Product Development

Health services continue to affect the gross domestic product,and this dramatic transformation puts great demands on each dollar spentto deliver patient-centered products. Health care marketing must berepeatedly applied and practiced strategically to include environmentaldimensions, such as technology, socioeconomics, competition, andregulatory.That being said, in today’s global economy, investors andpotential entrepreneurs must tap into the so-called “unexplored” market.In this aspect, health care establishments must utilize marketing,advertising, as well as sales strategies when pursuing new customers(e.g., suppose a health care investor wanted to build a small hospitalin a rural community); this would entail exploration and logisticalexperimentation to determine who will patronize the facility. In animpoverished neighborhood, the feasibility of having lucrative profitsmay see diminishing returns, and so the venture may be not worth theeffort. Also, suppose that the potential investor wants to sell mosquitodeterrents (e.g., bedside netting in malaria-infested regions of Asiaor Africa); then it would be wise to investigate the number of beds thatare actually in the village, and who would be willing to purchase them.These activities take into account the investor portfolio, as well asthe feasibility of marketing and selling the product. Such explorationalso examines competitors, cultural differences, and—mostimportant—identification of the customer.Identify a local health care establishment (e.g., hospital,rehabilitation center, or emergency medical center) and determine itsproduct development practices. Utilize concepts from previous weeks tosubstantiate information, as needed. You may develop the discussionbased on the ideas presented here, but feel free to inject any salientmarketing strategy that you believe might support your presentation.

Assignment Instructions

Write a 3-4 page paper in which you:

1. Justify the purpose of the selected health care establishments’ products or services and their associated life cycles.
2. Suggest one strategy to improve the marketing mix of theselected health care establishment. Support your strategy byhighlighting one benefit of one portfolio analysis and providing twoexamples that display differential advantages.
3. Assess the importance of technology in providing patients withclear and accessible information about health care organizations and theproducts or services that they provide.
4. Outline a survey to capture patients’ expectations regardingthe delivery and/or accessibility of the products or servicesidentified.
5. Use at least three quality academic resources. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.