Marketing Analysis: Mayo Clinic
Marketing Analysis: Mayo Clinic December 14, 2012 Marketing Analysis: Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic: is in the business of providing patient care through their many different Clinics and hospitals. They are ranked number two as one of the top twenty hospitals for heart and heart surgery per the Forbes list of top hospitals, and they ranked seventy one out of one hundred in the top one hundred places to work (Forbes, 2012). The Mayo Clinics are a not-for-profit hospital and teaching center that is renown throughout the world. They became known as the hospital that treats the diseases no other facility or physician want to treat.
They have over thirty eight hundred physicians and scientist as well as over fifty thousand Allied health care workers on their payroll. They also have thirty six hundred medical residents, fellows and students through their medical schools. Their slogan is “We strive to turn the impossible into the possible” (Mayo Clinic Annual Report, 2011). “The Mayo Clinic cared for more than one million patients at its campuses in Minnesota, Florida, Arizona and Mayo Clinic Health System, a network of clinics, hospitals and health care facilities serving more than seventy communities in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin” (Mayo Clinic Annual Report, 2011, pg. 7, para4). From their beginning in 1863, William Worrall Mayo insisted on standards that would be considered innovative for the time. And as the demand for their services increased, they formed a team of doctors and researchers and became “the first private integrated group practice. ” Initially this practice of teamwork among doctors was viewed as unconventional, but soon patients realized the advantages of the pooled resources, having doctors and scientist under the same roof with knowledge and skills, patients and student came from around the world to learn and be treated (Dickson, 2012).
Mayo Clinic over one hundred years ago made it clear through its mission and vision that the patients’ interests would not be served well if doctors were competing with each other. William Mayo emphasized that making a commitment to the patient; doctors must make a commitment to each other: “Continuing interest by every member of the staff in the professional progress of every other member,” would be vital to nourishing the organization’s future. Patients are the Mayo Clinic’s first priority and they do not base care on a patient’s ability to pay.
Most of the staff is not even aware of a patient’s status, which allows them to give the patients the best care possible without having to worry about being paid (Mayo Clinic, nd). The Mayo Clinic has some fierce competition, such as Johns Hopkins Hospital. Johns Hopkins is an institution with a mission to” improve the health of our community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in patient care. ” They also advertise with commercials on television, radio, and in the newspaper.
They have internet Social media marketing in place and through their multi-media relations staff, they are able to pierce the market of patients within the United States and abroad. (Johns Hopkins Hospital, nd). The services they offer are comparable to The Mayo Clinic and both are rated in the top 25 best hospitals to work for by HealthExecNews. com. However, Johns Hopkins did not make the top 100 list for Forbes. The four “P’s” (Product, Place, Price, Promotion) Product
Brand – Mayo Clinic; the name alone is known as a leader in the medical field for their dedicated physicians, scientists and allied health staff that work together as a team to put the needs of the patient first, known as “The Mayo Effect. ” There are three main hospitals and several clinics that offer medical treatments and services as well as training, residencies and fellows for medical professions (Mayo Annual Report, 2011). Product features – Patient satisfaction and quality care given to patients are some of the main reasons that patients choose the Mayo Clinic.
Known as the place to go for specializing in treating complex illnesses, patients can receive uninhibited care, regardless of ability to pay (Mayo Clinic, nd). Packaging – The Mayo Clinic is well known throughout the world for their research as well as their teaching facilities for medical professions. In addition, they partner with many facilities to serve communities in five states, while maintaining three main Hospital facilities in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida (Mayo Clinic, nd). Product lines – They have several, mainly books and CD’s on health and wellness.
They also have a customer base of over 900,000 people for their Mayo Clinic Health Letter and Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource subscriptions, which are mailed monthly with a quarterly special report as part of the subscription. Having tested the market for potential internet subscriptions in 2007, they found many were not interested, but in 2008 the test showed there was more interest in that option (Fletcher, 2010). Place Channels of distribution – Most referrals are from word of mouth; people recommending the organization because of a good experience they had.
Media: Mayo utilized the local media by offering their physicians the opportunity to share their expertise with the community through bi-monthly consumer health segments (Weiss, 2009) Internet: Mayo can be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Linkedin, and their new patient blog; Sharing MayoClinic (Weiss, 2009). Advertising: Mayo utilizes media through stories and partnerships with the local news as well as sponsoring health events. They do not use mass media advertising and they rely on their reputation (Weiss, 2009).
Physician referrals: come from around the world, because Mayo has a reputation of caring for patients others may not want the challenge of caring for or they do not know how to (Weiss, 2009). Physical distribution – Services are administered through care givers and physicians during visits to either the hospital or office visits. The “Mayo Effect” uses strategies to achieve their goals and mission “with collaboration, expertise and compassionate commitment to the health and happiness of their patients” (Mayo Annual Report, 2011).
