Hospital diversification: how to involve the pharmacy

Participation by hospital pharmacy departments in planning and development of diversified services is described. Diversification requires market planning. Seven basic marketing steps are identification of mission, goals, and objectives; identification of growth strategies (market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification); market analysis of external factors (size, growth, and logistics; reimbursement and financial considerations; competition; regulatory issues; and legal issues); market analysis of internal factors (departmental organization and reporting lines, demographics of the institution, and costs and productivity associated with the new service); program development and design; implementation; and evaluation. Hospitals can diversify by expanding acute-care services through management contracts and mergers; developing new services to include long-term-care, ambulatory-care, occupational-health, and wellness programs; starting other health-care ventures, such as consulting, continuing medical education, and continuing education for nurses; and expanding into non-health-care businesses. Vertical diversification is finding new markets for existing services; horizontal diversification is development of new services for new markets. To diversify, an institution may need to change its corporate structure; it may form a family of corporations that includes a university, nonprofit hospitals, holding companies, for-profit corporations, joint ventures, and service organizations. Through diversification, institutions and pharmacy departments can create alternative sources of funding and offer more comprehensive services to patients.