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Running Head: COMPREHENSIVE COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT 1
COMPREHENSIVE COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT 2
Comprehensive Competency Assessment Comment by Steven Hess: Monday, December 18, 2017 Final Feedback I am the proctor and cannot give too much advice as to give you an unfair exam advantage. However, the next time you take the CCA, I highly recommend visiting Dr. Lozada (in the writing center) and ask for a style review and advice regarding the synthesis of sources.
Comprehensive Competency Assessment
Introduction
The health sector in the United States of America permits, or in at the very least does not prohibit, commercials on medical services and pharmaceuticals. The practice of advertising as part of marketing of healthcare services for commercial gains gain conflicts with the practice in most Western European Countries countries. that In the majority of Western European countries prohibit commercials ads on pharmaceuticals and healthcare services is prohibited. This comprehensive essay seeks to explore the marketing strategies employed by the various players in the American Healthcare healthcare sector to promote and create sales for the offered products and services. This venture therefore leads to the analysis of three essays that directly touch on marketing strategies while relating the strategies to the healthcare sector. The essays, written by Sharma (2017), include surgical products product sales, concierge medical practice and media strategy. by Sharma (2017). Comment by Sally Lozada: Are these the names of the essays? If yes, be sure to include capitalization. If not, alter the wording of the sentence a bit to “…include the topics of surgical product sales…” Comment by Steven Hess: References Please refer to the Style Guide for information regarding the formatting of references.
Conceptual Knowledge
Essays Identification and Overviews
Every situation requires unique handling strategies. Marketing strategies are no exception to this supposition. In fact, successful marketing requires different strategies per target market segment for identical products. This section analyses the conceptual framework surrounding marketing strategies applicable in the healthcare industry. As identified above, surgical products sales are an essay that in which Sharma (2017a) analyzed a case study on the trends and dynamics of sales of surgical and orthopedic products. According to Liu and Huang (2015), the study explored possible explanations into the dwindling sales of the orthopedic and surgical products by looking at some of the common market dynamics that affect the sales. Comment by Sally Lozada: Which study? The one that Sharma analyzed or a different one? Provide clarity.
Sharma (2017b) explored a fast growing yet controversial medical practice known as concierge, retail or retainer medical practice was explored. This practice, as analyzed by the essay, was in itself one of advertising medical services but from an individual physician’s perspective. The essay further explored the specific element of the concierge practice marketed by doctors and identifies two key items, which were service and time. The essay explored the marketing points for these two items of the concierge medical practice and concludes by analyzing the issues of ethics and professionalism associated to the concierge medical practice (Elizabeth, 2017).
Sharma (2017c) highlighted several media strategies that organizations can adopt for effective marketing and awareness creation. The article. Social media featured significantly in the essays. Furthermore, the essay analyzed the 4-Ps of marketing as significant factors in the choice of a marketing strategy. According to Bacile & Swilley (2014), the essay suggested the application of integrated media communication strategy for Stanton Medical Group to help them attract the best medical staff. Comment by Sally Lozada: ? Comment by Sally Lozada: This is an area for further development. What are the four Ps? How do the four Ps have a role in marketing strategies?
Summary of the Propositions and Concepts in the Essays
Surgical products sale.
Sharma (2017a) focused on the market dynamics that would affect the sales of orthopedic and surgical products by the manufacturers of the products. Among the factors identified in the essay, included were the growing strength of the buyers and general market fluctuations. With respect to the growing strength of the buyers, the essay opined that the consumer has access to information and substitutes that render the manufacturer of the medical products disadvantaged as per the argument by Dertwinkel-Kalt, Haucap & and Wey (2015). The increased in number of substitutes affects the manufacture more because physicians hold the power regarding the perception created regarding particular brands of medical and services (Liu & Huang, 2015). Comment by Sally Lozada: Another area for further development in your writing. What is the argument of Dertwinkel-Kalt et al.? Comment by Steven Hess: Citations Please refer to the Style Guide regarding the formatting of citations.
