Chapter 4

3.In terms of decision-making sequences, how would you explain and describe: (a) the 25-year-old, healthy worker who sees the same physician for minor medical needs; (b) the retired individual who calls the state medical society and seeks a second opinion prior to open-heart surgery; and (c) the consumer who searches WebMD to diagnose their condition and then goes to the local pharmacy and speaks to the physician about a possible over-the-counter remedy to help them with their self-diagnosis.

4.Mary recently brought her child to the Express Clinic at their Big Market Basket Food Store. This convenience clinic is staffed by a nurse practitioner from 8:00 a.m. until the store closes at 9:00 p.m., 7 days a week. The nurse practitioner did an exam and prescribed a prescription for an inner-ear infection. Mary had it filled in the pharmacy and returned home. Shortly afterward, she started to have second thoughts. “Should I have just waited and taken my daughter to the pediatrician?” she wondered. Two days later, she got a newsletter from the Express Clinic. On the cover page she saw a story headline that said, “In a recent survey, 97% of the mothers we surveyed were extremely satisfied with the care they received for their children at Express Clinic.” What strategy was being implemented by Express Clinic? What was the organization trying to counter?

7.The United States is experiencing a decline of the middle class. What does this trend imply for the future of organizations such as (a) the U.S. Public Health Service, which operates many inner-city health clinics for the economically disadvantaged, and (b) the Scripps Clinic, a large multispecialty group practice in Southern California? For years, the Scripps Clinic was seen as an exclusive medical provider known not only for treatment but also for its research.

Chapter 6

• Assume that a multispecialty medical group has decided to segment the market in the community by income level. The group has decided to target a small niche of middle-aged, white-collar professionals who are married, with both spouses working outside the home. How might this medical group tailor its marketing mix to appeal to this segment?
• A women’s health clinic has recognized the need to segment its market. Identify three bases by which this clinic might segment the female market, and identify the manner in which the “product” component of the marketing mix would change in light of the segmentation base used.

• A neurology group practice recently analyzed its level of patient referrals and referral sources. This analysis showed that 60% of all referrals came from 35% of all the physicians who referred to the group. The remaining referrals came from the other 65% of the referral physicians. In examining this referral pattern, it was also revealed that 20% of all the primary care physicians in the group’s primary service area had never sent a patient to the group for diagnosis or treatment. As the practice manager of the group, you have been asked by the physicians to develop a marketing strategy to deal with this information.

Chapter 7

• Most medical specialty groups historically have relied on primary care physician practices for referrals. At a recent society meeting, the senior partner returned with a renewed perspective in terms of looking at the customer base of referrers. “We need to develop relationships with these practices rather than view them as individual transactions when they send us a patient.” How might this perspective shift the strategy of the group?
• For many years, health care organizations, as well as traditional businesses, have been frustrated that high customer satisfaction scores do not necessarily lead to higher levels of profitability or sales. Explain why this inconsistency tends to exist.
• Recently, a surgical group in Manhattan posted a website that includes a page that refreshes every 10 minutes and shows how close the doctors are following their “scheduled appointment” times. In terms of the value equation, what component or variable is this group trying to work on with its market?
• A large 50-person multispecialty group held a semiannual retreat on a Saturday to review the group’s operating progress and to assess financial targets, staffing issues, and any patient issues that had arisen. Monthly financial targets and the like were always reviewed by the executive committee, but this allowed the entire partnership to be informed of the status of the group. At this meeting, the administrator presented the patient satisfaction scores, which were generally quite good. However, she did want to call attention to some disconcerting trends. “We have a staff team who are assigned to monitor social media pages,” she said. “Lately, some of our patients have posted rather disparaging remarks concerning impersonal care during their visits, now that we have transitioned to the EHR. They feel some of our doctors are only looking at the computer. We have seen these remarks on Foursquare and on some blog posts. This isn’t good. One of the staff found some really negative comments on Yelp.” “Ridiculous,” said Dr. Johnson, one of the more senior members of the group. “I have not had a single patient complain to me. And I will admit that I do hate to look at that darn thing; it is a pain in the neck.” Two other physicians agreed with Dr. Johnson, saying no one complained to them. An assistant administrator who was responsible for the operations at the front desk, scheduling, and billing said he had reports from staff that some patients did complain to the billing department about visits with the clinical staff on discharge, but the number was small.

During the lunch break, this issue was still a topic of conversation. What is this group experiencing? Is the physician correct?