. This is necessary so as to provide identifiable as well as actionable as a solution. The process includes analyzing the healthcare service product to ensure that it is of the highest quality and cost of effective. Segmentation is also achieved by distributing confidential questionnaires to ask patients about their experiences during their inpatient and outpatient treatment in their healthcare facilities. The feedback is the critical element that ensures that the VA provides quality healthcare services to the veterans that meet their expectations, improves customer’s satisfaction and health promotion (Garcia & Gonzalez, 2013).
The organizations conduct SWOT and cost-benefit analysis program to understand the organization’s strengths and weaknesses that impact the positive and negative decision making during segmentation and to determine the programs that are of greatest values to the veterans. The analysis helps the organization to focus on internal and external changes such as per patient’s costs, organization’s operation costs and patient satisfaction scores to ensure that health services reach every person in the population (US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2015).
Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC Organization’s target market
The VA mission is to deliver a seamless continuum of sustainable and predictable high quality and patient-centered care that is of superior quality. This organization has a long history of caring for Nation’s veterans. The foundation of the organization marketing strategy is to build trust and confidence in the service users and the nation that the organization provides exceptional quality and safe care. The message that this healthcare facility is communicating is that the organization will continue to be the benchmark of value and excellence to provide exemplary services that are evidence-based, patient-centered care and collaborative care in integrated into environments support continued improvement (VA Healthcare, 2013).
With the current enrollment of over 500,000 veterans, the initial organization’s target markets are 31.3% of veterans above 65 years and are not currently using the VA healthcare services for their primary care. Secondly, the organization also targets the veterans whose annual income <$20,000 annually. The market also targets the veterans that are not able to live independently or have limited functionality in their daily living. The organization marketing strategies focus to reach veterans using a number of techniques and strategies to recognize the unique groups within the population. This includes the underserved veterans living in remote areas, chronically ill or is diagnosed with mental illness. This organization’s main aim is to expand on the market and to promote premier health plan for the veterans. The VA affairs have defined the market niche that will ensure targeted and efficient marketing for its services (US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2015).
How VA Salisbury, NC services are positioned to meet the targeted markets.
The goal of marketing strategy is to ensure that the target market is identified and to establish a marketing mix that is appealing to their potential clients. Decisions about the ideal marketing mix are organized based on the price, promotion, product, and price. The goal is not just to reach with a particular strategy but focusing on ways to provide value to the targeted clients (Codourey, 2013).
It is important to understand where competitors are positioned and what attributes are most important when clients are seeking healthcare services. Positioning generally refers to the place the healthcare service being offered occupies in the client’s mind in relation to the competitive differentiation. To understand the current organization market position, the organization relies on data from market research projects in order to identify the attributes of a product that is important to the client, and services perceived to best deliver each attribute and improvements that must be done to improve customer’s satisfaction (Astuti & Nagase, 2014).
There are two main market positioning strategies namely a) head to head and b) differentiation. Head to head market positioning is done by an organization that has stable and solid in areas that seem relevant and holds a large percentage of the total market share. However, this organization cannot use the head on head positioning and is better off searching for a niche in the market that suits the services it offers. This is done using a competitive differentiation analysis together with annual market research to understand the organization’s role in the dynamic health care industry (Fellows, 2013).
The VA healthcare facility positions itself to effectively meet the demands of the diverse veteran population. The identified specific needs in this population that need to be addressed include improved quality healthcare that optimizes accessibility, the enhanced value of primary care and to increase of post-traumatic stress disorder care and treatment and counseling services, training. The organizations position itself as premier healthcare system for the community’s veterans that provide both quality and the patient’s clinical outcomes. The VA leverage competitive edge because of its unmatched patients quality care, convenience, accessibility, superior clinical outcomes and superior patient’s clinical outcome (VA Healthcare, 2013).
Veterans Affairs hospital in Salisbury NC References
Astuti, H. J., & Nagase, K. (2014). Patient loyalty to healthcare organizations: relationship marketing and satisfaction. International journal of management and marketing research, 7(2), pp. 39–56. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Codourey, M. (2013). The Public Handshake, the Pushed Gossip and Healthcare Marketing. Economics & Sociology, 6(2), 11-27.
Garcia, M. R., & Gonzalez, L. I. A. (2013). The untapped potential of marketing for evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations: a framework proposal. International review on public and non-profit marketing, 10(2), pp. 87-102. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Fellows, J. (2013). Rebranding Helps Sharpen Marketing Strategy. Healthcare Marketing Advisor 14(11), 4-7.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. (2015). W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center- Salisbury, NC. Retrieved from https://www.salisbury.va.gov/
VA Health Care. (2013). Veterans Health Administration marketing plan. Retrieved from http://stephaniekessinger.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/4/5/48452649/vamarketing_plan.pdf
