Health care services is one of the most difficult value propositions to market, as with all services they are characterized by
Intangibility - Inability to see, feel, taste, or get an idea about the service in addition to this these health care services have further credence qualities in nature that is even after experiencing the service it is difficult to make a judgment about how the service was. Ex. For a patient to make a judgment on how good his operation was, or how informative a consultation with a GP was.
Inseparability - Another characteristic of the service is that it is inseparable from the consumer/ client. An operation is not possible without the individual patient being present; it is not possible to guide a patient to his room without him actually being present there at the reception. Another aspect of this is that the individual buying in the service is not only influencing how the service is meted out but is also judging the process by which the service is being provided. Thus it’s not only the final outcome which becomes of importance but also how the service is being provided.
Variability – now comes in the question of what happens when the client himself is involved in the provision of the service or the service delivery process, he / she brings in variability to the process . In addition to this as the service is being provided by a n employee with his or her own basic personality characteristics brings in variation to the process. Thus variability is inevitable in a service provision.
Perishability - the last and one of the most significant dissatisfiers for the health care industry is caused by this characteristic. The Service cannot be stored; you can’t store health checkups ready to be meted out for your customer. Not in the absolute sense atleast. Thus with variations in demands we at times find ourselves less prepared , and our customers find themselves being shortchanged for the cost they are paying for the services. This is something which happens very often with public health systems of various countries, I guess the long waiting lists in the NHS are evidence enough .
Only once we have understood these basic characteristics of health care marketing can we be in a position to move forward towards what would be the plausible ways of marketing them.
Though these seem to be very common sense kind of deductions , but you would be surprised how often the overzealous marketer can fall into traps of overpromise and under delivery due to neglecting these simple characteristics.
I have seen many a Hospital loose an important corporate account because of inability to deliver what was promised, because of inability to manage crowds within the hospital because of trying to customize a service beyond its limit of elasticity and thus making a complete mess of it.
In my next post we would be talking about the new role of the Healthcare marketer in the new decade as an integrator combining these considerations , in providing health care services .
