MARKETING OF HEALTH SERVICES

Marketing is thought of by most people as selling and advertising. But as opposed to the general perception marketing is not just selling and advertising alone, but much more. It can over a wide range of critical business activities that bring products ideas or services to the customers. And these products, ideas or services are brought to the customers at the time they want, at the place they want, at the price they can afford, and providing all the information the customers would need to make informed and satisfying choices. Active competition should become the style and the goal of the marketing programme. Although there is no open competition for the health care market because this is still a seller’s market, chances for survival or for maintain all services that currently exist can be substantially reduced without a sustained marking effort. This does not mean that there should be a deliberate intention of proposing cut-throat competition or ethical practices to achieve financial goals. Administrators must start to look at their clientele (patient/consumer) as customer, because as with other industries there is a product (service) for offer and a necessity for others to use it. Hospitals are similar to industries, but hospital and health administrators feel uncomfortable using proven industrial techniques to effectively develop an appropriate market for hospital services. In this era of open competition, the concept of competing with other hospitals and health services institutions with other hospitals and health services institutions for larger share of the market place must now be accepted. The book is primarily targeted to serve as text book to Post Graduate, M.Phil. and Ph.d students of research methodology in all disciplines of various universities. The book seems to design specifically for the students who are newcomers to research, and who may have a basic barrier with regard to the subject. The areas covered in the book follows a simple to complex approach in terms of their discussion.