Question
Health Care Access Options Research the following centers in your community or surrounding area: • One walk-in clinic, such as urgent care • One retail clinic in your local grocery store or drug store • No appointment physician’s office Write a 1,050 to 1,400-word paper that includes all centers above and address the following: • Analyze the changing landscape of the health care system. o Differentiate the various places health care is delivered. • Analyze what impact cultural demographics have on the health care market. o Analyze the targeted audience of the clinic or office based on cultural demographics. o Analyze the effectiveness of the marketing approach for the clinic or office to various cultures. o Analyze the marketing techniques that could be used to improve the marketing within different cultural demographics. • Differentiate what effect different generations have on the health care market. • Analyze the targeted audience of the clinic or office based on generational demographics. o Differentiate the effectiveness of the marketing approach for the clinic or office to various generations. o Differentiate the marketing techniques that could be used to improve the marketing within different generations. • Analyze the impact of media and social networking on consumer choices. Format your assignment according to APA guidelines. Cite 3 peer-reviewed, scholarly, or similar references to support your paper. |
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Answer
Health Care Access Options
The healthcare system in the United States is undergoing dynamic shifts in its system, operation, management and clinical organization. Technology, social structures, politics and market structures like consumerism are majorly responsible for these changes, both unprecedented and calculated (McDonough, 2011). The health sector must now bear the rising trends in their efforts to redesign the system.
Market trends are turning towards consumerism and its supporting factors. In the same way, despite government efforts and strategies mush of the financial risk and burden now lies heavily on the individuals who spend more money in form of insurance covers with higher premiums. As a result of private and public efforts, there are an increasing number of medical options owing to the need to improve quality and match it with the increasing cost (McDonough, 2011). The traditional healthcare system is now making efforts to put into consideration consumers’ behaviors and buying patterns (Shaw 2010). In addition, there are new and varying payment models that follow innovation and technological trends in these healthcare facilities. For this reason, the main points of focus for healthcare givers and providers are: clinical delivery and capacity, population management, wellness and data analysis.
These stakeholders’ primary areas of focus are creating transparency in cost, and quality, creating knowledge and awareness on medical options, evaluating consumer patterns and acquiring proper professions in the different areas of healthcare. Lack of transparency in the quality and provision system in the traditional health care system has long been a hindrance to the adoption of technology in daily operations.
Creating awareness and access to these healthcare options is also an area of great focus (Malvey & Fottler, 2010). For the longest period, individuals remained unaware and ignorant of new options in the medical sector. As such, even with growing options and provisions, people remained unaware and they thus remained un-used. Healthcare facilities are therefore being made more accessible and closer to the consumer. Accessibility is a great consumer patterns that demonstrates more sales where the consumers get the service or product at their convenience. Essentially, health covers and premiums that were initially a long and cumbersome process have now become a smooth and streamlined process that is now a necessity and requirement by the government in the country. In addition, online operations have also made this provision a lot easier and faster. In addition, provision of health care has become more convenient with further efforts being made to make it more accessible financially and logistically.
Recent advancements whose goal centers on access include walk in clinics like MinuteClinic (CVS), Healthcare at Walgreens, FatMed and Target Clinic. Retail Clinics are also now common in retail stores, supermarkets and pharmacies and they include MinuteClinic, Fast Care, RediClinic and Walmart Care Clinic. These facilities are convenient and require no prior appointments as with regular hospitals and clinics. Moreover, they are staffed by Nurse practitioners or other nursing practitioners (Davidson 2013). These nurses are qualified professionals with higher levels of training and education and are therefore equipped to handle medical emergencies, diagnosis, education, consultation and coordination of healthcare. These facilities are able to provide care that is almost similar to primary care.
Besides, retail clinics have emerged and gained popularity across the country’s retail stores due to their convenience, quality and reduced cost. In essence, the average cost of diagnosis and treatment at retail clinics totals to nearly half that of primary care facilities. More people therefore opt for these options to reduce on cost for a guaranteed quality in health services. They treat basic and common illnesses such as allergies, headaches, sprains, strains, ear infections, intestinal infections and minor injuries.
Walk in clinics provide further convenience since they require no prior appointment for treatment. Urgent care facilities and retail facilities fall under this broad category. However, they tend to face the persistence disadvantage on promoting and ensuring quality while remaining inexpensive. Consequently, a point of marketing these facilities have previously been implemented to try and address the challenge. Lack of access to previous health records for walk in clinics with no previous links or agreements has also become a growing point of concern for effective healthcare.
Meanwhile, the country’s demographics are changing in terms of cultural composition, social stratification, aging population, race, ethnicity and size (Davidson, 2013). While there has essentially been a concentration of cultural groups in specific areas, more and more people from different demographic groups are moving to new locations. This situation is bound to affect the healthcare sector in terms of training, cost and provision. In effect, various population groups have demonstrated varying levels of insurance covers and access following financial abilities and awareness levels. At the same time, operators of health care facilities are consequently paying more attention in the analysis of the community’s composition and putting these cultural factors into consideration during medical planning and health provision. To ensure effective interaction with patients of all cultures, the healthcare system operators must now invest in communication and interaction training for their practitioners
In case of CVS, which by convenience is a walk in clinic, a retail clinic and a no-appointment facility, the targeted market is fairly wide. The facility’s marketing strategy entails creating access and affordability to its customers by placing their stores in accessible and dynamic areas that carry other stores of trade and exchange. They also strategically use interactive and internet marketing to create more awareness on the system. These marketing techniques have been greatly effective due to the consumer market system, ecommerce and internet marketing. However, these techniques are extremely successful with active and younger generations that frequent retail facilities and show extensive interaction in internet activities. Thy also seem to seclude the older and conservative generation that is not exposed to these options in their daily life. To combat this limitation, these health facilities must intensively link with more primary care givers in order to tap into this cultural group and create confidence with the older and reserved cultural group which coincidentally often requires more and immediate health action.
Lastly, both media and social networking have great effects on the consumer choices and patterns that are driving this field of healthcare in its growth and stagnation. These factors vary greatly across the generational and cultural demographic groups. Other than access-related issues, this cultural and generation gap must be respected and integrated in the marketing technique to ensure inclusion of all people and transparency.
Overall, the landscape of the healthcare system is changing rapidly. The health care sector seeks to be undergoing reinvention towards greater transparency, increased access, improved quality and cost-friendliness, and all of these factors are at the forefront in the new structure of the system. The current government has put in motion strong efforts to ensure accessibility of healthcare despite age, race, finances and culture. While access to care has improved, there is growing concern that these gains are being achieved at the expense of the quality. Consequently, the government and other health stakeholders must continuously balance these aspects to drive growth in the healthcare sector.
References
Davidson, S. (2013). A new Era in US Healthcare: Critical Next Steps under the Affordable Care Act. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Malvey, D. & Fottler, M. (2010). The Retail Revolution in Health Care. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
McDonough, J. (2011). Inside National Health Reform. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Shaw, G. (2010). The Healthcare Debate. Santa Barabara, CA: Greenwood.