Marketing Review Marketing Healthcare Products A Treatment Plan

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Marketing Review May/Jun. 1985 Volume 40, Number 9

Marketing Healthcare Products -
A Treatment Plan

by Murray Simon

Dr. Murray Simon is president of D/R/S HealthCare Consultants

Healthcare is unique unto itself.
     If a consumer fails to choose, or chooses the wrong automobile, they may suffer from an identity crisis and/or a surplus of repair bills.
     If a consumer fails to choose, or chooses the wrong perfume, they may suffer from an identity crisis and/or a deficity of social interactions.
     If a consumer fails to choose, or chooses the wrong healthcare product or service, they may suffer!
     The pursuit of wellness is a dominant factor in life today. The lay public is assuming greater responsibility in mapping their own path to good health. But we must be careful in our study of this phenomenon, for it is overburdened with misconceptions and inconsistencies. Interviews with a large number of patients elicits a strong desire for more health related information from their doctors. Doctors, on the other hand, express the firm conviction that patients do not read and/or absorb information dispensed to them. "Once they leave the office, you can forget about any information they have taken with them." The dental patient considers the dentist as their prime source of dental health information; dentists interviewed state that television and the print media are the primary source of dental health information for the lay public.
     The marketing pathway between the healthcare product or service and the consumer is not an unobstructed one. Few, if any, marketing pathways are. But no other lines of distribution come to mind with the equivalent of the healthcare provider in the picture. Here we have a profound influence on the healthcare buying habits of the consumer that is beyond the direct control of the manufacturer.
     If the manufacturer of healthcare products or services is to successfully meet the challenges of marketing competition, the role of the healthcare provider must be studied. The doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist represents a largely untapped source of marketing support.
     The population of the United States in 1980 included: 450,000 physicians, 132,000 dentists, 65,000 osteopaths, 1,372,000 nurses, 247,000 therapists, 158,000 pharmacists, 75,000 hygenists. If we hypothesize an average of 10 patient contacts per day, the impact of this body of professionals on the decision making processes of the healthcare buying public is of enormous significance and warrants further study.
     In order to keep this article to a manageable size, I have chosen to focus on the doctor and dentist. It is not necessary to be a healthcare expert to be impressed with the momentous changes taking place in the traditional delivery modes of medical and dental care in this country. The healthcare provider is presently caught in a two-way squeeze: The attempts by government and corporations to control healthcare costs coupled with a rapidly increasing supply of doctors and dentists. The twentieth century, which saw the solidification of medicine and dentistry under the control of the professional, is now bearing witness to the loss of that very control. The prospect is not simply for the weakening of professional sovereignty, but for greater disunity, inequality and conflict throughout the entire healthcare system. The symptoms are very much in evidence:
     -Hospital closing
     -Hospitals being owned by "for profit" companies
     -Doctors and dentists advertising
     -Free standing, 24-hour clinics
     -Doctors and dentists complaining of busyness problems
     -HMO's and PPO's dramatically on the rise
     -Tighter Federal regulation of Medicare and Medicaid
     -Formation of professional Political Action Committees
     These and other factors are contributing to a state of confusion and uncertainty within the health professions. Providers of healthcare services are seeking help wherever they can find it, and I would suggest that the time is uniquely right for the manufacturer to take a giant step forward into this area.        The question is how? The tendency is to look for new and innovative ideas, but our studies indicate the need for improvement in fundamentals and basic strengths. I refer to the broad, general area of communication , and specifically to multi-directional communication within the dynamic triangular relationship of manufacturer-provider-consumer.

Manufacturer-provider communications

     Qualitative focused interviewing in the healthcare area is a tool whose time has come. Both focus groups and individual depth interviews are able to provide the stimulating, unstructured, creative environment required for the successful generation of new product or service concepts. There is, on the other hand, a strong reluctance to conduct focused interviews with healthcare professionals. They are thought to be difficult to manage; the words pompous and uncooperative are frequently mentioned. Our research, however, indicates a new willingness on the part of doctors and dentists to participate in focused group interviews or one-on-one depth interviews if recruited properly. They must be made to feel that their opinions will have an impact on future health related developments. The following is an example of what can be learned through depth interviews.
     When a physician or dentist evaluates a pharmaceutical product, the three principal factors weighed are: efficacy, safety (side effects) and price. If the healthcare provider has been trained to analyze product value in this particular way, then it stands to reason that advertising and marketing efforts directed at this group should always take these three factors into consideration. Although the medical profession has been suffering from bad public relations of late, it is safe to assume that physicians truly care about the well being of their patients. Why not acknowledge and applaud this commitment and at the same time point out how your products benefits (efficacy) can be of help. Cost containment in medicine and dentistry has now achieved the status of front page news. Everyone involved in the delivery of health related services is demonstrating a renewed awareness of those factors relating to cost. The manufacturer would be well adviced to emphasize this personal commitment to helping the professions achieve effective cost containment in as "painless" a manner as possible. On the other hand, it is important to recognize that fine gradations exist as to the importance of efficacy, safety, price. Although he may not readily admit it, the onchologist has a greater concern for efficacy than for safety and price. The cardiologist has a healthy respect for side effects, while the dermatologist gives greater consideration to price.
     It is the function of the healthcare provider to respond appropriately to the needs (both real and imagined) of the consumer. To do this properly, with an eye toward effective marketing, a research component must gather, record and evaluate information as to consumers' real wants and needs. This capability is not within the grasp of the solo practitioner, group practice or, until recently, the large healthcare center. But it is commonly used by, and readily available to, the healthcare manufacturer.
     I propose that the manufacturer utilize this research capability to help the practitioner achieve his or her goals. To develop, as it were, a mutually beneficial liaison between healthcare manufacturer and provider. There are two basic problems inherent in such an undertaking.
     1. How do you get the doctor to listen?
     2. How do you deal with the doctor's well entrenched belief that he knows the patients' wants and needs best?
     Let's discuss the latter problem first.

