Occupational medicine. Marketing

Any cursory attempt to study marketing should lead to an appreciation of the discipline not as a cluster of techniques suitable for "cookbook" implementation but as an orientation to thinking about how marketplace relationships among health-care providers and the public can be effectively managed throughout the healthcare delivery system. Before attempting to implement the core concepts of marketing discussed in this chapter, it is worth pondering two important questions: What role does marketing already play in one's own health-care organization and in the broader health-care system? Which marketing concepts seem appropriate at this stage of an organization's development to help the owners to compete more efficiently in an increasingly complex and consumer-driven marketplace? The answers to these questions will help to clarify the marketing concepts to be considered and, ultimately, implemented.