History of Healthcare Marketing

History of Healthcare Marketing

Marketing is a new concept that contemporary means sales. The Americans first used the term at around 1910. Consequently, healthcare marketing is a new strategy in use to promote public health. It combines both traditional marketing principles and science-based approaches to help and protect the health well being of different populations (Huang, Chang, & Khurana, 2012). This strategy deals with educating the public about different ways of preventing and protecting themselves from numerous diseases. It is one of the advancements in the medical sector. Healthcare marketing has undergone a series of evolution from the 1970s up to date.

History of Healthcare Marketing

The strategy dates back to 1977 when the American Hospital Association held the first marketing strategy. Up to this time, there were no existing records about the approach in the medical field (Tack, 2018). Since this period, the area has undergone periods of decline, growth and renewed growth. The strategy has experienced various periods after 1970 as discussed below.

Periods of Healthcare Marketing Evolution

The 1970s

During this period, the universal desire to promote services began to grow among several hospitals (Thomas, 2018). It was driven by the notion that in the future, the healthcare sector was going to attract a large number of customers hence turn the sector into a profit-making field. Public relations functions were expanded to cater for the broad marketing mandate. The industry also began absorbing the “for profit hospital” idea. The sales era in the hospitals emerged during this period.

The 1980s

In the 1980s, the healthcare sector had already evolved to buyer’s market from seller’s market. Healthcare had become a field for employers and consumers. The role of the physicians in referring patients to the hospital services started to extinct. A large chain of hospitals and nursing homes came into existence. Marketing personnel was still a challenge to the industry during this period.

The 1990s

Healthcare had enormously evolved into a market-driven strategy during this period. Marketing was fully integrated into the sector during this era. Consumers were more educated on the importance of medical attention. Research became an essential factor in the industry. Business was fully accepted in the industry.

The 2000s up to the Present

Due to retirements and merging, the sector had severely turned over by the year 2000. Marketing was considered to be a fundamental requirement in the industry. The advancements in the technology sector have profoundly influenced marketing in the healthcare industry. A good example is the social media. Patients can comfortably communicate with physicians as well as other patients in the comfort of their home.

Acceptance of Marketing in the Healthcare Sector

The desire to make profits has influenced the receipt of marketing in the industry (Wasima, 2015). Patients have resolved to look for better medical service providers. This has forced medical practitioners to advertise their services to the public. Growth in technology has adequately helped to salvage the situation (Krueger, 2010). As every medical provider struggles to make a profit in the sector, he or she has to offer excellent services to the buyers. Healthcare facilities, for example, hospitals, use communication to reach a broader population, answer questions in concern to their services and create awareness among the public regarding various diseases. New machines and medicines have been discovered in the sector as each member of the sector struggle to attract as many patients as possible.  Through advertisement, medical centers learn about the emergence of new diseases. This compels them to venture into discoveries to benefit from the emerging market gaps.

Relationship between the History and Evolution of Healthcare Marketing to my Business Management Career Plans

From this paper, I have learnt that, effective marketing planning has enabled healthcare sector to evolve over the past decades positively. I have an idea of starting a private hospital in future and I will need a personal marketing plan to market my services successfully. A marketing plan helps to bring the focus to a career path (Fejza & Asllani, 2013). How I will implement my marketing strategy across the healthcare sector will rely on how active my methods are. The fruits that a marketing strategy plan bears depend on how it was formulated. Marketing knowledge derived from this paper will help me to describe precisely what I offer and why I am the best in the market. Doing all this will assist me to convey my core values to the entire target market in a more precise manner.

Healthcare marketing has undergone a series of evolution from the 1970s up to date. The industry has been slow on adopting the approach compared to other sectors, but the increasing numbers of practitioners absorbing the strategy cannot be ignored. Since many people have resolved into using social media to look for medical information, the marketers have trapped this opportunity to reach such people. For the last decades, the sector has evolved due to marketing strategy.