Through the advice from physicians, patients who are the greatest consumers of medical products have access to information that eliminates the trial phase of new surgical and orthopedic products. The situation becomes even more complicated for the manufacturers of the surgical products with the emergence of several substitutes for each surgical and orthopedic product. These factors combined form market dynamics and the essay illustrates how they affect the sales of surgical and orthopedic products serving as proxies for general healthcare products. According to Liu & and Huang (2015), one thing that stood out in the analysis of market dynamics was that whereas the consumers’ power affects the sales, the main reason for the fall in the sales of surgical products as illustrated in the case is the power of the physician.
Market fluctuation, on the other hand, refers to the innovative nature of the health care industry that sets new product standards regularly. As health issues evolve, the medical regulatory bodies also place new product specifications upon manufacturers. This therefore calls for regular product modification, which if not implemented affects the sales of the products. According to Liu & Huang (2015), the physicians determine which product a hospital purchases based on the compliance with fluctuations in specification requirements and the approval by the relevant regulatory authorities. All these factors combined narrow down to the growing power of the consumer over the producer of the surgical and orthopedic products thereby placing the ultimate power on the hands of physicians.
The essay further analyzed the marketing strategies relevant to the healthcare industry. Two key strategies analyzed were push and pull strategies. Push strategies were the direct marketing strategies that involve advertisement and promotion of products and services (source?). Pull strategies, on the other hand, involved producing a product or service demanded and letting the consumer seek it from the provider (source?). Going by these definitions, healthcare services and products apply the pull marketing strategy by coming up with services needed instead of creating services then taking the same to patients.
The essay lastly explored the most powerful agent in the marketing scenario of medical products. The essay identified the physician as the most powerful player in the determination of sales of surgical and orthopedic products. This therefore makes the physicians the determinant of the success of any pull marketing strategy. The bottom line is that currently, the healthcare services providers are integrating both the push and pull strategies in promoting the products and services. Comment by Sally Lozada: Throughout your entire document, it is necessary to maintain 2.0 spacing. You will see between paragraphs, you often have more than 2.0. Be sure to go throughout the entire document and make corrections as needed.
Concierge medical Medical practicePractice
A study by Elizabeth (2017) explored the fundamental framework of concierge medical practice and gave its definitive framework from the perspective of payment models and perhaps the physician to patient ratio. In effect therefore, the article opined that in concierge medical practice, physician to patient ratio was often not more than 1:350, compared to the traditional primary care in which the physician to patient ratio was often 1:2000 (source?). This went further to explain a number of marketing points discussed in the essay and analyzed later in this summary.
Sharma (2017b) further explored the payment model in the concierge medical practice. The essay indicated that in concierge medical practice, physicians often prefer payment in cash. In the event that they accept insurance reimbursement, they prefer private insurance, which precedes a retainer fee. Technically, therefore, concierge medical practice is more expensive and requires a patient to dig deeper into their pocket for such an arrangement.
Sharma (2017b) further proceeded to explore the concierge medical practice away from the definitive framework to the fundamental marketing points, which in effect merges the push and pull strategy analyzed in the previous essay titled ‘surgical products sales’. To begin with, the concierge medical practice involves creating particular favorable healthcare services and letting patients create the demand for such servicesit. This involves the pull strategy, which implies creating a product that does not exist, but nonetheless subconsciously needed and letting the customers create the pullome towards it.
However, inIn addition to the dominant pull strategy that involves pulling of the customers towards the service rather pushing the service towards the customer, concierge physicians use the advantages and positive aspects of concierge practice to sell the idea to the wiling patients. The essay explores a number of the positive aspects including the following. Concierge medical practice offers the opportunity of creating a close patient-doctor relationship. This comes from the fact that the physician to patient ratio is smaller, compared to the traditional primary care practice. A physician, therefore, has more time to attend to a patient and can concentrate on a small number of specific patients. Comment by Sally Lozada: Which essay? Provide specific information.
The second marketing point is the fact that through the concierge medical practice, a patient has the ability to find the right doctor for his or her personal healthcare needs. This is possible through the existing network of concierge doctors. The network also offers conclusive guides into finding the doctor with the most desirable qualities, which are subjective and depend on the individual patient. Since healthcare is sometimes attitudinal, finding the right doctor that a patient can relate to, improves the outcomes.
