MH0047

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING OF HEALTH CARE

ORGANIZATION

SET 1

Q.1 Health Care Management – As an Emerging Discipline.

Discuss

Ans:-
Health Care Management – As an Emerging Discipline
In health care area management as applied to the hospital field has
also developed as an independent discipline in the advanced countries where
health care organizations are being managed by professionally trained
administrators. Who is more suitable to run the show, a medical or a non-
medical manager is an open question and needs a lot of discussion. But one thing
is certain. The manager must be properly trained.

Q.2 Explain Porter’s 5 forces analysis

Ans:- Porter’s 5 forces analysis

Porter’s 5 forces analysis is a framework for the industry analysis and business
strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School
in 1979 . It uses concepts developed in Industrial Organization (IO) economics to
derive 5 forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore
attractiveness of a market. Porter referred to these forces as the
microenvironment, to contrast it with the more general term macro environment.
They consist of those forces close to a company that affect its ability to serve its
customers and make a profit. A change in any of the forces normally requires a
company to re-assess the marketplace.

Strategy consultants use Porter’s five forces framework when making a

qualitative evaluation of a firm’s strategic position. The framework is textbook
material for modern business studies and therefore widely known.

Porter’s Five Forces include three forces from ‘horizontal’ competition: threat of
substitute products, the threat of established rivals, and the threat of new
entrants; and two forces from ‘vertical’ competition: the bargaining power of
suppliers, bargaining power of customers.

Each of these forces has several determinants:

A graphical representation of Porter’s Five Forces

The threat of substitute products

The existence of close substitute products increases the propensity of customers

to switch to alternatives in response to price increases (high elasticity of
demand).

· buyer propensity to substitute

· relative price performance of substitutes

· buyer switching costs

· perceived level of product differentiation

The threat of the entry of new competitors

Profitable markets that yield high returns will draw firms. The results is many
new entrants, which will effectively decrease profitability. Unless the entry of new
firms can be blocked by incumbents, the profit rate will fall towards a competitive
level.

· economies of product differences

· brand equity

· switching costs or sunk costs

· capital requirements

· access to distribution

· absolute cost advantages

· learning curve advantages

· expected retaliation by incumbents

· government policies

The intensity of competitive rivalry

For most industries, this is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the
industry. Sometimes rivals compete aggressively and sometimes rivals compete
in non-price dimensions such as innovation, marketing, etc.

· number of competitors

· rate of industry growth

· intermittent industry overcapacity

· exit barriers

· diversity of competitors

· informational complexity and asymmetry

· fixed cost allocation per value added

· level of advertising expense

· Economies of scale

· Sustainable competitive advantage through improvization

The bargaining power of customers

Also described as the market of outputs. The ability of customers to put the firm
under pressure and it also affects the customer’s sensitivity to price changes.

· buyer concentration to firm concentration ratio

· bargaining leverage

· buyer volume

· buyer switching costs relative to firm switching costs

· buyer information availability

· ability to backward integrate

· availability of existing substitute products

· buyer price sensitivity

· RFM Analysis
The bargaining power of suppliers

Also described as market of inputs. Suppliers of raw materials, components, and

services (such as expertise) to the firm can be a source of power over the firm.
Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm, or e.g. charge excessively high prices
for unique resources.

· supplier switching costs relative to firm switching costs

· degree of differentiation of inputs

· presence of substitute inputs

· supplier concentration to firm concentration ratio

· threat of forward integration by suppliers relative to the threat of backward

integration by firms

· cost of inputs relative to selling price of the product

Q.3 Compare and Contrast Advertising and Public Relations

Ans:-

The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of Public Relations

Till date, companies were giving preference to advertising,

ignoring the role of public relations. Today, the trend has

changed. Advertising has lost is credibility and is named

As the company’s self-serving voice raised with an intention

to increase sales. Public relations is gradually gaining

prominence. It is even considered that public relations can

Launch a new brand whereas advertising can be used to

Reinforce the impact brought by public relations on]

Customer’s mind.

The advertising era is at the edge of its retirement and the era of Public Relations
is at the evolutionary stage. This statement is no exaggeration. Gradually, even
the so-called below-the-line activities are gaining prominence over advertising.

According to American Advertising Federation’s recent survey, eighteen hundred

business executives also revealed that public relations is regarded more highly
than advertising. The executives’ order of preference of departments, which were
most important to their company’s success are:

· Product development 29%

· Strategic planning 27%

· Public relations 16%

· Research & Development 14%

· Financial strategies 14%

· Advertising 10%

· Legal 3%

Advertising’s Golden Era

Advertising started gaining prominence after World War II corporate America. It

was advertising that had ruled consumer goods companies like Procter & Gamble,
Hershey’s, Coca-Cola, Campbell’s and many others. With the advent of television,
the advertising volume exploded. In the year 1972, the annual per capita
expenditure on advertising was $110 and today it has reached $865, this shows
how today’s society is over communicated. In fact, a person is exposed to 237
television commercials from dawn to dusk, which is almost similar to a full-
length motion picture.

As time goes by, prices usually decline. But, this concept is an exception in the
case of advertising. The rise of advertising volume coincided with a decline in
advertising effectiveness, but at the same time increase in advertising costs.

If the advertising rates in all the media are examined, one can observe increasing
volumes, which reduce effectiveness, combined with increasing costs, which
reduce efficiency. This trend in the advertising field did not have any impact on
the volume of advertising. In fact, the advertising expenditure outpaces the
growth in GDP year after year. Currently, the US ad expenditures are $244 bn a
year, which is a record of 2.5% of the GDP. When compared to 1996, the US
advertising expenditures were up to 7% in 1998, 8% in 1999. In 2000 it was 10%,
but 2001 was an exception during which the ad spend fell by 6%. This is the
second time ad spend had fallen after forty years.

Advertising has lost its lustre and is no longer fresh. Today, the scenario has
completely changed from the time when there was no advertising, to the days
where every advertising was effective and was read widely and discussed by
people. Advertising is almost at the edge of retirement in places like Florida. Why
this stage has come to advertising when there is more advertising than it was
ever? Why communication techniques are gaining popularity? For these
questions history offers an explanation. When a communication technique loses
its functional purpose, it turns into an art form.
Advertising an Art

Today’s function is tomorrow’s art. Whatever things we are seeing today might
have served as a function or purpose in the past. Paintings, horse, military, etc.,
once used for a particular purpose are now converted into an art. Advertising too
falls under the same category. Even architecture is on the verge of becoming an
art. Today, even advertising is considered as an art form, rather than a mode of
communication or a tool used for a purpose. Even some professionals had quoted
it as an art.

