Discussion Question 1 

This discussion will allow you to generate content for your Final Project regarding your chosen healthcare organization’s customers and demographics. As mentioned in Chapter 7 of the course text, “marketing involves both the creation and distribution of goods and services” (Stevens, R., & Silver, L. S., 2015, section 7.1: “What is Marketing,” para. 4). Marketing departments should be concerned with customer needs and meeting those needs in the market place. The marketing concept for HCOs, therefore, is patient-centered. However, marketing concerns within a HCO should not be focused on patients in general, but on patients who are part of a pre-selected market segment (i.e., specific customers with specific needs). To prepare for this discussion, read Chapter 7 of the course text and the Rao (2012) article, “Generating Growth Through Patient-Centered Commercial Strategies.” Then read the scenario below and address the points that follow.

Scenario:
The Happy Valley long-term care director notes that past marketing directors and marketing teams made assumptions concerning patient expectations and offered a limited degree of amenities. However, current research indicates that the baby boomer generation will expect a far greater degree of amenities such as TVs in rooms and private bathrooms. In the future, HCOs and marketing teams will focus on analytical tools to gain a more accurate degree of knowledge concerning patients’ actual expectations and needs. The marketing director for Happy Valley long-term care facility decided to perform a qualitative analysis. The marketing team interviewed patients and their families as a means to determine patient needs and expectations. The outcomes of the analysis provided the marketing team with data that could be applied to the development of marketing objectives and strategies to support the strategic plan.

Patient-centered marketing focuses on knowing what specific patients need and expect. Needs and expectations can vary, based on the type of care (e.g., long-term care, hospice, palliative care, renal care, and physical therapy).

In your initial post:

• Discuss why patient-centered marketing is an important aspect of your chosen HCO’s marketing plan.  
• Explain how patient-centered marketing would help support the goals of your chosen HCO’s marketing plan.
• Support your claims with citations and references from the course text and at least one scholarly source.

Discussion Question 2

 Selecting Marketing Strategies

This discussion will allow you to create content for your Final Project regarding the use of an appropriate marketing strategy. Marketing strategies provide direction for marketing efforts that support the goals of the strategic plan. As described in Chapter 7, there are three basic marketing strategies:

• Undifferentiated Strategy
• Focus Market Strategy
• Segmented Strategy

For this discussion, you will select an appropriate marketing strategy for each of the following long-term care organizations:

• Happy Valley Health Care is an 80-bed, rural long-term care organization with little to no competition. Over the years, the organization has been able to meet the needs of its marginalized customer base and provide long-term care, skilled care, and physical therapy to its patients.
• Sunny Valley Health Care is a 150-bed, urban long-term care organization that specializes in renal care, cardiac patients, and skilled care for orthopedic patients undergoing knee and hip replacement surgery.
• Green Acres Health Care is a 300-bed, inner city long-term care organization that specializes in caring for elderly patients with dementia often associated with Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injuries.  

For your initial post, Select one specific marketing strategy for each of the long-term care organizations noted above. In your post, explain the following:

• Why you chose the strategy for that long-term care organization
• Which of the three marketing strategies would best fit the goals of your chosen HCO
• How the strategy would be applied to your marketing plan