Furthermore, Sharma (2017b) opined that concierge medical practice provides the patient with the option of making a home call. This hails from the factor of smaller patient to physician ratio making it possible for a physician to attend to a patient away from the hospital setting. The essay also reiterated that concierge medical practice creates a scenario in which the provision of exceptional healthcare services is possible. The items marketed by the concierge medical practice are time and service. Combining the two items, one gets exceptional and dedicated quality healthcare services.
Lastly, Sharma (2017b) looked at the marketing points holistically and analyzed the possibility of concierge medical practice transforming the entire hospital set up to provide the community with quality products and services. The essay opined that a hospital that embraces concierge medical practice has the ability of reaching out to the community upon which the most effective healthcare service in the name of preventive care is possible. This point also serves to address the critics of the concierge medical practice as addressed herein in the later sections.
Sharma (2017b) proceeded to explore the criticism meted upon the growth of the Concierge medical practice. The strongest criticisms hailed from social justice and professionalism concerns. The concerns raised by the critics included the possibility of further widening the disparity in access to quality healthcare among all people. As described in the essay, concierge doctors tend to offer biter services to their patients than the traditional primary care practice. According to Doherty Jr. &and Freed (2015), what made the situation even more controversial in the name of widening the disparity mentioned herein was the fact that concierge medical practice seems to be a reserve for the rich. This therefore implied that the poor have to stick to the traditional medical practice. Comment by Sally Lozada: Why the capitalization? Is capitalization needed? Is this a proper noun? If no, correct this. If yes, correct all instances throughout your document. Comment by Sally Lozada: better?
The second criticism involved the perception created of the traditional hospital set up by the growth of the concierge medical practice. According to Huddle & and Centor (2011), as was the practice, concierge medical practitioners have dedicated centers as wings of traditional hospitals. With the knowledge that concierge practice offers better services than the traditional hospital practice, patients are likely to lose faith in the traditional primary care. Unfortunately, since the concierge medical practice seems to be a conserve for the rich, the attitudinal aspect of medication will diminish for the poor and might affect the outcome of medication in the traditional primary care setting. This was illustrated by a study done by Doherty Jr. &and Freed (2015).
The above two criticisms narrow down to social justice perspective of the criticism meted upon the emergence and growth of the concierge medicine in relation to the selling points. The other angle is professionalism concerns with respect to ethicality of the concierge medical practice as favored by the medics in the network. Huddle & and Centor (2011) argued that the impression created by the concierge medical practice was that the person with financial ability gets access to better quality care. More concerns hail from the projections that most primary care physicians will divert their attention to the more paying concierge setting at the expense of the oath of beneficence prescribed in the ethics and professionalism. According to Research by Wieczner (2013), professionalism required strict adherence to the cause of healthcare provision. Favoring a more paying venture deviates from professionalism and ethics of medical practice.
Media strategyStrategy Comment by Steven Hess: Level Headings Please review the Style Guide regarding the format of Level 1-3 headings. Orphaned Headings Please review the Style Guide’s advice regarding orphaned headings.
Perhaps Sharma (2017c) sums up the communication of the marketing points of medical services and products. According to Bacile & and Swilley (2014) the essay explored the effectiveness of social media and other communication strategies that involve the print media and many other forms of communication. Sharma (2017c) explored the communication strategy that Stanton Medical Group can apply to attract qualified medical staff to fill the vacancies available.
In effect, Sharma (2017c) analyzed best practice in marketing and promotion strategies and addresses the application of the 4-Ps of marketing that include place, product, price and promotion. Bright (2017) argued that incorporating the elements successfully requires the application of media strategy described as the integrated marketing communications media strategy. It helps in targeting a specific market segment while at the same time reaching out to potential new customers. In the case of the Stanton Medical Group, the integrated marketing communications strategy helped in reaching out to the all medics and acquired the best in the available pool. This is because not everybody used similar media and applying a combination of communication media increased the chances of reaching to everyone according to Huibian &Yun (2014).