Not only the consumers are seeing advertising as an art form, even advertisers
are looking out to win awards for the art pieces they create. Customers, are
viewing the advertisements in the way they read a novel or watch a television
entertainment show. They are getting involved with characters, situations and
plots, but are not getting motivated to buy the product.

Advertising and Creativity

The most over used word in the advertising world is “creative.” Departments,
members, approach, strategy and platform, everything is prefixed with the word
creative. Creativity, an approach of producing something that’s original, or new
and different, is very much essential in he advertising world and hence is more
associated with advertising. By focusing on creativity, advertising agencies
assume that marketing is a battle of advertisements rather than a battle of
products. Through creativity, agencies want to win the advertising war because it
means awards, media recognition and new business for them.

Agency people often look outside to develop new and unusual ideas. They often
go to art museums, watch motion pictures and always search for new ideas
outside their field. They find movies to be the best sources of ideas. Advertising
agencies most often hire filmmakers to make TV commercials.

There is no end to creativity. Agencies till date have produced a wide variety of
ads using different concepts. For example, usage of animals like Polar Bears in
Coca-cola, Turtles for BMW ads, Gorillas for American Tourister and
Chimpanzees in E*Trade advertisements, etc.

Creativity wins awards, but does it also generate sales? No one can analyze the
impact of creativity on sales. There are many ads, which are famous for their
creativity, but were big flops in increasing the sales of the company. Whatever
may be the impact of these ads on sales, they were unique and the creativity of
the agencies is excellently projected.

Advertising and Awards

The Oscars of advertising Cannes, Andys, the Abbys, the Clio, the One Show, the
Effie and many more other a wards carry huge inspirational value and winning
them is a dream come true. Agencies also believe that by winning a Gold Lion at
Cannes, one will become a king in the advertising jungle. Such is the importance
given to these awards. No other industry hands out as many awards as the
advertising industry does. The greed to win awards is so great that some agencies
enter the contest by creating ghost ads solely to participate in the contest. These
“fake ads” are a problem for contest administrators around the world. Today, the
advertising agencies are participating in the race to win awards, rather than
increase sales of the company.

Advertising and Awareness

The basic objective of an advertising program is to increase brand awareness.

Advertising is considered the best way to increase brand awareness, as it can
easily attract the attention of the customers. The advertisements are meant not
only to derive attention but also to motivate customers to buy the product. In this
process the ad persons go to a greater extent to attract the attention of the
customer.

All attention and no message is the hallmark of “creative” advertising. Often

advertising people justify advertising by saying that it makes the product famous.
But, in reality the reverse is proved to be true.

The best examples are: it is the Energizer battery that made the Bunny famous;
Doughboy had become famous because of Pillsbury, it is not the sock puppet,
which made Pets.com famous but, vice versa is true.

Advertising and Sales

Often, out of the advertisements that are popular, very few really contribute to
generate sales. Even an award winning advertisement never seemed to produce
an increase in sales that clients were counting on.

The Rise of Public Relations

Trends have changed in the modern world. People are giving much emphasis to
the opinions of the third party, apart from their own observations. As the same
time media outlets are also playing a vital role. Situation has changed to such an
extent that advertising gets almost zero credibility when compared to the
information supplied by media, which is nothing but an art of public relations
activity.

Rolling out your Band

Be first, if you want to get famous. But if the brand is already famous in the
market, then the product doesn’t need to be a “first” to produce a boatload of
publicity. Publicity can be compared with money. The poor need it and the rich
do need it but not to the extent the poor need it. So, who gets all the money? The
rich. So, who gets all the publicity? Obviously a well-established company.

Up and Down the Mountain

Public relations is a two step game. It includes –

· Up the mountain
· Down the mountain

The brand building process starts only when it is pushed right from the scratch
up the media mountain. You don’t start at the top, nor is the ascent easy. When
the company acquires the top position and if it is a might brand like Microsoft,
the strategy of the company should change. If the company acquires the position
and brand image in the markets, it need not go to the customers, in fact the
customer approaches the company. The basic strategy of a company should be
not to publicize the brand but to protect the brand from negative publicity.

While climbing up the ladder of publicity company should “roll out the brand.” It
should take the media’s help to the maximum extent that it extends. During
publicizing, the company should start its publicity in a small obscure publication
and then roll out to the major media available and suitable for the product. Every
brand that is in the top position is there because it has got a favorable publicity. It
is even important to know that however great the product is, it is impossible for it
to occupy higher positions. In the process of pushing a brand up the mountain of
media, the help of a celebrity like a CEO will be enormous.

Unlike public relations programs, which usually start small, advertising programs
are inevitably based on the big-bang concept. “Let’s launch this program with the
most intensive advertising barrage ever created by any company anywhere in the
world” seems to be the watchword. Same strategy is not applied to a public
relations program. Normally company needs publicity in some small medium
before it can move on (or roll out) the program to the next, more important
medium. Public relations efforts should be provided enough time to produce
desirable results.

Maintaining the Brand

Advertising cannot change minds. Advertising cannot move brands from one
position to another inside a mind. Advertising cannot replace an existing brand in
the mind with a new brand. It can only deal with an existing perception in the
mind and deepen it if handled skillfully. The concept of using advertising for
building a brand got faded; today it is used only for brand maintenance. Building
brand image for a product has now become the role and function of public
relations. The role of advertising is continuation to public relations activities and
is used to reinforce a leadership position.

Creative Advertising

In the process of establishing a new role for advertising, creativity has become a
big obstacle. In fact any brand, which is considering advertising program does
not need “creative” advertising. What is needed is Public relations, because public
relations creates a brand that is maintained through advertising. The pressure on
creative advertising will continue as long as agencies continue selling advertising
to their clients instead of products to the customers. Creative advertising means
to have a new, different and original advertising. These attributes divorce the
advertising from the product itself. Giving emphasis on creativity is the biggest
mistake a company can make and looking out for return on advertising
investment is the second biggest mistake.
Advertising and Public relations

Advertising is perceived as an imposition, an unwelcome intruder who needs to

be resisted. The harder the sell, the harder will be the prospects’ resistance to the
sales message. If advertising forces itself into the mind of the customer there is
every chance of not achieving the objective. A company cannot force media to run
a message on a particular brand- it is entirely dependent on the media people.
The prospects do not perceive any force in an editorial message, hence they think
that media is trying to help them out to get useful product.

