Strategies used to market health care services are typically different than strategies used to market health care products. From intangibility to the natural inconsistencies in the delivery of services, traditional marketing strategies must be modified so that there is a greater focus on marketing relationships and quality care. Therefore, when developing marketing plans, it is important for organizations to consider the 5 I’s of marketing health services: inconsistency, inseparability, intangibility, interaction, and inventory. For this Assignment, use the 5 I’s to examine the health care service in the Aravind Eye Care System: Providing Total Eye Care to the Rural Population case study provided in the Learning Resources. Then provide recommendations for marketing the service.
To prepare:
- Review the Aravind case study in the Learning Resources.
- With the 5 I’s of marketing in mind, reflect on the health care service provided by the organization and its personnel.
The Assignment
In a 4- to 5-page paper, address the following:
- Using the 5 I’s of marketing, analyze the health care service provided by the organization in the scenario.
- Inconsistency: Is there consistency in the quality of care?
- Inseparability: When providing the service, do providers demonstrate biases toward or against patients and their families (i.e., racial biases, age biases, gender biases, etc.)?
- Intangibility: What are the intangible characteristics of providers (i.e., demeanor, posture, etc.)? How do providers behave toward patients?
- Interaction with consumers: Is the organization patient-centered or physician-centered?
- Inventory: How much time is spent on providing the service and how much time is spent on non-service-related activities?
- Recommend strategies to market this service to health care consumers. Include how these strategies might improve operations.
Note: Your Assignment must be written in standard edited English. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct. Be sure to support your work with at least five high-quality references, including three from peer-reviewed journals. See the Week 4 Assignment rubric for additional requirements related to research and scholarly writing.
By Day 7
This Assignment is due.
Select Grid View or List View to change the rubric’s layout.
Name: USW1_MMHA_6800_week04_assignmentRubric
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- List View
| EXCELLENT – above expectations | GOOD – met expectations | FAIR – below expectations | POOR – significantly below expectations or missing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analysis of health care services using the 5 I-s of marketing |
36 (36%) – 40 (40%) The analysis of health care services using the 5 I-s of marketing shows depth, breadth, triangulation, and clarity in critical thinking. |
32 (32%) – 35 (35%) The analysis using the 5 I-s of marketing fully addresses the services of the health care organization. |
28 (28%) – 31 (31%) The analysis of health care services using the 5 I-s of marketing lacks depth, breadth, triangulation, and clarity in critical thinking. |
0 (0%) – 27 (27%) The analysis using the 5 I-s of marketing does not address (zero points) or poorly addresses the services of the health care organization. |
| Recommendations of strategies to market services |
36 (36%) – 40 (40%) The recommendations show depth, breadth, triangulation, and clarity in critical thinking. |
32 (32%) – 35 (35%) The recommendations fully address how to market the health care services. |
28 (28%) – 31 (31%) The recommendations lack depth, breadth, triangulation, and clarity in critical thinking. |
0 (0%) – 27 (27%) The recommendations do not address (zero points) or poorly addresses how to market the health care services. |
| Writing |
18 (18%) – 20 (20%) The analysis is well organized, uses professional tone, contains original writing and proper paraphrasing, contains very few or no writing and/or spelling errors, and is fully consistent with graduate-level writing style. |
16 (16%) – 17 (17%) The analysis is mostly consistent with graduate-level writing style and may have some spelling and writing errors. |
14 (14%) – 15 (15%) The analysis is somewhat consistent with graduate-level writing style and may have some spelling and writing errors. |
0 (0%) – 13 (13%) The analysis is well below graduate-level writing style expectations for organization, professional tone and writing, or shows heavy reliance on quoting. |
| Total Points: 100 |
|---|
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Thomas, R. K. (2015). Marketing health services (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
- Chapter 6, “Healthcare Products” (pp. 163–187)
- Chapter 7, “Factors in Health Services Utilization” (pp. 191–214)
Berkowitz, E. N. (2010). The 5 I’s of services. In Essentials of health care marketing (3rd ed., pp. 258–259). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Berkowitz, E. N. (2011). Essentials of health care marketing, 3rd ed. Reprinted with permission from Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Borg, S. (2012). Direct-to-consumer marketing of durable medical equipment. Family Practice Management, 19(5), 17–20.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Jung, M., & Hong, M. (2012). Positioning patient-perceived medical services to develop a marketing strategy. The Health Care Manager, 31(1), 52–61.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Tavenner, M., & Sebelius, K. (2012). Medicare program; revisions to the durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) supplier safeguards. Federal ter, 77(50), 14989–14994.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Velayudhan, S. K., Sundaram, R., & Thulasiraj, R. D. (2011). Aravind eye care system: Providing total eye care to the rural population. Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/pl/67645553/67645569/65c834fd772b24e271aaa101a36f0340
Williams, J. D., Crockett, D., Harrison, R. L., & Thomas, K. D. (2012). The role of food culture and marketing activity in health disparities. Preventive Medicine, 55(5), 382–386.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
