Part 1 Describe how the healthcare industry has transitioned from an emphasis on “the sale” to an emphasis on long-term wellness and relationships
It is possible to define the sales-oriented health care entity as the premium-quality hospital, which is mainly focused on provision of the set of medical services to the patients. The core purposes of the top management in this case are the following: to attract the proficient physicians and to encourage the patients to choose the particular healthcare establishment for getting the medical services there. At this stage of marketing evolution, the core emphasis of the healthcare management was put on the sales. The final level of evolution was achieved by the organizations, which have shifted their emphasis to establishment the long-term relationships with the patients and improvement of their wellness. In such case, the personnel of the healthcare facility is mainly focused not on maximization of the provided services within one particular visit; the core purpose is maintenance of the customer-orientation and attracting the clients to take the long-term services form one single provider (Fortenberry, 2009).
Part 2 What makes demand in healthcare a complicated issue, and what are some of the components that may contribute to the level of demand?
It is essential to refer to the fact that the law of demand is applied in the healthcare facilities in the same manner as in other industries – with the increased prices for the healthcare services, there is a decrease in demand for them. At the same time, there is the specific of this industry - in the case when the patient possess the health insurance (which is widely practiced in US), there is an option of getting such price which is significantly lower in comparison to the actual cost of the obtained services.
One more characteristic of the healthcare sector is the relatively inelastic demand. In the case if an individual faces with some disease and needs an immediate care, one would be ready to pay almost any price for this type of the service. It is obvious that one’s ability for purchasing the healthcare service may be limited by one’s rate of income, but still, the preferred expenditure in such case would be the healthcare service or medication. The level of demand may be contributed by maximization of the medical insurance within the social group (Kirch, 2008).
References
Fortenberry, J.L. (2009) Health Care Marketing: Tools and Techniques. Jones & Bartlett Learning
Kirch, W. (2008) Encyclopedia of Public Health. 2 Vol. Springer Science & Business Media
