Running head: Peace Memorial: Downtown Health Clinic

Peace Memorial: Downtown Health Clinic University of Phoenix MKT/551 Marketing Management Carmen Andia May 23, 2011

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Introduction Different strategic issues exist for Peace Memorial. Dealing with a -sluggish economy and high debt ratios have made many companies re-evaluate the services that they do or do not provide. With competitors trying to make their mark and services known with aggressive marketing it will be necessary for DHC to compete. DHCs ability to compete against their competitors price, quality, and type of services is critical for DHC such that it is capable of serving the need within the community. Investing in imaging technology, extended business operations and providing gynecological services because 70% of the clientele are women who need to have early screening are key factors to DHCs survival and success.

SWOTT Strengths First to market Relationships with downtown businesses

Weaknesses Uncollected debts Marketing/advertising

Opportunities Threats Ability to offer gynecological services Increasing male clientele Additional physicians and service hours to service more patients

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Trends

Competition Economy

Economy sluggish causing poor health (U.S. Department of Human and Health

Services, N.D.) Increased health coverage due to governments involvement Number of sick people visiting doctors are on the rise

Key Issues

Sluggish economy creating more health risks The sluggish economy has direct impacts to businesses such as DHC. As unemployment the health standards of the community at large drop US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). It might seem that an unhealthy population would be a benefit for DHC but the truth falls elsewhere due to secondary effects of an unhealthy population. A secondary issue of unpaid debts results in affecting the bottom line for health clinics such as DHC. Unpaid debts have been the direct cause of hospital closures across the United States (Associated Press, 2008). The second issue that the sluggish economy directly affects is the growth of businesses in DHCs target market. With the local businesses maintaining size or shrinking instead of growing DHC will have to deal their clientele not growing at the pace they originally set out to accomplish. Competition

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Another key issue for DHC is another provider is beginning to target the same market as DHC. This key issue shows other secondary issues that DHC is facing. First because it has not been aggressive in marketing services to the area at large and instead relying on word of mouth and corporate entities pointing their employees to DHC rather than attempting to solicit customers. This has left an opportunity for a third party to enter the market and use marketing tools to take clientele away from DHC, in addition to a strong marketing technique that can shift potential clients to using the third party. Another secondary issue that DHC needs to face, due to competition, is their ability to raise prices. With direct competition DHC must be competitive when charging for services as compared to its competitor. If they are charging more than the new clinic and reduced prices to match the new clinic customers might feel that DHC was abusing its position as the only game in town to overcharge its customers. Services provided and business hours The services provided and hours of operation are also key issues that deserve attention. Currently there are no gynecological services available at DHC. Of the patients who visit the clinic, 70% are female and under the age of 35, 82% of patients do not have regular physicians and a larger number are requiring personal illness and examination visits. Womens health care and preventive services are of most importance today due to increased carcinogens, pollution, and waste present in the environment and various work environments. According to Dorothy Rosenberg (2010): Today, in Canada, the U.S. and other industrialized countries, one in three women and one in two men will get cancer and one in four will die from it. For women over 35, many of these cancers of the female reproductive organs. Breast cancer is on the rise to the

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extent that one in eight women will get breast cancer over their lifespan, up from one in 20 a few decades ago. The availability of gynecological services at DHC will not only increase patient visits by an estimated 2,000 or more visits per year and increase revenue but will also add to the preventive and early treatment effort in hopes to save more women lives in this urban area. Provision of this service makes the statement to the business community that DHC is in the fight to preserve the health of women who make up a very high percentage of the workforce (Schmitt & Warner, 2010). With womens services a major contributor to increased patient visits and revenue, the availability of imaging services beyond x-ray and laboratory examinations will add additional value to reaching the clinics business objectives. Services such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans would decrease the number of times a patient is sent over to the hospital or other outpatient imaging facility for these services, keeping the revenue at DHC. In example, approximately 80% of working adults have low back pain that is attributed to work tasks and easily becomes a workmans compensation case. The gold standard for working up a patient with low back pain is to perform MRI, which costs 1,000 dollars or more per scan. If the back pain is found to be work-related conservative care can cost anywhere from 15 to 20 thousand dollars (Ely, 2006), all of which help to offset some of DHCs bad debt. To add, workers compensation and emergency visits are two of the more costly services. With the availability of these imaging modalities, a higher number of patients, whose emergent situation requires high-tech imaging, including workers injured on-the-job can be seen at the clinic versus the hospital.

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If these services were available outside the hours of the typical work day (eight to five p.m.), the clinic will have improved relations with the business community, shorter wait times during lunch hours and improved services to the patients who frequent the center. Saving time is attractive to the working professional. If DHC can accomplish making valuable services available in a manner that saves the patient time from waiting and running around to get services, more business will come its way and the other facility will have more to compete against. Marketing One of the final key issues is the lack of marketing for DHC. Although DHC does not want to be viewed as commercial in presentation, some form of marketing is pivotal to any organizations success. With a competitor who is also aggressive in their marketing, DHC can stand to lose a high amount of revenue. Successful marketing encourages a successful business. Non-medical patients usually do not know about how clinically excellent a hospital or clinic is. The language of comfort speaks louder than any award or recognition the organization may have. Appealing to the patients from a human perspective and providing basic information about the organization may be the best form of marketing for this health care entity. Conclusion DHCs ability to compete directly against competitors prices, quality, and type of services is critical for their survival. Although there are greater costs with extending business hours of operation, this action is a necessary step to fully service the community. Investing in imaging technology, extended business operations and providing gynecological services are key factors to DHCs survival and success. Providing more accessible services such as imaging will eliminate sending patients to outside sources reducing the amount of time taken to determine treatment. Providing womens services will help in early detections and treatment. These

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expansions of services will ultimately increase revenue, provide patients with a greater sense of loyalty and comfort.

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References Associated Press. (2008). Bad debt triggers hospital closings around the U.S.. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28394340/ns/health-health_care/t/bad-debt-triggershospital-closings-around-us/ Eley, C. (2006). Magnetic resonance imaging for low back injuries: Appropriate use in managing workers' compensation claims. AAOHN Journal, 54(10), 429-33. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219388630?accountid=35812. Rosenberg, D. G. (2010). Feminist perspectives on breast cancer, environmental health and primary prevention: The case for the precautionary principle. Canadian Woman Studies, 28(2), 19-29. Retrieved May 21, 2001 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/859009976?accountid=35812. Schmitt, J., & Warner, K. (2010). The changing face of U.S. labor, 1983-2008. Working USA, 13(2), 263-264,267,269,271-279. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/858094459?accountid=35812. US Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Good Health/Good Economy. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/ezec/healthec/index.htm