Tamura Freeman
HCS 539
May 21, 2012
Professor Russell Zage
Health Care Marketing Analysis Paper
The world of health care is full of competition. Companies constantly compete against each other concerning products. Organizations compete with the services they provide. Years ago, quality was not in the running because few actually provided this. Within the last ten years quality has become top priority. The organization of choice for this paper is the Shepherd Center located in Atlanta, Georgia. It offers medical care, treatment and services as well as rehabilitation services for a wide range of needs for people with disabilities.
There are four categories in marketing. The first is product which can also be a service. This is what the company or organization has to offer to consumers. The second is price. Nothing in this world is free. There is a price for everything. The third is place. Location can sometimes determine how much recovery a patient may encounter. The fourth is promotion. An appeal to consumers must always be more positive than negative. These four categories are the foundation to the success of the organization. At times one may overlap with another to increase the marketing appeal.
There are business relationships between organizations and their partners which are called partnerships. These partnerships generally are associated with the products and costs that the organization provides. In turn, the organization is a marketing force for the partners because the patients use the facility’s equipment. If a patient will need some of these products after their rehabilitation program is complete, it is wise for the equipment to be affordable as the patients have come to depend on these products. The next two paragraphs that follow give a little more insight.
The Shepherd Center does not offer products so much as it does services. Among the nation’s ratings, it falls within the top ten in the country. The
References: The Shepherd Center. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.shepherd.org/