Advertising is spatial, which means there are different media available to

advertise a product, while in case of public relations, the program is linear where
one thing leads to another.

Advertising is not suited to build a new brand, register the new brand’s name in
the customers’ mind and attach brand attributes at a time. Public relations is the
best tool but it is a slow process, as there is no way that a company can coordinate
media coverage.

Words have little credibility in advertising. They are filled with lot of images. But,
the mind thinks with words but not images, as the purchasing behavior depends
upon the verbal comparisons rather than visual. Public relations tries to verbalize
the brand and bring it to such an extent that the media gets encouraged to run
the story about the brand and pictures are used to support those words.

The basic aim in advertising is to reach a mass community. Both reach and
frequency are the two measures of advertising success. In case of public relations
emphasis is given to the credentials of the medium and the quality of the
publicity, but not the reach and frequency.

The process of advertising is self-directed. The decision regarding how

advertising should be, what it should contain and whom it is aimed at is all within
the hands of a company. But, in case of public relations, a company launching a
public relations campaign completely puts its future in the hands of the customer.
Media will be directing the company by telling it what it should be selling and
what sales approach it should be using.

Advertising is an expensive process. Often most companies spend considerably

huge amounts on their advertising. Whereas public relations is inexpensive and it
all depends upon word of mouth, though it is a time consuming process.

Advertising cannot stay for a longer period of time. They may wind up on the
walls of an ad agency or may be written in the books as award-winning ads. It is
not the case with public relations.

Advertising aids the company for its line extensions, while public relations favor
new brands. Advertising cannot be used to build a new brand in the market. It is
used to reinforce the image created by public relations.
Q.4 Write short note on Dimensions of the Issue

Ans:-

Dimensions of the Issue

For a corporation faced with current or emerging public issues which may affect
its business, issue management can be likened to war or diplomacy strategy. The
focus is not on the weapons but on decisions as to whether the issue requires
combat, on what grounds a battle will be fought, and when it will be engaged.
Effective issue management also can often prevent an issue from arising at all, or
redirect its course.

This strategy involves creation of a program that includes: (1) examination of all
possible issues or trends that could affect the company; (2) identifying specific
issues to be considered; (3) evaluating their potential impact on the company’s
survival and profitability; (4) defining the corporate position on each; (5)
determining the course of action to be taken; (6) implementing the action plan;
and (7) monitoring the results continuously, modifying the program as required.

Issues vary by two dimensions: (1) how broad the impact: how many people are
affected and (2) how central it is to the lives of those affected. These dimensions
are significant in evaluating a plan of action. In terms of breadth and personal
impact, four classes of issues can be defined:

1. Broad impact issues directly affecting a large segment of the public

inflation, air and water pollution, the price of gasoline. These issues, while
complex, may be perceived by the public as amenable to simple solution. “Why
don’t they do something about it? Generally, the issue is defined by activists and
the media reflects wide public and political awareness.

2. Broad impact, but relatively abstract, issues: Fewer people feel these
issues directly, although many may be aware they are potentially affected. Some
examples: shortage of housing (“I have a house, and no problem”),
unemployment (“It doesn’t affect me, I have a steady job”)” natural resources
use; privacy issues. Identification and crystallization of this type of issue depend
generally on the leadership group, because solutions are usually very complex.
The public is unlikely to be exerting heavy pressure and will probably accept any
solution upon which the leadership agrees. However, the public will veto by
active or passive resistance a solution that involves sacrifices.

3. Narrow impact issues: These generally affect an identifiable minority or a

geographical area. The majority of the public has no experience with the issue
and no vulnerability for example, worker safety regulations, fair employment
practices, protection of minority rights. These issues usually are identified by
pressure groups, who operate by influencing the political leadership. The
indicators to be considered in managing these issues are the leadership support
levels.
4. Technical Issues: These issues are identified and crystallized by the
leadership. They are complex, distant from the life of individuals, boring, and
usually involve a distinction of political economic power among elite groups.
Example: multinational taxation. Predictors as to the course of such issues are
the activities of unions, activist groups, the media.

Q.5. A new multi - specialty hospital is going to set up

in Bangalore. What do you think are the marketing
strategies they can use to promote this new hospital?

Sol-

Hospital marketing is a specialized field that deals with connecting

patients,
physicians, and hospitals in mutual relationships.
Many people ask, "How can you 'market' a hospital?" But marketing a
hospital or health system is no different than "marketing" any other non-
profit organization like the American Red Cross or your local charity.
There are audiences. There are needs. There is a mission statement.
Plus, historically, medicine in America has always been a business. In
today's insurance and reimbursement environment, health care and
hospital marketing is more needed than ever to ensure continuing
viability of American medicine on the local level and to provide the high
quality of individual health care that Americans have come to demand.
With these ingredients, there is clearly a need for analysis, strategy and
communication to make the most of limited resources while providing
compassionate health care. This is what hospital marketing does.
The marketing of medication has a long history. The sale of miracle cures,
many with little real potency, has always been common. Marketing of
legitimate non-
prescription medications, such as pain relievers or allergy medicine, has
also long been practiced, although, until recently, mass marketing of
prescription medications has been rare. It was long believed that since
doctors made the selection of drugs, mass marketing was a waste of
resources; specific ads targeting the medical profession were thought to
be cheaper and just as effective. This would involve ads in professional
journals and visits by sales staff to doctor’s offices and hospitals. An
important part of these efforts was marketing to medical students
Marketing to health care providers takes four main forms: gifting,
detailing, drug samples, and sponsoring (CME) In Britain, Canada, New
Zealand, and the United States 80-90% of physicians see pharmaceutical
representatives. Of statements made by pharmaceutical representatives
11% are false and of the false statements all are in favour of the
representatives drugs. While very few physicians consider themselves
susceptible to detailing, 84% of them believed that their colleagues are
The Partners Healthcare, Massachusetts' largest hospital and physician
network, has adopted new guidelines prohibiting physicians and
researchers from accepting gifts from pharmaceutical manufacturers. This
will include meals or individual drug samples, and drug samples left by
companies will be distributed through a centralized system, while
educational programs and fellowships will be required to be centrally
reviewed and
approved

FREE SAMPLE
Free samples have been shown to affect physician prescribing behaviour.
Physicians with access to free samples are more likely to prescribe brand
name medication over equivalent OTC medications. Other studies found
that free samples decreased the likelihood that physicians would follow
standard of care practices.

