HOSPITAL AND HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

The hospital industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an

aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides
goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative,
and palliative care. It includes the generation and commercialization of goods
and services lending themselves to maintaining and re-establishing health. The
modern healthcare industry includes three essential branches which are services,
products, and finance and may be divided into many sectors and categories and
depends on the interdisciplinary teams of trained professionals and
paraprofessionals to meet health needs of individuals and populations.
The hospital industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-
growing industries. Consuming over 10 percent of gross domestic
product (GDP) of most developed nations, health care can form an enormous
part of a country's economy.
The Indian healthcare sector comprises the sub-sector of hospitals, medical
infrastructure, medical devices, clinical trial, outsourcing, telemedicine, health
insurance and medical equipment. India presently has 0.5 million doctors, 0.9
million nurses and around 1.37 million beds, and has the highest number of
medical and nursing colleges, at 303 and 3,904, respectively. In addition, the
cost of medical treatment in India is one-tenth that compared to costs in the US
and Europe.
Outlook of Hospital Industry
The main areas where a number of market opportunities exist for both domestic
and foreign players in the Indian healthcare domain include medical tourism,
healthcare insurance, telemedicine and medical equipment.
Some of the advantages and opportunity areas for further growth of the sector
are:
Rising medical tourism: The main factors contributing to rising medical
tourism in India are presence of a well-educated, English-speaking medical
staff, as well as state-of-the art private hospitals and diagnostic facilities.
Growing economy: With a growing middle class, and rising health awareness
and purchasing power, the healthcare insurance sector is poised for strong
growth in coming years in India.
Telemedicine: Growth in the telemedicine subsector is taking place due to the
need for specialist doctors in rural areas, as most of them live in urban or semi-
urban centers of India. Rural areas, roughly with a population of 700 million,
can be provided healthcare facilities through telemedicine, with remote
diagnosis, and monitoring and treatment of patients via videoconferencing.
Healthcare infrastructure: Growth in Indian healthcare infrastructure is
accompanied by strong demand for medical equipment such as x-ray machines,
CT scanners and electrocardiographs, highlighting an opportunity for global
players making quality products in this space.
Major Hospitals in India
 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Delhi)
 Apollo Hospitals (New Delhi)
 Wockhardt Ltd (Mumbai)
 Fortis Hospitals (Noida, UP)
 TATA Memorial Hospital (Mumbai)
 Christian Medical College (Vellore)
 Post Graduate Institute of Medical Educational Research. (PGIMER)
 Lilavati Hospital (Mumbai)
 Bombay Hospital (Mumbai)
 Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (Tamil Nadu)
 Medanta The Medicity (Gurgaon)
 Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Kerala)
 MIOT hospitals (Tamil Nadu)
 Artemis Hospital (Gurgaon)
 The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS)
7p’s Hospital Industry
People: The patients, clients, customers, prospective patients, providers, staff,
management – everyone – involved in the healthcare organization, facility, or
practice.
The people who deliver a service are a significant ingredient in the product
itself. Consumers evaluate service and satisfaction based on perceptions and
personal interactions. A patient doesn’t have much insight to a physician’s
clinical skills, but they will know if they are pleased based on dealt with them as
a person. Your reputation and your brand are not yours alone—it’s a matter of
teamwork.
Price: The amount paid in exchange for the value received. Price must be
competitive and lead to profit, but may vary within promotional and/or bundle
purchase options.
Price is a toughie in the healthcare industry. Sometimes there are few or no
options: Price is what it is, or maybe it’s paid through an individual’s insurance.
Elective care or cosmetic procedures, of course, are a different animal.
Anywhere in this spectrum, price is also a function of value, competition in the
marketplace, and affordability.
Product: Presenting the correct product (goods and/or services) with values that
meet or exceed the needs and expectations of the target market.
The primary determinant is in knowing that customers perceive and receive
value and satisfaction by way of your healthcare practice or organization.
For Example: For a toothpaste company, the “product” is a box on the store
shelf. But the product for service organizations is usually defined in terms of
personal happiness: less tangible than a pretty box and not easily quantified.
Promotion: Promotion begins with a P, but some healthcare professionals react
negatively to the “retail” or “blue-light-special” connotation. A better label for
this category is communications, meaning all the direct and indirect ways of
expressing yourself (your practice, your brand, your services) to those who need
and want your services.
This includes both personal and direct interaction (one-to-one, inspiring
referrals), and interacting with many (advertising, public relations, publicity). In
all instances, this is done in a professional way.
This is also where you consider changes in the media that’s in play. A few years
ago, nobody had a website. And a few moments ago, Social Media Marketing
had yet to be invented. Some newspapers have disappeared or gone online only.
Magazines and other publications, online and in print, adjust to capture
audiences.
Place: Presenting products or services to the customer (patient, client, end-user)
in the right place and at the right time.
In healthcare, the place for purchase decision is often separate from where and
when product/service is delivered. Keep this spectrum in mind…a change in
location can impact the decision to buy. And it’s likely that more than one
“place” is involved when there are multiple providers in the practice and/or
multiple offices.
(Importantly, place can also refer to your marketplace demographics, or even
the world if you deliver services over the Internet.)
Packaging: What the customer perceives and experiences about you, your
product/service—tangible and intangible—in every form of visual contact.
(Sometimes “Physical” or “Physical Evidence”)
This is not only the hands-on, physical container of a physical product…the
definition is also experiential, and often more so for healthcare marketing.
Packaging can also refer to how you bundle services (think of a plastic surgeon
offering a “mommy makeover” — lipo and tummy tuck—for moms who have
finished having children).
Positioning: How your brand, product or service is perceived in the hearts and
minds of customers and prospective customers.
Think of positioning as what you would want people—both patients and
prospective patients or customers— to say about you? Would they use the same
words that are part of your marketing message? Acknowledged experts in
positioning, authors Reis and Trout, say that what your customers think and say
about you is an absolute critical success factor. And that saw cuts in both
directions—positively and negatively.

