Gone are the days when hospitals were built solely for providing treatment. These days the healthcare industry has started marketing specialists and targeting specific segments that help them survive in this competitive industry. The industry is propelling itself into a new arena of building multispeciality hospitals. The consumers, patients in this case, have become more aware of their needs and the hospitals are seeking to take advantage of this opportunity. Patients no longer look for any doctor, instead they search for the best hospitals as they believe that the best hospital with the best services will definitely employ the best doctors in town.
On a recent visit to one such hospital, I was amazed to see the detailed segmentation provided for various treatments. Looking at these different departments made me understand the motive behind this segmentation. The simplest reason is easy marketing, without any advertising, directly by playing with a patient’s mind.
As soon as a patient enters the department, he assures himself by looking at all the specialists; that this hospital will be a one stop solution for all his problems. This patient then becomes a prime word of mouth advertising medium for the hospital. This business model reflects the way in which the health sector is able to take advantage of consumer behavior. But then again, take my advice and look for the best available medical services and leave the marketing behind.
