PAHS 402

HEALTH SERVICES
MARKETING
DR ANITA BAKU
 DID YOU KNOW?
• Islam is the dominant religion in Africa. Christianity is the second.
Arabic is also the most widely-spoken language in Africa.

• Africa is the most centrally located continent in the world. Both the
prime meridian (0 degrees longitude), and the equator (0 degrees
latitude) cut across it.

• The world's hottest place -- Ethiopia -- is in Africa.

 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• At the end of the session, the student will be able to

• Recount the history of health services marketing

• Explain the factors that led to the introduction of health services marketing

• Discuss the future of health service marketing

 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Precursors to Healthcare Marketing
• Healthcare organisations started to seriously market their services during the
1980s. This is well over 30 years after the marketing of goods, and then services
started in the United States. Prior to the earnest marketing of healthcare services,
pharmaceutical companies as well as organisations selling health insurance
policies and plans were already marketing their services.

Slide 4
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Precursors to Healthcare Marketing
• Most healthcare facilities had public relations (PR) unit or were actively engaged
in public relations. The main activities of the PR unit was the dissemination
of press releases and responding to requests for information. Health-
care facilities also used PR to correct negative impressions about their
organisations.

• The PR unit also developed materials on the healthcare facility for the public as
well as employees of the organisation. These were newsletters and, patient
education materials

Slide 5
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Precursors to Healthcare Marketing
• Some larger healthcare organisations had government relation units in charge of
tracking legislation and regulatory developments in the area of health that
affected their operations. These government relations units also lobbied
government on health-related issues that affected them.

• Healthcare facilities were also marketing their services, although informally

through sponsorship of health education in their communities of operations,
held seminars, open house for new facilities.
Some facilities made their premises available for
community meetings.
Slide 6
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING

• Eventually these PR units and government relations units became

multimillion-dollar marketing units of healthcare organisations.

Slide 7
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1950s
• In the 1950s, whilst pharmaceutical companies and organisations selling health insur-
ance plans were actively engaged in marketing their services, most healthcare facilities
and physicians considered the marketing of their services as unethical.

• However, PR activities were taking place in most healthcare organisations and physi-
cians were engaged in referring patients to each other.

• Little attention was paid to the patient. The emphasis was on providing quality care and
most healthcare organisation were monopolists or oligopolists in their communities.

Slide 8
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1960s
• The healthcare sector experienced expansions during this period. As a result,
healthcare organisations started embracing marketing. However, PR re-
mained the main method of marketing in most healthcare organisations.

• Physicians were still doing referrals amongst themselves. The media was mainly
use to respond to reporters' inquiries on patient conditions. Print was the main
medium of communication during this period. Healthcare organisations
released annual reports on their activities and information brochures targeted the
communities in which these healthcare organisations operated.

Slide 9
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1970s
• This era witnessed the loosening of legal restrictions on marketing in the
healthcare sector. This led to most healthcare organisations expanding
the mandate of their PR units into a broader marketing mandate.

• Academics also saw an opportunity to expand marketing into industries where

marking was rare, and the healthcare industry was one of such. One of the
pioneers of healthcare marketing was Philip Kotler. The American Hos-
pital Association also organised a conference in 1977 where
healthcare marketing was officially recognised.

Slide 10
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1970s
• The proliferation of different organisations offering health insurance during the
1970s led to mass advertising by healthcare facilities during the period. This is
because patients were having a choice on which facility to visit under a
health insurance plan.

• The mass advertising took the form of billboard displays, television and radio
commercials. Thus, communication efforts were now being targeted at pa-
tients.

Slide 11
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1980s
• During this period, marketing of healthcare services was intensified. Employers and
consumers became purchasers of healthcare and physician referrals minimised. There
were growth in hospital chains.

• Hospitals realised the need to market directly to consumers for certain services such as
obstetrics, cosmetic surgery and outpatient care to increase revenue and enhance
market shares.