Health care services and facilities:

1. Hospitals: Hospitals provide medical, diagnostic, and treatment services

to inpatients and some outpatient services. This category includes General
medical and surgical hospitals, Psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals,
Specialty hospitals, Family Planning & Abortion Clinics, Hospices &
Palliative Care Centres, Emergency & Other Outpatient Care Centres,
Sleep Disorder Clinics, Dental Laboratories and Blood & Organ Banks.

2. Nursing and residential care facilities: They provide residential care

combined with either nursing, supervisory, or other types of care as
needed. This category includes Home health care services, Nursing Care
Facilities, Urgent Care Centres, Mental health and residential
developmental handicap facilities, In-Home Senior Care, Community
care facilities for the elderly and other residential care facilities.

3. Ambulatory health care services: Players provide direct and indirect

health care services to ambulatory patients. This category includes
Outpatient care centres, Medical and diagnostic laboratories, Ambulance
Services and other ambulatory health care services.

4. Medical Practitioners & Healthcare Professionals: This category

includes Medical Practitioners, Chiropractors, Homeopaths,
Psychologists, Social Workers & Marriage Counsellors, Dermatologists,
Nutritionists & Dietitians, Optometrists, Physical Therapists and other
alternative Healthcare Providers.

Hospital services also includes:

Tree of hospital services

Board
Administration

Information Therapeutic Diagnostic Support

services services services services

A. Administrators of hospital:
CEO, Vice Presidents, Executive Assistants, department heads
 Business people who “run the hospital”
 Oversee budgeting and finance
 Establish hospital policies and procedures
 Often perform public relation duties

1. Informal services:
Document and process information
 Admission
 Billing & collection
 Medical records
 Computer information Systems
 Health Education
 Human resources