Comparison of the Concepts in the Essays
Conceptual similarities.
The first similarity is that all the essays narrowed down to the same focus point, which is the marketing strategy and marketing point of healthcare services. The essay titled media strategy (Sharma, 2017c) focused on the mechanism of communicating marketing strategies and zeros in on the best way to advertise vacancies in a medical facility. The essay on concierge medical (Sharma, 2017b) practiced addresses the marketing points of the concierge as a way of making it more popular. This makes sense with respect to the essay on surgical products sales (Sharma, 2017a), which explored the players in the market and the strategies applied in marketing of healthcare services and products. According to Huddle & Centor (2011), the assertions of the essays strengthen the proposition to harmonize the push and pull strategies medical practices. Comment by Sally Lozada: Title? Should be capitalized. As I mentioned at the beginning of the essay, the titles of all three essays need to be clearly presented and correctly capitalized. Comment by Sally Lozada: Again, notice the spacing beyond 2.0 found between paragraphs. This occurs throughout your essay and needs to be corrected.
Conceptual differencesDifferences
Whereas all the essays narrow down to the marketing strategies in healthcare services and products, the individual concepts are different. According to Sharma, (2017) focused on the reasons for dwindling sales of surgical and orthopedic products while giving suggestions regarding the best marketing strategies as Dertwinkel-Kalt, Haucap & and Wey (2015) asserted. They also explored the fundamental framework upon which concierge medical practice lay. Sharma (2017b) further explored the advantages of the practice and concluded by highlighting some of the criticisms as per the proposition by Huddle & and Centor (2011). The author explored the marketing communication channels and significance of the marketing mix in deciding about the appropriate media strategy. Essentially, therefore, all the essays address different items with very little common points but narrow down to the same holistic point at the end of it all. Comment by Sally Lozada: This is a very general statement and a more specific details are needed.
Overall relevance Relevance to healthcare Healthcare services Services marketing Marketing strategiesStrategies
As indicated earlier, all the articles narrowed down to marketing strategies. In addition, the essays associated the proposed strategies to the marketing of healthcare services and products. The surgical products sales explored the reasons for dwindling sales in surgical products, the concierge medical practice explored the selling points of the practice while the media strategy explored the marketing communication media strategy. All these factors combined created better perspective as to the best strategy for organizations seeking to market healthcare services and products.
The most Most effective Effective essayEssay
The surgical products sales (Sharma, 2017c) created more grounds for understanding the concept of marketing of healthcare products and services. It explored the factors affecting the sales thereby helping in developing solutions for the dwindling sales. The essay further explored the possibility of merging the push and pull marketing strategies for healthcare products as a way of improving the sales. As advancement to the proposition, the essay reiterated that the physician, being the agent in the business scenario, is the most powerful. This is because the physician has the ability to influence what the hospital purchases and what the patients asking for as they seek healthcare services. The depth and scope of the concepts covered in the essay therefore created more perspective with respect to the concept of marketing of healthcare services and products. This is according to the assertions by Liu & and Huang (2015). Comment by Steven Hess: OK, you summarize the essays/sources of interest. Let’s see if you build a perspective/synthesis.
Synthesis
Relevance of the Essays to Common Practice in Marketing in the Healthcare Sector
The introductory section alluded to the fact that USA allows commercial ads on pharmaceuticals and healthcare services unlike the Western European countries. The essays identified and analyzed herein explored emerging practices such as the concierge medical practice that brought together the push marketing strategy to the traditional pull marketing strategy employed by healthcare organizations. This makes the article quite relevant to growing commercial advertisements in the healthcare sector.
According to Wieczner (2013), the media strategy also explored the communications of the marketing strategy from a broader perspective, which narrowed down to the advertisement communications by health organizations in terms of services and acquiring quality medical staff. The analyzed marketing mix and the subsequent proposition of the integrated communications media strategy further drove the essay towards the common practices in the healthcare sector as evidenced by commercials on mainstream media and social media according Dertwinkel-Kalt, Haucap & and Wey (2015).
