Healthcare Marketing: Evolution, Acceptance, and Impact

This report examines the evolution and acceptance of marketing within the healthcare sector, starting from the 1970s to the present. It explores how marketing has transformed the industry, driven by factors like profit motives and technological advancements, including social media's impact on patient-physician communication. The report details the shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market, the integration of marketing strategies, and the importance of research. It also highlights the relevance of healthcare marketing to the author's business management career plans, emphasizing the need for a personal marketing plan to successfully establish a private hospital. The report concludes with recommendations for leveraging social media and fostering collaboration among healthcare providers. The author emphasizes the need for an effective marketing plan and the importance of offering excellent services. References are provided to support the findings and analysis within the report.

Running head: HEALTHCARE MARKETING 1
Healthcare Marketing
Name
Institution

HEALTHCARE MARKETING 2
Abstract
In this section, I prepared a report on the short but vigorous growth and approval of
marketing as an official business function in the healthcare sector. In the course of preparing this
report, I carried out an extensive research on the history and evolution of healthcare marketing
since 1970s up to date. From this research, I found out that, marketing has been helpful in the
healthcare sector. Future studies are needed since I obtained my data from secondary sources of
information which I had no control over them.

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Introduction
Marketing is a new concept that contemporarily means sales. It combines both traditional
marketing principles and science-based approaches to help and protect the health wellbeing of
different populations (Huang, Chang, & Khurana, 2012). In this section, I am going to explain
the evolution and acceptance of marketing in the healthcare sector.
Evolution of Healthcare Marketing Since The 1970s
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

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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 influenced the receipt of marketing in the industry (Wasima,
2015). Patients resolved to look for better medical service providers. This forced medical
practitioners to advertise their services to the public. Growth in technology also adequately
helped to salvage the situation (Krueger, 2010). As every medical provider struggled to make a
profit in the sector, he or she had to offer excellent services to the buyers. Healthcare facilities,
for example, hospitals, used communication to reach a broader population, answer questions in
concern to their services and create awareness among the public regarding various diseases.
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

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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.
Recommendations
Today, social media is not just an avenue of for people to stay in touch. Healthcare
providers can use this opportunity to educate their patients on various preventive measures.
Through social media, collaboration between healthcare providers can be improved. This will see
an improvement in referrals from one doctor to another.
Conclusion
Ideally, healthcare marketing has undergone a series of evolutions 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. Advancements in
technology have been very useful to the healthcare sector.

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References
Fejza, E., & Asllani, A. (2013). The Importance of Marketing in Helping Companies with their
Growth Strategies: The Case of Food Industry in Kosovo. European Scientific Journal,
1857- 7431.
Huang, E., Chang, C.-c. A., & Khurana, P. (2012). Users' preferred interactive e-health tools on
hospital web sites. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing,
215-229.
Krueger, A. (2010). 6 Ways Technology Is Improving Healthcare. Business Insider, Online.
Tack, S. (2018). History of Healthcare Advertising, Part 1. Health Care Marketing Trend#2:
Internal Cultural Problems, Online.
Thomas. (2018). The Origin and Evolution of Marketing in Healthcare. Marketing Health
Services, 1-33.
Wasima, K. J. (2015). Profits, Medicine, and the Human Right to Health in the Pharmaceutical
Industry: Educating (Future) Business Leaders. AAAS Journal, Online.