Your final project is in lieu of a final exam and is worth 20% of your final grade. As such, the final project will assess your ability to synthesize the marketing principles by applying them to a health care organization.

Your end product will be a brief overview of a marketing plan for your organization accompanying a video presentation using software called - screencast-o-matic. You are not expected to reach the level of authoring a professional, actionable, marketing plan, but you are expected to demonstrate an understanding and application of basic marketing principles.

Final Project Objectives

1. Understand impact of marketing environments on health services marketing strategy

2. Develop marketing objectives

3. Apply marketing concepts of segmenting, targeting and positioning a health services market

4. Describe a health services organization's current marketing mix and suggest modifications based on marketing objectives

5. Identify measurements to access the marketing plan's impact on the health services organization.

6. Demonstrate college-level research and writing skills commensurate with a 300-level course

Steps to completing a Successful Final Project webcam/video:

Chose a specific health services organization. You can choose any health care organization that interests you. This can be because you work for the organization, would like to work for the organization, are a patient or client of the health services organization, or any other reason that will inspire you to examine the organization's marketing efforts.

Be sure you either are sufficiently knowledgeable about the organization or can gather information on the organization and its competitors. Since the focus in this course is on the health services patient/client, please do not chose health care insurance plans or pharmaceutical companies.

All of the following types of health care organizations are acceptable for your final project:

Community hospital

Academic hospital

Specialty hospital

Surgicenter

Rehabilitation center

Urgent care facility

Physician practice

Dental practice

Home health care

Imaging services

Health advocacy organization

Hospice care

Medical equipment sales/rentals

2. Submit your final project organization topic for approval. As directed by your faculty member, submit the organization that you will pursue in the assignment dropbox. Provide a brief description of the organization and why you chose it. You will submit this topic for approval in week 3.

3. Research your health service organization. Your research should take many forms, including academic research from the UMUC library. Your research should also include a visit to the organization, interviews with key administrators or marketers (if possible), research on the category of health services in which the organization belongs, e.g. hospitals, physician practice, etc., website review, review of similar services which would be considered direct competitors. You might want to refer to the Marketing Webliography found under Course Content > Course Resources > Marketing Toolbox > Marketing Webliography.

4. Review the final project Power Point Template. This can be found under Course Content > Course Resources > Final Project Power Point Template. Be sure you understand all the relevant marketing concepts; ask your faculty member to clarify, if needed.

5. Use the marketing plan template to complete your Power Point Presentation. The template is located in Content>Course Content>week 8. Feel free to change the design and slide layouts in whatever way you feel best represents and communicates your best work. Be sure to remove any of the generic text provided to you for guidance.

Refer to the Marketing Toolbox under Course Content > Course Resources > Marketing Toolbox >Tips for Effective Power Point Presentations for some ideas on how to present your ideas in a format that clearly demonstrates a correlation between the concept and the subject of your term project.

6. Seek out your faculty member any time you need assistance or guidance. You will not be able to find out everything about your organization or its industry, some of the information is propriety, so be prepared to make some well-reasoned statements in your final project.

7. Keep your Power Point presentation simple. Reserve the main portion of your presentation for your key findings, conclusions and recommendations. Use exhibits to add supplemental or source information such as charts and graphs.

8. Be sure to include endnotes and/or a reference page as part of your grade is on your ability to demonstrate these skills.

9. Review your Power Point Presentation against the project rubric. You may want to revisit those sections that would appear not to provide you with enough points for an acceptable grade.

10. Carefully edit your Power Point Presentation to be sure it presents your best work, is free of typos, is appropriately cited and referenced; and that it clearly communicates your points.