Continuing medical education

Hours spent by physicians in industry-supported CME is greater than that
from either medical schools or professional societies
 SET 2

Q.2 Explain the present and future scenario of medical

tourism in India.

Ans:- Market and Market Players: A report by Mckinsy-CII suggests that

the revenues from Indian medical tourism industry are pegged at Rs.5000-10000
crores by 2012. In India the medical tourism is growing at a rate of 7.5 per cent to
8.0 per cent, with healthcare growing at a rate of 20 per cent. More than 1, 50,
000 medical tourists came to India in 2003. Around 70,000 people came from
the Middle East and this number grew to 1, 80, 000 in the year 2006 and since
then there has been a steady rise of at least 25-60% of foreign patients coming to
India for medical treatment. Apollo Hospitals is the largest corporate healthcare
group in Asia having its branches in 38 locations across the country. After Apollo
Indraprastha Hospitals, New Delhi received Joint Commission International
(JCI) accreditation, it got 60 to 60 patients per week from abroad, which resulted
in an income to the tune of Rs.30 crores in the year 2006 and that encouraged
the group to set an income target of Rs. 60 crores for the next four years. Medical
Tourism has also received a fillip with an increase in the number of corporate
hospitals coming up and keen interests shown by some major international
players to invest in Indian healthcare sector. Apart from the Apollo group, the
other leading Indian healthcare giants that are promoting medical tourism
vigorously include Fortis healthcare, Escorts Heart Institute and Research
Centre, New Delhi, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mallya Hospital, Arvind Eye Hospitals,
Shankara Nethralaya, Manipal Hospitals and others. Even, the apex, All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi – a government hospital, is
vying for a good share of the medical tourism market. In terms of health tourist
destinations, cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai and Bangalore are
the front runners and are fast merging as medical tourism hubs.

Hospitals have managed to rope in patients from Southeast Asia, Africa and the
Middle East. They also have special tie-ups with the hospitals in Mauritius,
Tanzania, Bangladesh, Yemen, Sri Lanka, and Dubai. There have been sustained,
concerted efforts to get patients from all across the globe and the day is not far
when the world will see India becoming a leader in medical tourism industry.

Q.3 Explain Promotion Mix

Ans:- Promotion Mix

The different promotional tools employed by various hospitals are as follows:

1. Media Coverage / News Releases:

The kind of stiff competition that exists among the healthcare providers today
necessitates the presence of strong relations between any hospital and the media.
Churning out genuine press or news releases by the hospital in leading local /
national dailies is indeed a very fine promotional tool and does a world of good to
the hospital’s marketing. Hospitals are an enterprise where something or the
other keeps happening that needs to be communicated to the outside world, not
only for their promotion or publicity, but also for people’s awareness. If a hospital
is conducting or has already conducted a camp, if it has acquired a corporate
empanelment or accreditation or tie-ups with leading health insurance
companies, or a unique / rare / complicated procedure or surgery has got
successfully transpired; all that needs to get published as news releases in dailies.

Here the choice of dailies by the hospital is an important aspect that needs to be
considered. If the hospital is primarily catering to local population, the news
needs to get published in the local vernaculars. If the hospital is catering to a
wide population base, cutting across different regions and states, then national
newspapers need to be covered. Press releases are not only helpful in increasing
the visibility of the hospital to the target clientele, but at the same time, they also
widen the horizons of customer’s knowledge. The idea behind such press releases
is to market the hospital in the form of news and not as an advertisement,
because the former evokes a better response among the readers and is more cost
effective. Giving news will hardly cost a hospital anything, but giving an
advertisement will turn out to be an expensive affair. Hence, for small hospitals
with budgetary constraints, it is suggested that only news should rule the roost
and not advertisements.

The press releases in the print media should also be replicated in electronic
media, in the sense that every single major / complicated procedure that gets
transpired in a hospital should find itself as news in local / national television
channels. Here also, just like the choice of newspapers, the choice of TV channels
depends on the target market segment. The reasons are also the same as that of
press releases; to market the hospital in the form of news and not as an
advertisement, because the former evokes a better response among the viewers
and is more cost effective. Giving news will hardly cost a hospital anything but
giving an advertisement in on TV channels will turn out to be an expensive affair.

Last but not the least, it must be understood that in order to gain good mileage
from media, it is important that the hospital maintains strong rapport with them
for long term business relations. Light pampers like calling over media personnel
for a cup of tea, sending them greetings on their birthdays / anniversaries /
festivals, giving them and their dependents a concession in case they get some
procedure done in the hospital, a monthly call to enquire about their well being
and indulging in a general chit chat are some of the tricks that should be resorted
to.

2. Preventive Healthcare articles:

Giving preventive healthcare articles in newspapers is yet another very effective

and ethical marketing tool, because when people read an article from a particular
hospital, a positive favorable impression of the hospital gets created in the minds
of the readers. They feel empowered because of their increased sense of
knowledge and this mindset goes a long way in creating the much needed
goodwill of the hospital. Let us suppose that there is an orthopaedic hospital that
wants to market itself through the tool of healthcare articles. Following are the
important guidelines that the hospital should keep in mind while promoting
itself:

i) The articles should pertain to general and specific nuances of orthopaedics

which could be of value to the readers i.e. the present / future customers of the
hospital. General interests can encompass issues like what are the different kinds
of orthopaedic pains, their causes, home tips / precautions to ward them off;
myths and realities of orthopaedics with regard to patient knowledge; the kind of
first aid to be given following a fracture or an accident; tips for strengthening
back, shoulders and other orthopaedic sites; harmful effects of self medication or
getting treated by quacks.

