For the marketing of medical care services there are nine elements of marketing mix which are used in a specific combination to achieve the desired marketing objectives. These elements of the marketing mix are :
1) Product: the product includes a complete mix of medical/dental care treatments provided in your clinic or hospital In case of medical care service, a complete product portfolio should be there in order to provide a complete solution under one roof. The most important issue in the service product is to know what benefits and satisfaction a patient is seeking from the service. The marketing of services can be a success only if there is a match between the service product from the patient’s point of view and the doctor’s view point. As a professional you need to take decisions on the length and width of the range of services, the manner in which they compliments and support each other and how these services are placed better than the competitor’s offerings. Your medical care services must be targeted at a specific market segment. The target market segment must have a definite need for your service. As an example you can customize your services as premium services, corporate services and economy services, targeted at the premium class, the corporate people and the common masses.
2) Place:the most important decision element in the service marketing strategy is the issue of location of the hospital or clinic so as to attract the maximum number of patients. If your hospital is at a prominent place say situated near the main market or any other common place, patient will find it easy to come to your place for treatment. Place forms an integral part of your overall marketing mix strategy.
3) Promotion:it is the most crucial mix to achieve the success of your health care services. Promotion is a part of your marketing communication. Marketing communications are the means by which you inform, persuade, and remind patients directly or indirectly about your services and brands. Marketing communication is the voice of your clinic or hospital and is a mean by which you can interact and build relationship with your patients and prospects. Marketing communication can contribute to brand equity by establishing your service brand in the perceptual space of your patient’s or customer’s mind. For making your practice successful you must design a promotional strategy which helps in positioning your services better than competitors. The promotion or marketing communication consists of the following modes of communication :
a) Public Relations: Public relation is the most crucial communication in your medical service marketing mix. The objective of every clinic or hospital is to build and maintain positive image in front of its public. As perception is reality, a PR for your clinic or hospital can do wonders in promoting your services. The main objective of the PR exercise is to develop a strong patient base in the targeted market segment.
PR tools : press kit, community relations, speeches, seminars, charity, local press, free check-up camps, special services for poor, special discounts to the senior citizens etc.
b) Advertising: Any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. Advertising in case of a hospital is limited to informing the local masses or target segment about your services.
Advertising tools: print ads, brochures, and booklets, posters and leaflets, directories, display signs, audio visual material, symbols and logos, video tapes etc.
The other parts of the promotion mix includes sales promotion, events and experiences, direct marketing and personal selling but in case of a dental care service it is the Public relations which dominates the marketing communication strategy.
4) Pricing: Price is the fourth P of the service marketing and can be a deciding factor in making or breaking the commercial health of your dental clinic or hospital.
Setting up the price: the price of your service depends on many factors like your market segment, competitor’s offering, the brand power of your clinic or hospital, the capacity of your customer to pay and the other P’s of the service marketing. So before you fix up a price for a particular service, analyze all the above components so as to come out with the right kinds of pricing.
5). Physical evidence: It is the tangible part in your intangible healthcare service and contributes towards the image of your clinic as perceived by the patient. All physical, tangible and controllable aspects of a hospital constitute the physical evidence of the service. There may be two kinds of physical evidence: peripheral evidence and essential evidence. Peripheral evidence is actually possessed as a part of the purchase or service but by itself is of no value e.g. a comfortable sofa in your waiting area, safe drinking water, light music, television, magazines and newspapers, health awareness brochures constitutes the peripheral evidence of your service and the other is the essential evidence which includes the hospital building, interiors, and equipments, etc. the objective of physical evidence is to make your service more tangible.
6. Process: in a service organization like hospital, the system by which you receive delivery of the service constitutes the process. In a hospital, some patients need only consultation, other may need consultation as well as X-ray, some requires surgery and the others may require other procedure. As a patient enters your clinic especially if someone is entering for the first time your reception staff must be trained to help him getting the treatment in the minimum possible time.
7. People:People constitute an important dimension in the successful management of healthcare services. People include internal customers as well as external customers. Internal customers are your employees and they are the very important as a customer sees and organization through its employees. The employees represent the first line of contact with the customers. External customers are important not only because of the revenue but also they are the source of influencing other customers. In the case of a hospital, one satisfied patient will lead to a chain reaction, bringing in his wake a number of other patients. The physical appearance of your organization, the looks and behavior of medical and para-medical staff, the delivery of the healthcare service have all to be turned into a desirable composite package.
8. Perception: perception is reality today. It is the perception of the customer about you and your dental services which is crucial. The focus of all marketing efforts is to create a positive perception in the mind of customers. In this era of globalization and stiff competition, positive image management has become the key to survival.
9. Preventive treatment approach: In India, if we focus on a preventive treatment approach and PR programs and preventive health checkup camps can do wonders to our practice management.