Perhaps the most direct essay with respect to common practices in healthcare services and product marketing is the surgical products sale. Drawn from the analysis of case study, the essay explored every aspect of the marketing dynamics of healthcare products and services. It began by addressing some of the factors affecting the sales of healthcare products and proceeds to explore strategic changes in marketing practice. According to Liu & and Huang (2015), the essay was the most relevant as it suggested the implementation of both the pull and push strategies, which would spread the power from physician to the consumer as well and possibly, increased the sales of the identified healthcare products.
Identification of the Consumers, Agents and Managers in the Essay Topics
In the analysis of the key players in the sales of the surgical products, the article titled ‘surgical products sales’ identified four categories of players and ranks them in terms of the power they hold in affecting the sales of the products. The players here were the manufacturers of the surgical products, the patients, the physician and the hospital management. In this case, therefore, the physician was the agent, the patient was the consumer and the manufacturer was the manager. Liu & and Huang (2015) argued that the hospital management may fall in the same category as the patient since they relied on the expertise of the physician who had more information than the others did. This article clearly stated that the physician is the most powerful in this scenario.
Liu & and Huang (2015) explored the specifics of the practice in relation to the key players therein. Whereas the benefits of the practice all pointed towards the patient who was the consumer, the specifics remained with the physician. In this case, therefore, their only players were the consumer and the all-powerful manager doubling up as the agent. This was because the physician knows more than any other player in the practice did.
According to Wieczner (2013), the media strategy article involved the communication of the marketing strategy and the key players in this essay were the consumers of the target information and the conveyers of the information. The essay mentioned healthcare providers, as the agnates while the target medics were the consumers of the information. Nonetheless, by introducing the market mix, the patient was the ultimate consumer while the physician was the agent with the hospital management standing as the manager.
The external forces that determined the application of the concepts in the essays to real life situation were the fluctuations in market conditions. As Dertwinkel-Kalt, Haucap & and Wey (2015) propose, the legal requirements in the marketing practiced and the increase in competitors were some of the external forces affecting the sales of healthcare products. The concierge medical practice on the other hand had professionalism questions and called for social justice that might pose a threat to the growth of the practice. All these external forces affect media strategies since healthcare organizations must take into consideration the factors while developing their media communication strategies.
Direction for Future Inquiry Comment by Steven Hess: This segment has improved.
The current world has been extremely dynamic across all dimensions, the medical sector being no exception. As a matter of fact, the growing pharmaceutical sales sectors have witnessed significant success over the last two decades in terms of helping in the healthcare outcomes among many patients. This is because the pharmaceuticals sales people have provided great convenience through delivering pharmaceutical products to hospitals, pharmacies, and private doctor’s offices. However, there is a great room for improvement so as to obtain much desired results from the pharmaceutical sales.
Going forward, pharmaceutical sales representatives need to embrace the advantage brought by technology in rendering their services. In this regard, adoption of mobile technology through use of smartphones, tablet PCs, as well as other handheld devices will facilitate portability of patient records and reference materials thus enabling timely provision of healthcare services. The idea is to cultivate a culture that makes healthcare and mobile profession that lends itself to the handheld devices. In addition, the global healthcare sector needs to invest more in handheld devices. This move will ensure that physicians and pharmaceutical representatives to organize professional online communities so that they can collaborate to improve the wellness of patients should use social networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other niche sites.
There is also the need for pharmaceutical representatives and other stakeholders in the healthcare sector to improve on the research and reporting on various medical services and products. There is need for more proactive monitoring of the market and research on competitor products, pricing, delivery procedures, clinical trials, competitor merchandising techniques, as well as research on new and emerging products and technologies. In this regard, information from the medical research should be recorded appropriately. Sales logs, territory analysis, weekly meeting reports should be a priority and reported to the respective management authorities for appraisal and improvement.
