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BUSI 528: Strategic Management and Marketing for Health Professionals
Abstract
A well-crafted marketing plan is imperative for healthcare organizations to establish their
presence, attract patients, and build trust within their communities. A successful first-year
marketing plan in healthcare necessitates comprehensive market research, brand development, a
well-rounded multi-channel strategy, patient engagement, and unwavering compliance with
regulations and ethics. Managing the 5 P’s (product, price, place, promotion, and people)
provides the framework for developing a successful marketing strategy. By focusing on these
aspects, healthcare organizations can build a strong foundation for long-term success and growth
in a competitive and ever-evolving industry.
Keywords: marketing plan, accountable care system, product, price, place, promotion, people,
patient engagement, cost savings, quality care, growth.
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BUSI 528: Strategic Management and Marketing for Health Professionals
Introduction
As the newly appointed Marketing Director of the Bay Area Accountable Health System,
building upon my extensive experience at Oakland Alameda Regional Hospital, I have developed
a comprehensive first-year marketing plan that will differentiate this hospital as an ACS from
other hospitals in the Bay Area. With a focus on innovation, community engagement, and
exceptional patient care, the plan emphasizes the following five P’s of marketing: product, price,
place, promotion, and people. Berkowitz (2022) explains “to respond to consumers, an
organization must develop a product, determine the price customers are wiling to pay, identify
what place is most convenient for customers to purchase the product or access the service, and
finally, promote the product to customers to let them know it is available” (p. 7). The five p’s are
commonly referred to as the marketing mix.
Product
The Bay Area Accountable Health System prides itself in providing services associated
with being an accountable care system (ACS). Being an ACS, we implement processes for
improving quality and controlling the costs of care (Berkowitz, 2022). It also means that we help
control the costs of care and can be held accountable for these care results and the costs
associated with patient outcomes (Berkowitz, 2022). The objectives of an ACS are to identify the
impact of ACS on the goals of improving patient experience, enhancing population health
outcomes, reducing the per capita cost of healthcare, and improving provider experiences
(Wilson, 2022).
Price
ACS’s were implemented to promote high quality care and to curb increasing healthcare
costs in the United States (Wilson et al., 2020). Studies have proven ACS participation in the
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BUSI 528: Strategic Management and Marketing for Health Professionals
CMS investment model (AIM) is associated with reduced Medicare spending per beneficiary per
month (Trombley et al., 2019). In addition to decreased spending, the probability of inpatient
admissions and emergency room visits that did not lead to admissions, as well as the number of
days spend in skilled nursing facilities is reduced (Trombley et al., 2019). These studies also
suggest that ACSs reduce costs without reducing quality and were largely attributable to savings
in outpatient expenses among the most medically complex patients and to reduction of low-value
services (Wilson et al., 2020).
Place
The Bay Area Accountable Health System is a hospital system that has chosen to
participate as an ACS to benefit its patients and providers. The structure of the ACS focuses on
the health care of an individual and in delivering the appropriate care at the most appropriate
time and location. As the ACS was created under the Affordable Car Act, it is based on rewards
based on the health status of the patient population under the management of any one healthcare
organization (Berkowitz, 2022). At the Bay Area Accountable Health System, we focus on
population health and loyalty instead of volume by gaining patient confidence in a system that
can manage their care in an integrated system (Berkowitz, 2022).
Promotion
By being an ACS, it will help doctor’s coordinate patient care more efficiently while
providing higher quality care (Berkowitz, 2022). Doctor’s are apart of a coordinated team,
patients will not have to fill out as many medical forms that ask for the same information, and
each doctor will know about medical problems that patient’s have had treated, but they will also
have a complete overall view of the patient’s health through talking with other doctors
(Berkowitz, 2022). Studies suggest the collaboration between health professionals through co-
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BUSI 528: Strategic Management and Marketing for Health Professionals
location and care coordinators, eased the process of coordinating patient care and addressed
quality care barriers including lack of provider time (Wilson, 2022). At the Bay Area
Accountable Health System, ensuring our patients care is high quality, efficient, and low cost is a
top priority.
People
The Bay Area Accountable Health System focuses on people to include patients,
employees and physicians. We believe with positive, efficient physicians and employees that our
patients will reap the benefits of high-quality care at a lower cost. Research suggests that
hospitals that are centralized through an ACS had significant decreases in mortality compared to
those that remained free-standing (Wilson et al., 2020). As an ACS, we have seen increases in
quality measures for chronic diseases including COPD, diabetes, and congestive heart failure;
increases in the number of enrollees that meet the chronic-care management thresholds and
reductions in hospital admissions related to a focus on prevention indicators (Wilson et al.,
2020). As an ACS, the Bay Area Accountable Health system provides more appropriate
screenings for breast and colorectal screening as well as an improvement in appropriateness of
treatment (Wilson et al., 2020).
Conclusion
The Bay Area Accountable Health System puts the community first by participating in
the Affordable Care Act’s ACS program. With models such as the pay-for-performance (P4P),
the focus to improve quality of care while reducing costs and meeting performance measures our
organization strives for the best (Berkowitz, 2022). By shifting from a volume-based payment
towards value-based care and placing an emphasis on achieving population health outcomes, the
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BUSI 528: Strategic Management and Marketing for Health Professionals
Bay Area Accountable Health System improves quality while lowering health care costs (Wilson
et al., 2020).
Biblical Integration
The Bible provides principles such as stewardship, responsibility, and care for others that
are easily relatable to the mission of the Bay Area Accountable Health System and its ACS
status. Proverbs 31: 8-9 states “open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are
destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy” (NIV,
2020, p. 235). This verse calls for advocating for the rights and well-being of those who may not
have access to quality healthcare, aligning with the principles of equitable care that ACS’s aim to
promote.
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BUSI 528: Strategic Management and Marketing for Health Professionals
Resources
Andraski, J. C., & Novack, R. A. (1996). Marketing logistics value: Managing the 5 P’s. Journal
of Business Logistics, 17(11996).
Barker, K. L. (2020). Niv study bible. Zondervan.
Berkowitz, E. N. (2022). Essentials of Health Care Marketing. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Wilson, M., Guta, A., Waddell, K., Lavis, J., Reid, R., & Evans, C. (2020). The impacts of
accountable care organizations on patient experience, health outcomes and costs: A rapid
review. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 25(2), 130–138.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1355819620913141
Trombley, M. J., Fout, B., Brodsky, S., McWilliams, J. M., Nyweide, D. J., & Morefield, B.
(2019). Early effects of an accountable care organization model for underserved areas.
New England Journal of Medicine, 381(6), 543–551.
https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsa1816660
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