ii) Specific articles will include educating readers on different orthopaedic

procedures, their mode of application, pre and post operative precautions,
estimated cost of the procedures, which kind of patients can be benefited from
them and other related aspects. For example: What is Hip Replacement Surgery
all about? What kind of people are at risk? What kind of patients can get treated
through it? How is it done? What is the nature of pre and post operative care
involved? How much does it cost ? (While answering questions like these, exact
price should not be quoted but just a range should be mentioned, say 1-2 lac)

iii) The articles have to be in very simple, lucid language because they are meant
for general public and not for some medical or para medical professionals.
Because the public’s comprehension of medical science and its related glossary is
generally not good, it is very important that every medical term or procedure
should be simplified within brackets ().

iv) While promoting a hospital through healthcare articles, it has to be kept in

mind, that at the end of the day, what it is that the hospital wants to promote ?
Does it want to promote its own name or the doctor who has penned down the
article? For a small single specialty hospital, where the director happens to be the
owner of the hospital or the head of the speciality, it may be worthwhile to
promote the doctor’s name. In such cases the articles should carry a photograph
of the doctor concerned (wearing doctor’s coat with a stethoscope dangling over
the neck), his / her e-mail ID, the hospital’s name, it’s contact numbers and it’s
website.

However, if it is a big single or a multi speciality hospital with many doctors, then
it is the name of the hospital that has to be promoted through articles and not the
individual doctors, because individual doctors come and go, they may leave the
hospital and join its competitors and if a hospital starts promoting these
individual doctors, the prospective customers will get aligned with those doctors,
which would be damaging to the health of the promoting hospital; something that
the hospital would not like to see happening. The essence in promoting the
hospital through healthcare articles is to align the prospective customers with the
hospital and not its doctors. So in cases like these, the articles should carry the
hospital’s name, it’s contact numbers, it’s website and the name of the
department with which the article is associated and not the name of doctor(s)
who have penned the articles.

v) Another important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is the

choice of newspapers in which the articles need to get published. That will
depend on the hospital’s target market segment. If the hospital is primarily
catering to local population, the articles should get surfaced in the local
vernaculars. If the hospital is catering to a wide population base cutting across
different regions and states, then national newspapers need to be covered. It is
also equally important to understand as to where in the selected newspapers,
should the articles get published. Generally all the newspapers carry out weekly
health supplements. It is there where the articles should surface.

3. HEALTH CARDS:

Promoting a hospital through its exclusive health cards has recently caught the
fancy of many hospitals. Health cards are basically discount entitlements
provided by the hospital to its customers. Their advantages are twin fold for the
hospital. First, the hospital gets promoted through them and second, they are
helpful in bringing about an increase in the sales / revenue of the hospital.

The operating mechanism behind the health card generally involves one primary
card holder and his / her three designated beneficiaries who will be able to avail
facilities offered by the hospital at discounted rates. These health cards generally
have a validity period of one year and, if the customer desires, they can be
renewed. Usually these cards are nominally priced and once the customers
purchase these cards, they along with their dependents become eligible to avail
discounted services like two to three free OPD consultations in a year, discounts
on the health checkups, diagnostics, investigations and total billing (for indoor
patients).

It is not necessary that apart from the primary card holder, there has to be three
beneficiaries. The number of beneficiaries of the health card and the extent of its
discounted services vary from hospital to hospital. But care and caution need to
be exercised while pricing and promoting these health cards. They need to be
priced and promoted in such a fashion that there should not be any resistance in
their purchase by the customers. They can and are being priced at a nominal
value of Rs.365. 365 is a magical figure. There are 365 days in a year and by being
priced at Rs. 365, the hospital is sending out a signal that good health and
healthcare facilities are available at Rs.1 per day for the entire family.

Further it has to be understood that health cards are internal promotional tools
and are promoted from within the hospital premises. They can be marketed to
the prospects through verbal communication by the hospital’s staff, particularly
the front office; a hospital can have posters or banners promoting the cards being
displayed at hospital’s reception, canteen, wards and patients rooms. They can be
promoted on the hospital’s website also. It may not be a bad idea to come out
with a press release as and when they are about to be launched, enumerating
their characteristic details. It may be mentioned that not only these health cards
are internal promotional tools; they are also kind of reverse promotional tools:
First the hospital promotes them and then the hospital gets promoted by them.

Following is sample of a typical health card:

IDE 1:

SIDE 2:

6. EMERGENCY CARDS:

Just like Health Cards there are Emergency Cards through which a hospital or its
services can be promoted. These cards are helpful in promoting a hospital by
highlighting its emergency or trauma and ambulance services and they
particularly find favour with emergency and trauma centers.

Any hospital that has or specializes in managing trauma and other emergencies,
promotion of the hospital through specially designed EMERGENCY CARDS will
help in boosting its business and goodwill among the target clientele. The essence
is, as and when there is a trauma or any other emergency, the promoting hospital
should come across as the most favored healthcare provider among the public. If
the hospital manages to have an increase in its trauma and emergency cases,
financially it will turn out to be a fine proposition, because there are lesser
chances of patients dropping out from the hospital following an emergency /
trauma incident.

A typical EMERGENCY CARD will have the size of a normal visiting card and will
be printed on both sides. One side will carry a helpline number along with
broaching of the facility of AMBULANCE. On its reverse will be the detailed
address of the promoting hospital, along with a brief on the services being
provided by the hospital.
In order to make success out of promoting a hospital through EMERGENCY
CARDS, it is important to know and understand to how they will be promoted.
The EMERGENCY CARDS should always be available at the reception and every
single person coming to the hospital whether an in patient or an out patient,
attendants / visitors of the patients should be handed over these cards. The front
office should make it a point that the cards should only be handed over to the
recipients. At no point of time should the cards be stapled with the registration
form and given to the patients / attendants, because then they will not create the
desired effect and the desired effect is that whenever there is any emergency or
trauma, the promoting hospital should be in the minds of the people. This can
happen only if the cards stay in their purses or pockets; so it always makes sense
to hand over these cards to the customers, rather than clubbing them with their
registration or discharge cards.

Following is a sample of an EMERGENCY CARD for an orthopedic setup:

5. Website:

In today’s internet savvy world a well designed website acts as a powerful

promotional tool for leveraging branding of the hospitals. However, a website has
to be carefully designed, keeping in mind the nature of services it provides, the
kind of market segment it caters to and the psychological makeup of it customers.
.