Above all, as the policies, products, and services face the dynamism in the healthcare sector, medical practitioners and pharmaceutical representatives should be the point of focus on matters relating to making recommendations to customers. This attribute will ultimately improve sales, change of products, and probably discontinue defective and obsolete pharmaceutical items. Pharmaceutical sales representatives should take the responsibility of contacting customers regarding the potential recalls or health concerns attributed to the products released to the market. Healthcare providers and pharmaceutical representatives need to be more proactive in handling the complaints raised by customers, filing reports, and developing solutions for problems as they arise among customers. Full adherence to the recommendations provided will lead to more robust healthcare provision services and consequently reduced errors and complaints from customers.
Conclusion
As controversial as the practice of marketing in the healthcare industry is, it is common in the United States of America. This comprehensive analysis highlights the current practice against the challenges and ways in which the practice can benefit the healthcare industry without creating further controversies. The analysis narrows down to ensuring that whichever practice reigns supreme, duty to patient and quality care takes center stage for all patients regardless of their economic backgrounds.
References and Annotated Bibliography Comment by Steven Hess: Just use: References
Bright, A.C. (2017). Book Review [Review of the book Social Media: Marketing and Advertising in the Consumer Revolution, by Keith A. Quesenberry]. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 72, 113-115.
This journal is a review of Keith A. Quesenberry’s book titled ‘Social Media: Marketing and Advertising in the Consumer Revolution’ was published in 2016. The journal pointed out key assertions by Quesenberry regarding the permanency of social media strategy for businesses. Most significantly, the review journal highlighted the best approach to creating an effective social media account that would serve as a permanent marketing and advertisement strategy. The review journal pointed out that Quesenberry prescribed the systematic process that involves planning, researching and reflecting before and throughout the process of creating a social media account for business purposes. If done well, the journal opines, social media becomes a vital arsenal effective in push and pull marketing, digital market research, and brand development with customers playing the role of enthusiastic advocates.
Bacile, T. J., Ye, C., & Swilley, E. (2014). From firm-controlled to consumer-contributed: Consumer co-production of personal media marketing communication. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 117-133.
The article explored the viability of the modern mobile marketing concept and the possible attitudinal it might have on the consumer. The article therefore explored the concepts of co-production between the consumer and the firm of the marketing communication through personal media. The article alluded to the interactive nature of the consumer contribution of media communication as a more effective marketing tool. In as much as the co-production of marketing communication seems risk reducing, the article observed that the actual nature of the psychological and behavioral response by consumers is a factor under investigation. In a bid to reduce the negative behavioral and psychological response of the entry into the consumers’ personal media, the article suggested finding a way to arrange for co-production by consumers of the marketing communication exchange.
Dertwinkel-Kalt, M., Haucap, J., & Wey, C. (2015). Raising rivals’ cost through Buyer power. Economics Letters, 126, 181-184.
This article examined the concepts of buyer power and price discrimination. It sought to explore the validity of the sentiments calling for the ban of price discrimination. In its investigative capacity, the article defined price discrimination as the act of offering different prices for identical products to different sets of consumers. The article associated price discrimination to buyer power. It opined that organizations with superior input cost efficiency can utilize the tool to raise operation costs of competitors. This is especially true as the article observed for products with uniform input costs. When price discrimination is feasible, the article opined that consumers are better off. The article observed that price discrimination favors firms that are more efficient where input costs are high due to the ability to optimize on every unit cost. Price discrimination is therefore a marketing tool applicable by firms with efficiency superiority for high input cost products.
Doherty Jr., J. F., & Freed, S. E. (2015). Legal Implications of Concierge Medical Practice for Health Plan Providers and Enrollees, Retrieved from http://www.msba.org/uploadedFiles/MSBA/Member_Groups/Sections/Health_Law/Legal%20Implications%20of%20Concierge%20Medical%20Practicefinal.pdf
The article analyzed the specifics of concierge medical practice by exploring the nature of the practice and charges involved. It termed concierge medical practice as a retail medical practice in which the physician charges a patient on monthly or annual grounds. The article further analyzed the average annual charges and proceeds to analyze the practice under legal context and the possible outcomes and implications for healthcare delivery. Among the legal requirements, include contract signing and allowing for the mandatory interaction with third party payers for medical outcome control. The article further demarcated the implication of the retainer healthcare delivery in terms of legal implications on the associated parties. It stated that it is illegal for a physician to deny services to a patient who enjoys the benefits of Medicare. In conclusion, the article opined that concierge practice will grow and is likely to improve care delivery, as it will change the market dynamics for healthcare demand.
