Essentials of Health Care Marketing

According to the text, Essentials of Health Care Marketing, target market is defined as "the group of customers whom the organization wishes to attract" (p. 579). Being that acute care county hospitals provide short term care; their target market differs from other health care facilities. As a secondary health facility, their primary focus would involve patients that require short term care, in which their target market would be the primary health care centers within the community or neighborhood. This includes emergency services, such as; the fire department, the police department as well as ambulance and paramedic services. The advancement of medical transportation provides an advantage as distant primary health care centers may not have adequate acute care, which they may resort to the acute care county hospital. Berkowitz, the author of Essentials of Health Care Marketing discusses that stakeholders present an important role in developing a successful marketing strategy for an organization. In the view of marketing, their role is to represent a particular group that a company wishes to pursue a relationship with. This includes; customers, physicians, employers, and so on. In the perspective of an acute care county hospital, the stakeholders would consist of; medical, nursing, non-medical and marketing staff, as well as the patient’s primary health care facilities, emergency medical services, and most importantly the community. Altogether, the three groups; existing customers, target market and stakeholders are different through the purposes they serve. The development of health marketing continues to strive over the years, distributing through hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and many other organizations involving healthcare. Marketing promotes consumer satisfaction that allow these facilities to continue to function and provide care for customers. Existing customers, target market and stakeholders each play an important role in the marketing factor. Existing customers provide a reason to continue on providing short-term treatments, as target markets continue to reach out to new consumers. Then stakeholders allow the facility to function properly and efficiently.