• Some healthcare organisations advertised their products mainly because of increased

competition. Marketing professional believed that advertising was the key to competitive
success.
Slide 12
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1980s
• Advertising however was considered a failure during this period. This is because the advertising
tended to be focused more on the healthcare institution rather than the customers.

• This period was also marked with increased consumer and physician research. these researches
are crucial in developing marketing messages and also for monitoring the success of marketing
programmes.

• A downside to developments in this era was that there were not a lot of marketing professional
in healthcare. The few professionals in the industry were unable to transfer techniques from
other industries into healthcare.

Slide 13
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1990s
• In the 1990s, healthcare markets became market driven thus leading
to an increase the marketing function. Hospitals were now more
customer focused. Patients were now considered as customers.

• Advertising thrived during this period because of mergers and

consolidations that created larger organisations with more resources
and sophisticated management. Healthcare managers became more
business minded because, they had entered from other industries.
Slide 14
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF HEALTH
SERVICES MARKETING
• Healthcare Marketing in the 1990s
• There was increased advertising and healthcare organisations used both the electronic and
print media to get their messages to their audience. These efforts cumulated in creating an
informed customer. Marketing was thus integrated into every operation of healthcare
organisations.

• The rise in consumerism led to consumers demanding information on services, the pricing of
health plans, hospitals and physicians to enable them make informed decisions.

• The period was also marked by more qualified marketing professionals in the area of
healthcare. Pharmaceutical companies also started advertising directly to consumers.
Marketing research in the area also increased.

Slide 15
Sample Question
• Discuss the characteristics that marked the development of health
services marketing in the periods 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980.

• What factors are indications of a future for marketing in the

healthcare industry?

Slide 16
 THE FUTURE OF HEALTH SERVICES
MARKETING
• Future of Health Service Marketing
• Health services marketing has become acceptable in healthcare organisations. Some
healthcare facilities now have a whole marketing department with as many as ten or more
staffs on huge budgets.

• There have also been increased publications on healthcare marketing. These include
newsletters and journal publications, with some journal such as Health Marketing Quarterly
totally devoted to healthcare marketing. An association known as Society for Healthcare
Strategy and Marketing Development (SHSMD) has been established in the United States.

• Textbooks on health service marketing have been appearing since the 1980s and courses on
Health Service Marketing are being taught in various Universities all over the world.
Slide 17
 THE FUTURE OF HEALTH SERVICES
MARKETING
• Although some countries like Ghana have rules that indicates that healthcare facilities are not supposed to
advertise, advertising is not the only way of healthcare services are marketed. With developments such as:

• Managed care and capitated payments led to a focus on well-being of people

• Patient satisfaction became the order of the day

• Focus on customer relationship management

• Health Administrators became more interested in marketing

• Health Services Marketing being taught as a course with accompanying textbooks,

• Marketing of healthcare services will continue as long as there continue to be healthcare customers.
Slide 18
 References
• Berkowitz, E. N. (2011). Essentials of health care marketing. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. 
• Fortenberry, J. L. (2010). Health care marketing: tools and techniques. Jones & Bartlett
Publishers. 
• Fottler, M.D. Ford, R.C. and Heaton, C.P. (2002) Achieving Service Excellence: Strategies for
Healthcare. Health Administration Press, Chicago, USA. 
• Hinson, R. (2006) Marketing of Services: A managerial Perspective. Sedco Publishing Ltd.,
Accra, Ghana.  
• Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2010). Principles of marketing. Pearson Education. Kotler, P.,
Shalowitz, J., & Stevens, R. J. (2011).
• Kotler, P., Shalowitz, J., & Stevens, R. J. (2011). Strategic marketing for health care
organizations: building a customer-driven health system. John Wiley & Sons. 
• Thomas, R.K. (2005) Marketing Health Services. Health Administration Press, Chicago, USA.
Slide 19
 THE FUTURE OF HEALTH SERVICES
MARKETING
• QUESTIONS?
• Note them down for class discussions
PAHS 402