We all know that the information present in nearly all the websites is distributed
over different pages. The case of a hospital’s website is no different but following
information should be kept in mind while drafting a hospital’s website:

HOME PAGE: This page will have the links to all other pages. Apart from
having the links, there may be a photograph of the hospital in the background as
a water mark. In fact this water mark may figure in all the pages. Also the
hospital’s punch line should appear on the top of all pages in a moving / flashing
mode and the hospital’s Emergency Helpline Number should appear on the
bottom of all pages in a moving / flashing mode. The various links / pages that
should feature in the HOME PAGE are:

ABOUT US: This link can contain an abstract on the promoters of the hospital,
as well as information pertaining to entrepreneurial history of the hospital such
as the operating philosophy behind setting up the hospital (e.g.: that it was set up
to provide high quality, affordable and comprehensive clinical care to remove the
sufferings of ailing mankind), the number of years in service and total number of
beds. A word or two about the location of the hospital in terms of how far is it
from railway station, bus stand or airport can also be mentioned. In case there
are any firsts associated with hospital like being the first private orthopaedic
center in a particular city or state; they should also be mentioned in this page. If
the promoter happens to be a doctor then the doctor’s qualification / degree(s),
years of experience, number of procedures performed, awards / felicitations
received, lectures given, conferences attended and things like that can be
broached.

THE TEAM: This one can contain an account of the different doctors working
for the hospital; their names, designations, qualifications / degree(s), years of
experience, number of procedures performed, awards / felicitations received,
lectures given, conferences attended etc. This information should be provided
along with the doctors’ photographs. Then there can be a group photograph of
different doctors serving in a hospital along with the rest of the employees. Apart
from the clinical fraternity, a photographic account of other managerial and
pararamedical employees can be provided with their names, designations,
qualifications / degree(s) and years of experience

VISUAL TOUR: The ‘VISUAL TOUR’ page will act as a snap book of the
hospital. It will contain pictures of the hospital’s building, reception, patient
rooms, I.C.U., Operation Theatre, Ambulance, Physiotherapy Room, Laboratory,
Canteen etc.

CLINICAL SERVICES: This page will contain a detailed list of the various
clinical procedures / facilities being provided by the hospital. From the patient’s
perspective, this link is by far the most important of all links of the hospital’s
website and also the most bungled one.

· One look at this page will reveal the naivety of the hospital promoters. A lot of
emphasis is laid on the hospital’s state of the art machines and their clinical
details and the clinical procedures being carried out and their methodology. Why
it is naïve is because the patients and the target customers are not interested in
which machine is installed at your hospital or what is the procedure that your
hospital is an expert in. They just want to know how you can you make a
difference in their quality of life.

· For example, let us take a gall bladder stone patient who wants to get
laparoscopic surgery done for the stones. What do you think is more important
for her- the make and configuration of the equipment being promoted at the
website or the total experience of what she will go through during the surgery?
Patients need access to information like: 1. Is the operation absolutely necessary?
Can they avoid the surgery? Will there be any consequences of not getting the
surgery done? 2. How big is the surgery? Is it too complicated? 3. Will it be
painful? How much pain do they have to endure and for how many days? 4. How
many days they have to stay in the hospital? Can they afford to stay away from
work for these many days? 5. Is the doctor concerned skilled in this surgery?
Does he operate routinely? Has anyone in circle of friends or relatives had an
operation at this hospital or by this doctor? 6. How much will it cost? Where will
the money come from? 7. Is the hospital environment friendly and nice? Will they
have a comfortable experience here? These are the points that need to be taken
into consideration while developing the page on clinical services. The point is, a
patient is more concerned about the overall experience he will get in the hospital
including safety and pain, rather than the machines and the way the procedure is
carried out. A recent survey has revealed that a patient is driven to a hospital
mostly by the treatment he gets as a person from the doctors and staff of the
hospital. He wants to be understood fully and to be informed fully.

So in a hospital’s promotional website, a hospital should tell the people about

what they will get in terms of quality of life, if and when they get treated at its
place. It should tell them what they will go through in terms of body pain and
sensations during and after the procedure. It should tell them how much it will
cost and why that cost is worth incurring. Just harping about ones’ machines,
procedures, techniques and their technicalities in website and other promotional
tools does not really work. Nobody cares for that.

TESTIMONIALS: As the name suggests this page will contain testimonials /

proofs from the patients being treated by the hospital. The testimonials can be in
the form of written documentation or video clips and their content should include
name and address of the patients, as well their verbal excerpts, giving an account
of their respective conditions before coming to hospital and improvement that
they have had following treatment at the hospital

· IN-PATIENT FACILITIES: This page will contain an account of various

kinds of patient rooms available to patients. The prices of different rooms along
with their additions / deletions viz: attached washroom, T.V., A.C., cooler etc
should be mentioned. Also, the facility of canteen and local / STD phone calls
should be broached.

CORPORATE SERVICES: This link should have a list of all the corporates /
organizations with whom the hospital has got empanelled for providing various
services to their respective employees, as well as their dependents. The general
modus operandi through which beneficiaries (employees / their dependents) will
avail services of the hospital should be mentioned. An accepted convention in
corporate empanelment is , that prior to availing the services of any hospital, the
beneficiary is required to show his / her ID card which acts as a proof of him
being an employee of that particular organization. If there are some special
conditions with regard to particular organization(s), the same should be
highlighted.

HEALTH INSURANCE: This should contain the list of various Health

Insurance companies with which the hospital has tied up for providing cashless
service to the respective policy holders of the insurance companies. Also the list
of various Third Part Administrators (TPA’S) should also figure out in the link.

HEALTH CARD: This page can contain an account of the hospital’s Health
Card along with its terms / benefits of use. Also a sample of the card should be
shown on the website itself.

E-HEALTH: This page can be divided into two links: 1. “Q & A with the
hospital’s doctor(s)” and “Doctor Cam 2 Cam”. Q & A with the doctor(s) will have
a provision that any web surfer can seek information / solicit advice / question
the doctor(s) anything regarding his or her clinical concerns, through a pre
designed query form which will be available at the link, and the doctor(s)
concerned will provide a prompt reply to it. It should be seen that the reply to all
the queries should be answered within the first 68 hours of their receipt. Further,
the website surfers should also be made aware of the fact that their respective
queries will be answered within the first 68 hours of receipt.