Huibian, X., & Yun, Z. (2014). The Research of Media Strategy of Listed Companies' Crisis Issues under the New Media Environment. New Media and Society, 2, 21.
This article focused on the role played by media technology in spread in information in this current era. The media technology is critical in establishing a favorable climate for organizations and institutions, including health care-providing institutions. Moreover, the article provides important insights on how companies can handle the challenges they are faced with especially during the times of crises.
Huddle, T. S., & Centor, R. M. (2011). Retainer medicine: an ethically legitimate form of practice that can improve primary care. Annals of internal medicine, 155(9), 633-635.
This article adopted the term retainer medicine, which is synonymous to concierge medicine and explores the sentiments held against the practice from a professional, ethical and consequential perspective. It highlighted the key concerns raised by critics who opine that concierge practice goes against professionalism and social justice as the physicians seek to earn from retailing their services and focus less on primary care despite the existing shortage of primary care physicians. In response, the authors of the article reiterate that it is counterproductive to dismiss concierge medical practice on grounds of professionalism or traditional ethics since the practice stands a better chance of solving the existing problems in primary care rather than add to them. The article proceeded further to prescribe the emergence of professional ethics to address the new conditions necessary for the growth of concierge medical practice. In conclusion, the article observed that the only tragedy possible is if physicians completely abandon primary care for retainer medical practice.
Liu HW., Huang HC. (2015) Tradeoff Between Push and Pull Strategy: The Moderating Role of Brand Awareness. In: Spotts H. (eds) Marketing, Technology and Customer Commitment in the New Economy. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham (259-264)
This article explored two crucial concepts in marketing strategies. These concepts are brand awareness and distribution intensity. The article further explores the interactive effects of these concepts on marketing strategy outcomes of consumer heart share and market share. The exploration according to the authors revealed that consumer heart share has a direct positive correlation to brand awareness. In other words, the more a consumer is aware of a brand, the more they are likely to commit to it despite knowing of other competing brands. Equally, market share has a positive correlation to distribution intensity and brand awareness. The article concluded by prescribing to businesses after an analysis of interactive marketing concepts from several electronic shops by prioritization of brand awareness since it plays the crucial moderation role among outcomes of marketing strategies.
Reddi, C. N. (2014). Effective public relations and media strategy. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
This study focused on the importance of public relations in establishing successful relationships between parties. For instance, there is need for good relationships between customers and pharmaceutical sales people for the healthcare services to be successful. According to the author, there is great need for communication with internal and external public for services in the healthcare sectors to be of high quality.
Sharma, A.K. (2017a), Surgical Products Sales, California Intercontinental University, Irvine. Comment by Steven Hess: Wrong font.
This article pointed out that physicians stand out as the most persuasive and powerful in determining the sales of the surgery and orthopedic products. Manufacturers should therefore make good use of the physicians the best way they can to increase their sales turn over. This is due to the fact that they cannot use the pull strategy to market surgical products.
Sharma, A.K. (2017b), Concierge Medical Practice, California Intercontinental University, Irvine.
This paper considered concierge medical practice, the advantage points that can be used to market the practice, the benefits that would accrues to a hospital partnering with doctors in this line of practice as well as the challenges that may arise by getting to sponsor a concierge practice of medicine
Sharma, A.K. (2017c), Media Strategy, California Intercontinental University, Irvine.
This article pointed out that media strategy is all about how a company or organization delivers its information to their consumers or to their niche in the market. The aim and role of a media strategy is to help the organization to achieve their communication objectives.
Wieczner, J. (2013, November 10). Pros and Cons of Concierge Medicine. Wall Street Journal.
This article focused on the “concierge care for the masses” that involves the emerging style of physician practice that is usually driven partially by the frustration of doctors and patient regarding the treatment time constraints. The proposition of this article included the concerns that would aggravate the shortages of primary care doctors that lead to inefficient healthcare system.