MARKETING HEALTH CARE SERVICES According to Berkowitz (2010), marketing of services is more challenging because of their unique elements, given that they are not tangible. Services differ from products on five components, which is referred to as the five I’s. The five I’s of services that any health care marketer should recognize are inconsistency, inseparability, intangibility, interaction with consumers, and inventory (Berkowitz, 2010).
INCONSISTENCY
Multiple people such as physicians, surgeons, nurse, and administration staff deliver services in the healthcare field. Therefore, patient delivered services have inherent variability and the delivery of services may change with the individual who delivers the service. According to Berkowitz (2010), surgeons may have different levels of proficiency at performing a particular procedure but perform the same clinical procedure to deliver services. For example, at Aravind, the surgeon productivity was six times greater than surgeons in other areas and the ophthalmologist perform between six and eight intraocular lens surgeries per hour, which is due to the Aravind approach to provide efficient service operations (Velayudhan et al, 2011). The Aravind approach has allowed them to perfect several surgery techniques such as refinement of procedures, rather than inventions (Velayudhan et al, 2011). For instance, Aravind developed and implemented a new version of manual sutureless cataract surgery, which reduced surgical procedure time (Velayudhan et al, 2011). However, in order to reduce inconsistency in people delivered services is to implement training (Berkowitz, 2010). The Aravind care system utilization was not limited to surgery, the trained paramedical staff performed preliminary test, refraction assessments, scans and other routine tasks, instead of the physicians (Velayudhan et al, 2011). INSEPARABILITY According to Berkowitz (2010), services cannot be divided from the individual delivering the services. For instance, the healthcare setting service “bedside manner” of a physician, which a classic example. Therefore, the connection between inconsistency and inseparability emphasizes the intricacy of health care service marketing (Berkowitz, 2010). When providing services, the providers in the Aravind care system are not bias towards or against patients and their families. The Aravind approach to care is to provide quality care at prices that everyone can afford such as the rich and poor, while continuing to be financially self-supporting (Velayudhan et al, 2011). However, by taking this approach has allowed them to provide free eye care services to two-thirds of their patients by using the revenue generated from patients that paid for services (Velayudhan et al, 2011). In addition, the approach has help to restore eyesight of millions of people with poor vision, eliminate blindness, and correct visual impairment by providing quality care to all serviced (Velayudhan et al, 2011). In 2010, Aravind eye care system was the world’s largest provider of eye care services, which may be a result of their respect and care they showed patients in their ability to assist patients who could not afford care (Velayudhan et al, 2011). This helped to build their community trust and image as a business. INTANGIBILTY In healthcare, some services are intangible, which means that they cannot be felt, touched, …show more content…
The Aravind Eye Care system is a patient-centered organization. Aravind Eye Care System was started by the founder, Dr.Govindappa Venkataswamy to address the mission to provide service for poor, blind people (Velayudhan et al, 2011). The task set by the founder was to eliminate needless blindness.
Through the Aravind approach, the services offered were originally focused on cataract surgery (Velayudhan et al, 2011). However, after a considerable decision, service was not limited to curable blindness (Velayudhan et al, 2011). Aravind Eye Care decided to offer numerous specialty eye care services. The services include treatment for retinal disorder, cornea disorders, glaucoma, pediatric ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology, uvea disorders and low vision (Velayudhan et al, 2011).
The services are centered on efficient, quality eye care. In addition to eye care, the organization implemented a community outreach program, which included a comprehensive eye-screening camp (Velayudhan et al, 2011). The camp initiates four to five screenings each month for different patient groups with different type of eye problems (Velayudhan et al, 2011). For example, a diabetic retinopathy camp for the diabetic community to diagnose and prevent the loss of vision due to diabetic retinopathy (Velayudhan et al,
INCONSISTENCY
Multiple people such as physicians, surgeons, nurse, and administration staff deliver services in the healthcare field. Therefore, patient delivered services have inherent variability and the delivery of services may change with the individual who delivers the service. According to Berkowitz (2010), surgeons may have different levels of proficiency at performing a particular procedure but perform the same clinical procedure to deliver services. For example, at Aravind, the surgeon productivity was six times greater than surgeons in other areas and the ophthalmologist perform between six and eight intraocular lens surgeries per hour, which is due to the Aravind approach to provide efficient service operations (Velayudhan et al, 2011). The Aravind approach has allowed them to perfect several surgery techniques such as refinement of procedures, rather than inventions (Velayudhan et al, 2011). For instance, Aravind developed and implemented a new version of manual sutureless cataract surgery, which reduced surgical procedure time (Velayudhan et al, 2011). However, in order to reduce inconsistency in people delivered services is to implement training (Berkowitz, 2010). The Aravind care system utilization was not limited to surgery, the trained paramedical staff performed preliminary test, refraction assessments, scans and other routine tasks, instead of the physicians (Velayudhan et al, 2011). INSEPARABILITY According to Berkowitz (2010), services cannot be divided from the individual delivering the services. For instance, the healthcare setting service “bedside manner” of a physician, which a classic example. Therefore, the connection between inconsistency and inseparability emphasizes the intricacy of health care service marketing (Berkowitz, 2010). When providing services, the providers in the Aravind care system are not bias towards or against patients and their families. The Aravind approach to care is to provide quality care at prices that everyone can afford such as the rich and poor, while continuing to be financially self-supporting (Velayudhan et al, 2011). However, by taking this approach has allowed them to provide free eye care services to two-thirds of their patients by using the revenue generated from patients that paid for services (Velayudhan et al, 2011). In addition, the approach has help to restore eyesight of millions of people with poor vision, eliminate blindness, and correct visual impairment by providing quality care to all serviced (Velayudhan et al, 2011). In 2010, Aravind eye care system was the world’s largest provider of eye care services, which may be a result of their respect and care they showed patients in their ability to assist patients who could not afford care (Velayudhan et al, 2011). This helped to build their community trust and image as a business. INTANGIBILTY In healthcare, some services are intangible, which means that they cannot be felt, touched, …show more content…
The Aravind Eye Care system is a patient-centered organization. Aravind Eye Care System was started by the founder, Dr.Govindappa Venkataswamy to address the mission to provide service for poor, blind people (Velayudhan et al, 2011). The task set by the founder was to eliminate needless blindness.
Through the Aravind approach, the services offered were originally focused on cataract surgery (Velayudhan et al, 2011). However, after a considerable decision, service was not limited to curable blindness (Velayudhan et al, 2011). Aravind Eye Care decided to offer numerous specialty eye care services. The services include treatment for retinal disorder, cornea disorders, glaucoma, pediatric ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology, uvea disorders and low vision (Velayudhan et al, 2011).
The services are centered on efficient, quality eye care. In addition to eye care, the organization implemented a community outreach program, which included a comprehensive eye-screening camp (Velayudhan et al, 2011). The camp initiates four to five screenings each month for different patient groups with different type of eye problems (Velayudhan et al, 2011). For example, a diabetic retinopathy camp for the diabetic community to diagnose and prevent the loss of vision due to diabetic retinopathy (Velayudhan et al,