Retailing choices – Patients have several choices to receive services, through the hospital, a clinic visit, and now the minute clinic. Mayo has two Minute clinics’ that are a walk-in center and are used to assess and treat minor conditions, and monitor chronic conditions of patients and no appointment is required. The wait time is usually less than 15 minutes. (Keckley, Ph. D. , P. H. , 2008). Inventory decisions – The minute clinics are a new way to see patients that may have less urgent needs such as; sore throat, pink eye, minor cuts and burns, or chronic diseases that may need monitoring.
The clinics offer walk-in services to anyone, and they have the ability to look up patient records through Electronic medical records (EMR) leaving no paper record needing to be stored. Centers are being staffed by nurse practitioner and physician assistants with assistance of proprietary technology designed to help diagnose and treat non-serious medical conditions. These centers are now being seen in many pharmacy chain stores and even places like Wal-Mart and Target.
Jumping on the band wagon so to speak, Mayo clinic sees the Minute Clinics as a source of patient referrals for their physicians as some patients that come for treatment will be referred to a Mayo Clinic doctor if there is a need for follow up or if their presenting condition needs more treatment then the Minute Clinic can provide (Keckley, Ph. D. , P. H. , 2008). Price Cost-based pricing – Most health care is based on a health insurance system making payments based on a third party payer system, so the price for care is usually set by entities outside of the doctor-patient relationship.
Because of this system, providers do not need to compete for patients based on money prices. Medicare sets prices and national policies for health care services, while health insurance companies negotiate with providers for services and they offer incentives to reduce costs and reduce performing unnecessary procedures (Nelson, 2009). Value-based pricing – In comparison, Mayo is a high cost provider when compared to other Minnesota providers, and many insurance providers list Mayo in the bottom of their tiered health plans, based on cost not quality.
Mayo may need to charge more to private pay patients to cover the shortfalls from uncompensated care and public payers (Medicare and Medicaid). “Because public payments rarely cover the cost of care, providers must charge private payers higher rates if they expect to stay in business” (Nelson, 2009,para 15). As we enter into new reforms being designed to cut costs and improve quality care the current system is about to change and we can only hope for the better.
Competition-based pricing – The Mayo Clinic is able to keep costs down, because they pay their physicians a salary and not on a fee for services like many other health care organizations do. Being a center for excellence, they rank higher in quality of care than other organizations which gives them an advantage when negotiating with insurance companies on the price for services. Because they have an integrated approach, they perform less unnecessary procedures than other organizations, which will keep a patients overall cost down (Nelson, 2009). Promotion
Communication plans – Mayo Clinic is on the cutting edge by initiating an electronic database which allows interaction with other physicians and shared information through an affiliation agreement and e-consultants. With changes coming in the health care delivery system, and payers, Mayo is aggressively expanding their affiliation with other providers. Being known as a center for excellence, they are often called to give a consultation on difficult cases. Becoming an affiliate of the Mayo Clinic gives the provider the ability to use their name in advertising as well as consult with the Mayo Physicians.
The goal of Mayo Clinic is “to be the leader in efforts to get hospitals and physician groups to work together more effectively to improve quality and lower costs” (Graham, 2012). Public relations – Being a pioneer and leading the way is not new for the Mayo Clinic, being one of the first to initiate a Facebook web page that people can write on its wall and share all types of content, is a way of communicating and gaining customers. People are using the site to share stories about their own or a family members experience with the Mayo Clinic. These stories are than shared and “liked” making this a form of word of mouth.
Many will visit the site which also offers information and short videos on different subjects, as well as health support issues. They also have Podcasts that are offered at the iTunes store, and it once reached 29th in the Top 100 (Rollyson, 2008). Advertising – Mayo has not spent a lot of money on advertising and relies on reputation to bring in the patients. However, when they opened the Florida clinic in 2008, patients were not banging down the doors so to speak and they realized they needed to do something to attract the patients (Weiss, 2009).
They rely on word of mouth and have taken initiatives that bring awareness to the organization. Having a Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube, Podcasts, local television health segments that allow people to call with concerns or ask questions, monthly new magazine and by sponsoring community health events. Employees are also a source of advertising, many are happy to share the Mayo philosophy (“the needs of the patient come first”) with others. Sales and selling activity – Being a not for profit organization, they are more concerned with quality as this will bring quantity.
The Mayo clinic offers advertising ads and sponsorships in their e-newsletters and magazines as well as community events that promote health awareness. However, their financial goals take a backseat to their mission, which is to focus on the patients and meeting the needs of the patient first. Making themselves present on social media sites as well as sponsoring community events that promote health awareness, they are able to draw attention to their name. Having a strong reputation for quality care and their desire to put the patients’ needs before the need for payment, sets a standard that many organizations could learn from.
Overall the Mayo Clinic system and philosophy sets a standard that is in a class of its own. Gaining a reputation that has lasted over a hundred years as one of the best organizations to be a patient of or to work for says a lot for the way they are doing business. Offering other facilities and organizations the opportunity to be affiliated with the Mayo system will continue to bring awareness to the brand and promote their way of helping people, while bring the medical profession together working as a team. Reference: Dickson, F. (2012, May 5).
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