Professional omniscience
Our numerous interviews with doctors and dentists throughout the U.S. have led us to conclude that the healthcare provider is viewing his patients as a relatively homogeneous demographic group. The tendency is toward overwhelming oversimplification. "The majority of my patients are affluent, well educated, overachievers." "I have to deal with blue collar types. Motivation and prevention are a problem." And with such "data" the practitioner goes forth to market his or her services. To further complicate matters, health professionals think of health services in technical terms, while consumers do not. Consumers want health services to be reasonably pain free, easily obtained in a relatively pleasant environment and delivered by a staff that is caring and communicative. Priority in program planning should be given to identifying the benefits that most influence consumers in deciding whether or not to use health services, as well as where to obtain them. If services are to be responsive to consumers' preferences and expectations, the benefits that consumers seek have to be identified.
Marketers have long recognized that consumers are not homogeneous in terms of benefits sought from products or services purchased. Sound marketing strategy dictates multiple product targeting efforts. Healthcare must adopt similar strategies, and I would emphasize that it should be the function of the manufacturer to provide the healthcare practitioner with the data necessary to achieve broader, more effective service utilization. Done properly, this exchange of information can lead to an important synergistic relationship between manufacturer and provider. Most major manufacturers have a wealth of information already on file. Those who do not would be well advised to seek out the services of capable research companies. The era of "flying by the seat of the pants" in healthcare is rapidly coming to an end.

Information transfer
     Our next consideration is how to deliver information and insure the receptiveness and retention of the doctor and dentist. Several methods come to mind:
     - Printed material mailed
     - Printed material dispensed by manufacturers' representatives
     - Advertisements in professional journals
     - Seminars
     - Videotapes
     - On-line computerized information
     - Teleconferencing
     One of the "burdens" of modern technology is an almost compulsive need to transfer large volumes of information as quickly as possible. The healthcare professional is on the receiving end of a staggering amount of mailed and hand delivered printed tonage. We have had the opportunity on many occasions to observe, first hand, the desks of healthcare professionals. It is not a pretty sight.
     1. He/she is a highly captive audience in the automobile. Most of the doctors and dentists interviewed have a tape deck in their car. A series of informative audio tapes circulated on a rotating basis by dealer or company representatives can provide an effective forum for the dispersal of ideas and information. As one doctor put it, "I get a lot of my pharmaceutical information that way. The cassette sitting on my desk or dashboard stands out enough to remind me to listen to it."
     2. The medical or dental convention is a fertile field that has not been fully cultivated. Doctors consider the convention as a prime source of updated information, yet the format of most professional conventions is all too predictable; display booths, samples, scientific sessions.
     The need is for industry to take a creative look at the venerable convention. Re-examine the question of benefits being sought by attendees. Conduct a primary phase needs assessment of the target population, and use that information to develop measurable objectives and goals. The final step would be to implement new convention programs, monitor the results, and make appropriate adjustments. If it sounds familiar, it should; it's as old as marketing itself.
     3. Our research indicates that healthcare professionals want to be heard, but feel that few, if any, are listening. We suggest that the time is uniquely advantageous for the establishment of ongoing dialogues between healthcare manufacturers and healthcare providers. "Help us to help you." A series of fine meals in a conducive atmosphere could prove to be a small price to pay for the input received. "Give a dentist a gin and tonic and a couple of deviled eggs, and he'll be your friend for life."
     4. Go back and take another look at the academic institutions that are training tomorrow's doctors and dentists. They are changing rapidly. The "fox in the henhouse" image of the industry/academia relationship is being re-examined in light of increased operating costs, cost containment and decreased Federal and state support. Many teaching institutions are seeking financially rewarding relationships with the corporate sector. This particular resource enables us to provide our clients with a veritable "menu" of creative programs:
     - Corporate sponsorship of seminars and symposiums
     - Product and concept testing
     - Student surveys to determine future goals and plans
     - Academic spokesmen for new products and technology
     - Access to research developments
     - Custom generated reports
     In conducting qualitative and quantitative concept test for new products or services, doctors waste little time in asking what research has been done, where, and by whom. Without adequate documentation, the chances of acceptance of the professional community range from slim to none. With new health related products and services being developed at an unprecedented rate, the corporate-academic link. is taking on greater significance.
     5. The push vs. pull marketing concept has been used effectively to help companies promote their products; this process can be applied to health services. �