help

pport services on ion of clinical ser- the verticaI inte- rm are education :[opment tactics, ,ith an increased )atie nts.

and operational s and health sys- rgic, operationa[, ecutive office to r the service [ine rse of space and owth.

rroach to heatth- d tittte hard evi- ine management ,s, and the ctose an devetop is an

ine management

erest reflected a )s, and physician

rg need to estab- e the reviva[. rot clear. ldeatty, s, but most con- uum of services :aI silos of care. r, a better under- a b Iished.

has been driven hr' rel prefbrences, anul :s the rnarketing o:

serviccs that can be ic.r1lr, includes rou- i obstetrics sen-ices rrl man,l, outpatienr

Chapter 6: Heatthcare

serl,ices. Hospital-based primary care tends to be unspecialized and requires ;r relatirrel)r lou' level of technological sophistication.

Secondary care irlvolves a higher degree of'specialization and tecl-r-

nological sophistication than primary carc because of the iucreased severity of tl-re health problems encountered. Physician care is provided bv more highl.v trained practitioners, such as specialized surgeons (e.g., urologists,

ophthalmologists) ar-rd specialized internists (e .g., cardiologists, oncologists).

Problems requiring more spccialized skills and more sophisticated biomedical

equipment are included in this category. Although much of the care is still provided in a physician's office or clinic, these specialists tend to spend a large

sha.re of their time in the hospital setting. Secondar.v hospitals are capable of pr:oviding more complex technological backup, physician specialist sllpport,

lnd ancillarl, services than are primary care hospitals. These lacilities can handle moderately complex surgical and medical cases and serl'e as referrirl

.enters for primary care fhcilities.

(AS,E,STU'DY,6.'1 r,'', :,'. :'l', :' r' i'r' l r "' r:' : :'' l:i" ::rr r:

Duiingr,the:.i960s, sonre,renteip.rising,h'ealth,Care-:,p' of --'- ,[5',[s[isvs6]',",:

Whilsrthe; c6n,eeded',th j1 6,xxy.'.:patiehtil'd,es|ied', a,|On$lterm],rE[ati.on.', .,,, ship,with,a:,rphy!,ic.ia,n and,'weie,:Wil,ling'to ai-eept.,th,e, d,eficiene:is5,sf ,f h,s ' ,",

typica,L:phy,siiian,pra,cti,ce' to,robtai,n',,i,tr,t,het atso th0Ught'there.',was a sig-.

nifita,nt,poition o.f,'the:populatlQ]n,,that'idid .hot,haver6n:q'51;51i.hed phy-.:. ,.

sicia,h,trielatio'nshipi',b'ut,ociasionallV,,iaqUiiled,,s0me ,typelrof.cdie,,So$e '

of ,ihei.e',:,CO,n,s,urners weie rnqW.:to.1her'rcom,munitY,land:'had,,not found 'a:' ' re*utai;rphvsieianr;,whi'le,otrherir'had'becorn'e ditillusion€drrwith their,phVr ' siCi'an,blut,'had,,not,yet,fo,und,a:,'replaCe,menL'StittOthersiWerreidisSatis'fiOd''

*11h l6e,iondiii'ons, undea,Which,,aarier:rhad,lo'b'elobtained;tong'waits'fo'r r,,,:,

an,appointme[[;,'1669,,r*i1g,,,i6 ifi:[,,waiti11g,,rro'o,mr,sho,itt,time, (oftein,'o,nly', ,,

five min:utd iprentwith,iliq.dogtori and a bi$.b|tlrefteiwardgr,'out'ofrthis,,, ,

fruttlratin,g situation;"th,e urgent,ic,are::cehtgf ,taraS,;1i6v11., ,,r,,;,: .1"11,1

,fhe ConeeBt'b'e,h!,nd,lurgent,iale,tentats,Was,.,to:derelo,p connenie,ntly, ,,,, located (ir€..r:,in',ih.elcdm rn,unit }:Wal'k.in,'clihi.Cs,,staffed ,bV the'same,tyPes, , ,, of phys-iiiani:,,e,nCou,nteiedr,inra.,doitorli,'loffite'.,'Each,ce,h.ter: 'wouldr'of,fer ',

basic,rsirVieei:onty'and:,ief - --ts,wi1h,,,6,6y1hih$ m,ote,lhan 'a rRin'6r ':"'

,op6111[n .]t6,: ,an:other:r,.fae ititld , Att:hou$hr ,thei ,ce'n,t€.i wouldr,r'accept, ,,i1s,ui:,, ,,, l

ance;litWouldihar:ge',ra'[owfee,to.atliait,pat,ien,ts,Witho'utri.n'5,ijranierand: ',.

Secondary care Services for conditions that are moderately comptex and need

a moderate level of resources and sl<itts

t Marl<eting Heatth Services

patients with,insurance who were turned off bythe!r regufar physicians' '

Thecenter..wouldnotmaintainmedicatrecordEbeyondthe:.basics, assuming,most visits w-ere one:time:€ve0t5'

They would have the advan:

tageofquick:servicewithnone:of:thehassle'associatedwithatypical physician's, offiie. ' t '. - ., . 1,, -- ^" -^-,,,i,.^ r,n .i r convinced there was a demand for this type of service

in a trislt,v

.mobi[e,convenience-orientedsoeiety,.physicianentrepreneursi'na'mid-

sized city in,the,south'setiout to estabtish a network of seven urgent'

care centers at strategicatty tocated sites' They chose fai'rty new 1ub.ur:

ban:areas close to r,iif,r-iruffi. cornmercial and ietail centers, betlevin_g

thattheselocations-woutdattractthecustomerstheywereseeking- Having taken something of a tocation

gambte' they faced the :nt:f:,:: of marketing the new

-ioncept' They brought in marketers to survey'

consumers to determine the:best prospects for urgent care centers',

,.-

Upon'reviewing the surveys' the physicians devetoped a fairty clear

idea of their prospective'cusiomers' The best prospects were 15- 'to

{o.}ear-old men and'women who were highty mobite (often newtl:1e

community),, fairty welt educated' and more often than not in u. Y

income family without'children' Whites appeared to be more open to the

idea'than nonwhites'Those in the middle' to upper-middle-ctass income

categories were great prospects; the more afftuent were not attracte'd'

and the downscale fopurution, wer:e intimidated by this plactice model

and concerned about hiving to pay'cash upfront' ln terms oltifestyte'

thesurveyshowedthatthosewho'wereprogressive'innovative'highty mobite, and more focused on the

present than the future were more

. t' !"'Y;lr

Tilll,';il"l'jj; f i r m e d th e d eve ro p e rs' i nru iti o n ab o ut li: a:l

:-g

the centers in newly emerging afftuent suburbs' and:they set outto mar

ket this service toihe taiset population' Taking advantage "f::ti:1:

sourc€s of data; thodeverJpeti were abte to target the households that

.disptayedthedesiredcharacteristicswithinafive.mileradiusoleach

site: Of the seven urgent care centers established' flw€ were s.::::ttt"'

and rwo sisn iri can;duh derperform ed' The- o nlv discernabte oin1 r-9L13s

betweenthesuccessfutandunsuccessfuIoneswerethelowervisibitity and lower drive'by'traffic characterizing

the latter' . ' The devetopersr'abitlty to target thelmost'likety

prospects |:tTO them launch a successful promotional

eampaign that'quickty,ft:t':1':

a high votume,of,businesls, without knowledge olthe,most likely pros'

, lpects; th€,marketers'efforts woutd have been ineffective and the growth

of the urgent care center clientele woutd have been much stower'