2. Therapeutic services:
Provides treatment to patients
Departments
 Physical therapy – treatment to improve large muscle
mobility
 Occupational therapy – treatment goal is to help patient
regain motor skills
 Speech/ language pathology – identify, evaluate, treat
speech/ language disorders.
  Respiratory therapy – treat patient with heart & lung disease
 Medical psychology – concerned with mental well being of
patient
 Social services – connect patients with community resources
(financial aid, etc.)
 Pharmacy – dispense medications
 Dietary – maintain nutritionally sound diets for patients
 Sport medicine – provide rehabilitative services to athletes

3. Diagnostic services:
Determines the causes of illness or injury
 Medical Laboratory – studies body tissues
 Medical imaging – radiology, MRI, CT, Ultra sound

4. Support services:
Support services is the service which supports all the activities of any
hospital related to patient care for their effective accomplishment.
It provides support for the entire hospital
 Central supply – order, receive, stock & distributes
equipment & supplies
 Biomedical Technology – Design, build repair, medical
equipment
 Housekeeping & maintenance – Maintain safe, clean
environment.

Marketing of Hospital Industry:

Hospital marketing is a way of promotion which provides high quality medical
care to the consumer or community while satisfying patient and families needs.
The target market includes patients and families, communities, doctors, medical
personnel, hospital staff, and society Hospital marketing has three functions
First, from the hospital’s point of view, through analysis of the target market,
hospitals can understand the future needs of consumers and establish good
management strategy for higher profitability. Second, from the consumer’s
point of view, it provide readily available and vital information to consumers so
as to avoid doctor shopping‖ which may delay treatment, worse medical
condition, and increase medical expenditure. Third, from a social aspect,
consumers get good yet affordable medical services. Though hospital marketing
can bring many benefit, for instance to save medical resources and educate the
consumers with the correct and healthy information to promote hospital image,
still some scholars have different opinions, they think that hospital marketing
may reduce the quality of the medical services and lead to competition between
medical organization which may cause unnecessarily medical services. The
purpose of medicine is to service of humanity. The hospital marketing may
inform the consumers with the correct healthy concept and accurate consumers’
choices, and to promote the quality of medical care. On the other hand, the
market target may have two groups: exterior customer (patient, families and
community) and interior customer (hospital employees), thus, how to do
hospital marketing and to improve the satisfaction and efficiency of the
customer, is the important issue of the hospital marketing can improve
satisfaction of the target market communication outward strategy of the hospital
can strengthen the satisfaction of the customer or adjust the attitude of the
customer towards the medical organizations; this is an important factor which
influences customer loyalty on the other hand stated that communication
outward strategy of the hospital is the most important factor that influence
hospital image, and the purpose of marketing communication is to improve the
cognition of the customer toward the hospital, to differentiate between
competitors and to inform the value of the service in order to improve the
preference and the consumers choices of the customer towards the hospital, in
order to educate the loyalty of the customer towards the hospital There should
have information project, action project and communication project. The
research showed that five leading activities that may promote the hospital image
(volunteer medical activities, patient’s complaint report line, announcement
board, educational activities and seminars). On the other hand, according to the
opinion of the professional medical personnel in the hospital, newspaper,
television and press conference may improve the hospital popularity. Healthcare
marketing can create customer base, the Medical business is an especial
profession which is usually not influenced by the economic climate. No matter
how rapid the transformation of the social environment, the medical business
still subsists However, how to win the competition through the hospital
marketing is still an important concern of the administrator. Factors that
influence the hospital choices of consumers’ (1)the factors that may influence
the consumer’s preferences may be concluded in five aspects: quality of medical
services, accessibility, medical expenses, facilities and marketing promotion.
Where (a) quality of medical services: refers to good medical care. (b)
accessibility:
refers to location of the hospital, convenience of transportation and parking
facilities. (c) medical expenses: total cost of the hospital stay. (d) facilities:
good, up-to-date or new medical equipment (e)marketing promotion: reputation
of the hospital, word-of-mouth, efficient communication and the
recommendation of friends and colleagues.(2) hospital management may start
with product, price, promotion and place. (a)Product – medical services can be
divided into three types: curative such as doctors’ curative or medicinal
treatments), diagnostic (such as laboratory analysis, radiology check up), and
other medically related services (such as home care, physical examination,
health maintenance). (3) Price – patients are seldom price sensitive when
seeking medical treatment, thus a higher price does not impact revenues if the
service is differentiated and better. (4) Promotion – this includes (a) volunteer
medical activities to foster a good image of the hospital. (b) publication of
hospital newsletters, announcement of hospital activities, introduction of
medical updates, all of which increase the understanding of the consumers
towards hospital. (c) holding press conferences periodically or medical column
on the newspaper, may improve the health knowledge of the consumers, and (d)
the superintendent and the chaplain of the church hospital may preach at the
church nearby, to strengthen the relationship with the nearby churches. (5) Place
– this refers to meeting the needs of the local community. The medical
organization restricted by the medical treatment law and the uniqueness of the
medical business, public relationship always regards as the main marketing
promotion, assisted by the advertisement, like volunteer medical treatment,
hospital news publication, press conference, community health education,
publication of academic journal, using hospital announcement board or
homepage and report of characteristics and development hospital through mass
media etc.