“Doctor Cam 2 Cam” can be yet another innovative marketing strategy whereby
the website visitors will get to interact directly with the doctor(s) of the hospital
on a webcam and they can sort out all their queries in consultation with the
doctor(s). The day(s) and timings of “Doctor Cam 2 Cam” should be arranged
when the doctor(s) are relatively free and the same should be broached on the
website for the seekers information. Also, the day E-HEALTH goes on floor, its
corresponding press release should figure in dailies.

HOSPITAL IN NEWS: This page will contain a soft copy of all the press
clippings that covered happenings / achievements / accomplishments of the
hospital. The clippings should be arranged in a chronological order beginning
with the latest and ending at the oldest.

NEWSLETTER: This move is designed to empower the customers with useful

information pertaining to the specialties that the hospital is engaging in, as well
as to create a favorable impression of the hospital in their minds. A system has to
be designed in the website that whosoever is desirous of having the news letter
should feed his / her respective E-mail ID and the letter should get dispatched in
no time. The content of the newsletter can be the same as that of preventive
healthcare articles which already may have appeared in the dailies. For a start, it
is suggested that the newsletter can be made a monthly affair at least for the first
year. Preparing newsletters will not involve any additional hard workbecause
only 12 of them have to be framed (1 per month) and that too will be a straight lift
from 12 preventive healthcare articles that would have had already appeared in
various vernaculars.

· CONTACT US: This link should have all the contact numbers / addresses of
the hospital. It should cover detailed address of the hospital, it’s phone numbers,
emergency helpline number, E-mail ID’s of the doctor(s) as well as that of the
hospital. This page can also contain a location map to the hospital.

The above mentioned guidelines for website development of the hospital have
been prepared, keeping in mind customers’ / patients’ requirements and
concerns. The website developers should not deviate much from the framed plot.
They should bring in their share of expertise to leverage what has been discussed
above, so that the hospital gets the best and reaps the best.

6. Boards and Hoardings:

Boards, hoardings, banners, pamphlets are the perhaps the oldest promotional
tools being utilized by the hospital to promote its name in the market. No doubt
they serve the purpose, but if they are amateurishly developed and designed and
placed at wrong locations, the entire exercise is a waste of time and money.

On an average, a city person is exposed to 300 advertising messages in a day. He

whips past hoardings on the road, he reads through ads in the newspaper, he
overlooks promotional messages on TV and he indifferently listens to the radio in
his car which plays the local FM channel. Perhaps the biggest challenge for any
business today is to be seen and/or heard in an overcrowded marketplace.
Everyone is fighting for that one moment of attention from the target customer.
Most of the times hospitals are found wondering as to why their boards and
advertisements fail at getting noticed. The commonest plain reason is that they
mar their chances of success by being boastful and indulging in self praise.

Do you indulge in self praise? Well, once in a while, most of us do. We want to tell
others about us, else they may make a wrong impression. The same logic goes
while we want to tell them about our hospital and its services.

A hospital will have to learn to resist the temptation of telling more and more
about its services. Remember, in advertising, less is more and more is less. A
hoarding in any case will be read by commuters. They will not have the time to
stand and read about all your latest equipments and the list of services you offer.
Let’s face it, “NO ONE HAS THE TIME”. People hate confusion and complexities.
In any case they are being bombarded by hundreds of messages everyday through
various mediums. A hospital may think that if it does not write all the things,
then people will not know about it. Here is the lesson to be learnt, “TO MAKE
SOMETHING IMPRESSIVE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO MAKE IT EVERLASTING”.

Keep it short and simple. Pictures speak a thousand words. So add a picture.
Forget the list of services and equipment. Concentrate on what the customers will
get rather than what you have to offer. Yes, it takes a lot of effort and time to be
an expert copywriter [that is why the advertising agencies make so much money].
A hospital cannot turn into an ace creative director in one month. But sure it can
at least get some return on its money by making its message short, simple and
relevant. You can even tickle the funny bone by using some humor. Just be
careful that your message should not be lost among the humor of the ad.

Some messages on safe driving [if you are a trauma centre], women education [if
you are a Ob-Gyn centre], quitting smoking and exercising [if you are a cardiac
centre] etc., should be put on the highways in form of hoardings. Not only these
messages are for public good, they also create a good image about your hospital.
Once again, the location of the message is important.

It’s now time to be introduced to a very interesting marketing tool. It is called

converting your disadvantage into an advantage. Most of the hospitals lose sleep
over what they think is a weakness of their organization. Well, it is possible to
convert the weakness into a strength and boards and hoardings can go a long way
in bringing about that much needed turnaround.

A doctor client of a hospital consultancy was worried that his hospital is viewed
as the most expensive hospital in the target market. He said, "We are sure to miss
out on many cases because we are expensive.’ Indeed, when the consultancy
compared the prices, the services were expensive. The surgery charges, ICU,
investigations did cost more to the patients. He had more number of doctors and
expensive high quality machines, so his costs were also high. The hospital
infrastructure was maintained diligently, and that added to the costs as well. He
had more number of nurses and cleaners per patient. All in all he had ensured a
good quality service, but at a cost.
The dilemma was that he could either compromise on the service quality and
reduce the prices; or he could reduce the prices and earn fewer profits but
maintain the quality. Well, he did neither of those. The consultancy told him to
not dodge the fact that his place is expensive. In fact, it encouraged the hospital
to make a statement and propagate that they are expensive.

An advertisement campaign was created for them with a headline- ‘We are the
most expensive hospital in the city.’ The tag line was, ‘But who says quality is
cheap?’ In the middle of both these lines was a picture of a happy smiling family
in a plush, private room of the hospital. There were other messages too. Through
boards, hoardings and other mediums, the hospital told the people that they
deserve what they pay for. A premium brand associated with top quality service
was developed. This message was spread through boards, hoardings and other
media all over the area. Within a year, the disadvantage was converted into an
advantage. The hospital today is viewed as a premium place with high quality
service. When a person gets his family member treated there, he is making a
statement that he will buy the best for his loved one. Needless to say that the sales
have increased and so have the profits in one year’s time.

The lesson from this story is- If you are candid about your ’so called
disadvantage’ you can actually convert it into an advantage, provided you
promote it right.

