You work for a marketing department in a hospital within a suburban location of

Question

You work for a marketing department in a hospital within a suburban location of a large metropolitan area. Though it neighbors million-dollar homes, the hospital’s mission includes providing care to underserved and indigent populations in the area. A new primary care physician moved into the area and approached your hospital to partner with her as she begins a new practice in the community. Because the administration is always anxious to welcome new practitioners to the hospital, you agree to meet with the physician. During the meeting, the physician explains that she wants to establish the first concierge medical practice in the community. The physician plans to attract around 100 families to her practice, and she plans to charge from $300 to $1,000 per month, depending on the size of the family unit. (Note: A goal of 100 families may not be realistic; however, the number makes for easier calculations.) The patients who join the concierge practice will receive access to the physician’s services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at an office located near the hospital. Families will receive preventive care services, and the physician will design wellness programs to encourage healthy lifestyles for her patients. The physician will use the hospital for all emergent care, day surgeries, rehabilitation, and in-patient care. The physician also plans to use nutritionists and the hospital’s fitness center facilities. Discuss some of the goods or services that could be highlighted in a marketing campaign that involves a concierge practice of medicine. What advantages do you think a concierge practice of medicine might contribute to the hospital’s offerings of products to the community? Discuss some of the issues and challenges that may arise from the hospital sponsoring a concierge practice of medicine

Explanation / Answer

The services that could be highlighted in the marketing campaign involving a concierge practice of medicine is the easy availability of and access to medical care round the clock and throughout the year. Concierge practice of medicine will be offering peace of mind to the patients as they will be assured of medical care when required. Further, the physician will provide preventive care facilities and work with patients to improve their lifestyle for a better health. Moreover, there will be no waiting time and no need to make office visits for the patients.

The advantages of concierge practice of medicine for the hospital’s offerings of products to the community is that such a service can help the community save money in the long run. This is because the traditional doctors will charge for each visit, each treatment and each test. However a concierge practice will include all this in its monthly retainer. In the above case the monthly retainer starts from $300. Now the financial gain that the hospital will earn from providing such services can be utilized to provide care to underserved and indigent populations in the area.

Some of the issues and challenges that may arise when the hospital is sponsoring a concierge practice of medicine may be that third party payor plans may not support such sponsorship. This is because a conflict is created and the payor might even charge a penalty on the hospital for charging extra fee. This will force the hospital to make the doctors providing concierge medicine become out of network doctors. Another issue is legal or regulatory in nature. Some states providing concierge practice of medicine might be viewed as providing a pre-paid health plan. This will make it necessary for the hospitals to get a license.

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