Public relationship has becoming the main force of the hospital marketing in
medium-large size hospital in recent years. Especially patient’s complaint,
management of the legal problem and carrying out activities are the activities
that hold by public relationship which are concerned by the consumers. Medical
information provides by the hospital marketing always influence the consumers
choices. Under the abundant supply of the medical resources, where there are
lots of different sizes of hospital, the important factor that keep the patient if
they maintain good and long –lasting relationship, therefore, relationship
marketing is also a factor to influence consumers choices. The main spirit of
relationship marketing is to develop a long and continuous relationship via a
series of related product and services. It’s not only a strategy, to integrate the
general advertisement, promotion, public relationship and direct marketing
factors, to create more efficient way to approach the consumer but also is the
key point to maintain and enhance the relationship between the enterprise and
the customer. When the relationship between the promoter and the consumer is
in better condition, consumer will have a higher intention to remain, and be
more willing to refer friends and relative, In other words, when the promoter
maintains a good relationship with the consumer, then the consumer will
express high loyalty and positive public praise also supported this point ；
Moderate relationship marketing not only establish good relationship but also
improve the loyalty of the customer In order to cultivate the customer loyalty,
the hospital should have information project, action project and communication
project, among them, the communication project is the multi-form marketing
which use by the hospital to attract patient and to enhance the loyalty of the
customer
Hospital marketing promotion is an important bridge that helps the hospital to
communicate outward. Especially in this kind of vigorous competitive
environment, it cannot be ignored. There are many kinds of hospital marketing
promotion. For example, mail clinic hours andschedules to potential customers,
free medical consultation, provide free transportation, provide education in
public health and hygiene, offer free clinic treatments. The above five methods
of promotions are very important relationship marketing method to promote and
maintain the long term relationship between the hospital and the customer.
Therefore, how to apply the method of hospital marketing promotion to attract
the new customer and to retain the old customer, to promote satisfaction and
loyalty of the customer, and to improve the hospital competition ability is the
important agenda that concerned by the administrator
Marketing promotion and relation marketing are very important methods for
hospitals to improve their competition ability. It is not only can build up
hospital image, increase the realization and understanding of consumers about
the medical service, improve the customer satisfactions and loyalty, but also can
create new customers and get more profits. However there are many ways of
hospitals marketing and different preference of consumers, which ways will be
more influence to consumers. Whether or not the above ways will influence the
hospital choice of consumers or increase their satisfaction or loyalty. And are
there the view point of different background consumers about the hospital
marketing have statically significant etc. Those problems need to be further
discussion.
Ways or skills of marketing promotion of hospitals popular used as hospital
marketing promotion
 Referral by friends and relatives
 Hospital news on TV
 Hospital news in newspapers
 Hospital news in magazines
 Hospital news presented in DVD format.
 Medical briefs or medical journals
 Offer discounted clinic treatments
 Provide education in public health and hygiene
 Promotional pamphlets
 Website promotion.