This discussion will allow you to generate content for your Final Project regarding your chosen healthcare organization's customers and demographics. As mentioned in Chapter 7 of the course text, "marketing involves both the creation and distribution of goods and services" (Stevens, R., & Silver, L. S., 2015, section 7.1: "What is Marketing," para. 4).

Marketing departments should be concerned with customer needs and meeting those needs in the market place. The marketing concept for HCOs, therefore, is patient-centered. However, marketing concerns within a HCO should not be focused on patients in general, but on patients who are part of a pre-selected market segment (i.e., specific customers with specific needs).

To prepare for this discussion, read Chapter 7 of the course text and the Rao (2012) article, "Generating Growth Through Patient-Centered Commercial Strategies." Then read the scenario below and address the points that follow.

Scenario:

The Happy Valley long-term care director notes that past marketing directors and marketing teams made assumptions concerning patient expectations and offered a limited degree of amenities. However, current research indicates that the baby boomer generation will expect a far greater degree of amenities such as TVs in rooms and private bathrooms.

In the future, HCOs and marketing teams will focus on analytical tools to gain a more accurate degree of knowledge concerning patients' actual expectations and needs. The marketing director for Happy Valley long-term care facility decided to perform a qualitative analysis.

The marketing team interviewed patients and their families as a means to determine patient needs and expectations. The outcomes of the analysis provided the marketing team with data that could be applied to the development of marketing objectives and strategies to support the strategic plan.

Patient-centered marketing focuses on knowing what specific patients need and expect. Needs and expectations can vary, based on the type of care (e.g., long-term care, hospice, palliative care, renal care, and physical therapy).

In your initial post:

Discuss why patient-centered marketing is an important aspect of your chosen HCO's marketing plan.

Explain how patient-centered marketing would help support the goals of your chosen HCO's marketing plan.

Support your claims with citations and references from the course text and at least one scholarly source.