Apart from the above broached promotional tools, a hospital can resort to some
other promotional measures like ensuring that there are certain take aways for its
patients when they go home. They may be key chains, pens, greeting cards,
diaries, etc. A hospital should also engage itself in some social activities like
training volunteers in first aid in case of accidents, giving away school books and
school uniforms to school going children of underprivileged families. Needless to
say, that when such social work makes headlines in the papers, people remember
the hospital and the hospital does not need to spend money on advertising too.

Q.4 Discuss the Advantages and Limitations of PR research

Advantages of Public Relations Research

Public relations research enables management to formulate policies that are

acceptable to the public. Research produces suggestions that can lead to better
products, service and relationships.

Limitations of Public Relations Research

Because it deals with changeable attitudes and opinions, public relations is

exceedingly difficult to evaluate.

Many criticisms of public opinion research are the result of faulty survey
techniques. Most of the criticisms are resolved when opinion surveys are properly
planned and conducted by experienced researchers; the questions, carefully
phrased and tested; the interviewers adequately trained and supervised.

Q.5 what are the method that can be adopted for promoting
good Public Relations. Discuss

Methods of promoting good Public Relations

Broadly, there are two methods of promoting good public relations in a hospital.
They are Operative and Communicative Methods.

Operative Methods:

Operative methods are essentially connected with almost every aspect of the
hospital’s operations, including those that are carried out by such workmen as
telephone operators, inquiry office personnel and admission office clerks to
mention a few. All those coming in contact with patients, as well as those
operating behind the screen share the same burden.

The three fundamental ingredients of a hospital’s operations are: (i) cheerful and
courteous behavior, (ii) prompt and efficient treatment, and (iii) clean
surroundings and well-kept appearance of workers. Some of the important
aspects are enumerated below.

1. A high quality of patient care is the sine quo non of good public relations. No
amount of smiles and propaganda can compensate for poor professional care.

2. Adequate physical facilities with a good functional layout. Adequate waiting

areas, toilets, drinking water and refreshment facility in the outpatient
department and such facilities which take care of the basic creature comforts of
the patients and others.

3. To make others happy, one must be happy himself. Good morale of workers
not only increases efficiency, but workers with high morale interact in a positive
manner with one another and also with patients and the community. Frustrated
doctors, nurses, technicians and paramedical personnel will bring the working of
the hospital into disrepute. The least expensive way to improve public relations is
to render the service with a smile and cheerful greeting.

4. By placing more emphasis on technology in dealing with the diagnosis and

treatment, there must always be a continuous effort to not create other anxieties
and concerns, as Florence Nightingale exhorted that the first concern of the
hospital is to do patient no harm.

5. Operating efficiency with effective coordination among all clinical departments

and other supportive services stems from good administration. Organizational
structure, policies and procedures, authority and accountability should be clearly
understood by each worker.

6. Sensitive areas:
a) Many misunderstandings by patients and public originate in the OPD. Efforts
should be made to reduce high waiting time of the patients in OPD.

b) The nature of the admission process plays a major part in determining the
humanity of the hospital. The procedure may be an administrative triumph, but if
it reduce our patient to a barely significant case or number who is an imposition
on the high technology medical shrine, the process is a failure.

c) Delay in receiving specimens at the laboratory counter and delay at the

dispensary should be curtailed.

d) Casualty department must be organized to deal with any type of casualty, at

the same time causing least confusion when a number of relations accompany the
patient.

e) Importance of food served hot from the dietary department and of clean and
well-pressed linen from the hospital laundry cannot be overemphasized.

7. Other activities: The Hospital premises should be kept clean at all times and
not only during the morning working hours. Hospital visitors should be dealt
with courteously-their visit to a hospital inpatient is of great emotional value to
the patient. A member of nursing or medical staff should be available in the ward
during visiting hours to answer their queries.

Availability of medico-social workers in a hospital in very beneficial in respect of

patients having social problems more than medical problems. Voluntary services
by people from the community help to provide emotional support to patients.
Such services can run libraries for patients, write letters on behalf of disabled
patients and help the nursing staff in carrying out unskilled nursing chores.
Perhaps the greatest benefit is that they soon develop an insight into the
limitations of the hospital and, by discussing the same with other members of the
community, cause a mutual understanding and goodwill between the hospital
and the community.

Communicative Methods:

These methods employ means of communication in all possible forms to enable

the hospital to convey its message to the public. Some of these are also
intermixed with the intramural functions of the hospital and operative methods.
The other deals with the media. The communicative methods may be used in the
following ways:

1. Making available appropriate information to the patients, their relatives and

visitors at enquiry and registration, and also on patients discharge regarding his
or her health status and follow-up. A discharge interview with the attending
physician can serve this purpose well.

2. An open-house approach to the visitors without interfering in tile routine

medical care functions. Large number of visitors to patients cannot be avoided in
our peculiar socio-cultural ethos.
3 The queries of the relatives and sitors can be satisfied if a doctor or senior nurse
conversant with the ward is, made available in the ward during the visiting hours
for this purpose.

4. Administrative rounds by hospital administrators at different levels. However,

they should be as informal as possible.

5. A provision to listen to verbal complaints instead of insisting on written ones.

6. Written communication: prompt replies to questions.

7. Provision of a suggestion box at an appropriate place.

8. Visual communication-film shows, exhibitions, hospital brochure.

9. Hospital tours by groups such as school teachers and students, housewives and
members of women’s organizations, peoples’ representatives and religious
leaders.

10. Holding of an annual “Hospital Day” or open-house day where public can be
shown every aspect of the hospital’s operations, including some of the highly
technical functions.

11. Advisory committee-its role should be to suggest to hospital administration

the methods to overcome their shortcomings, and interpret the functioning of the
hospital to the community.

12. Talks and interviews on radio and television.

With respect to humanization of the hospital, firstly the misconceptions held by

community towards the hospital should be dispelled by breaking down the
“trauma”, “crisis” and “high technology” association and by developing the health
maintenance and community support images. Secondly, the physical setting
should be modified to respect the “human” in the patient by helping him or her to
feel significant. The hospital will be humanized if the “human" in the patient is
understood and respected. On entering hospitals, people do not cease to be
individuals with no personalities and, needs and do not cease to interact of their
own and become merely bodies.