Product Development

Health services continue to affect the gross domestic product, and this dramatic transformation has great demands on each dollar spent to deliver patient-centered products. Health care marketing must be repeatedly applied and practiced strategically to include environmental dimensions, such as technology, socioeconomics, competition, and regulatory.

That being said, in today’s global economy, investors and potential entrepreneurs must tap into the so-called “unexplored” market. In this aspect, health care establishments must utilize marketing, advertising, as well as sales strategies when pursuing new customers (e.g., suppose a health care investor wanted to build a small hospital in a rural community); this would entail exploration and logistical experimentation to determine who will patronize the facility. In an impoverished neighborhood, the feasibility of having lucrative profits may see diminishing returns, and so the venture may be not worth the effort. Also, suppose that the potential investor wants to sell mosquito deterrents (e.g., bedside netting in malaria-infested regions of Asia or Africa); then it would be wise to investigate the number of beds that are actually in the village, and who would be willing to purchase them. These activities take into account the investor portfolio, as well as the feasibility of marketing and selling the product. Such exploration also examines competitors, cultural differences, and—most important—identification of the customer.

Identify a local health care establishment (e.g., hospital, rehabilitation center, emergency medical center) and determine its product development practices. Utilize concepts from previous weeks to substantiate information, as needed. You may develop the discussion based on the ideas presented here, but feel free to inject any salient marketing strategy that you believe might support your presentation.

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

1. Justify the purpose of the selected health care establishments’ product(s) / service (s) and their associated life cycle(s).
2. Suggest one (1) strategy to improve the marketing mix of the selected health care establishment. Support your strategy by highlighting one (1) benefit of (1) portfolio analysis and providing two (2) examples that display differential advantages.
3. Assess the importance of technology in providing patients with clear and accessible information about health care organizations and the product(s) / service(s) that they provide.
4. Outline a survey to capture patients’ expectations regarding the delivery and / or accessibility of product(s) / service(s) identified.
5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources. 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Analyze how products evolve through the four stages of the product life cycle.
• Determine the appropriate product succession planning efforts of health care services.
• Examine the marketing research process and market segmentation strategies in the health care industry.
• Evaluate marketing research tools involved in the marketing process.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in health services strategic marketing.
• Write clearly and concisely about health services strategic marketing using proper writing mechanics.

This assignment requires you to interview one person and requires an analysis of your interview experience.

Part I: Interview

Select a patient, a family member, or a friend to interview. Be sure to focus on the interviewee’s experience as a patient, regardless of whom you choose to interview.

Review The Joint Commission resource found in topic materials, which provides some guidelines for creating spiritual assessment tools for evaluating the spiritual needs of patients. Using this resource and any other guidelines/examples that you can find, create your own tool for assessing the spiritual needs of patients.

Your spiritual needs assessment survey must include a minimum of five questions that can be answered during the interview. During the interview, document the interviewee’s responses.

The transcript should include the questions asked and the answers provided. Be sure to record the responses during the interview by taking detailed notes. Omit specific names and other personal information through which the interviewee can be determined.

Part II: Analysis

Write a 500-750 word analysis of your interview experience. Be sure to exclude specific names and other personal information from the interview. Instead, provide demographics such as sex, age, ethnicity, and religion. Include the following in your response:

1. What went well?
2. Were there any barriers or challenges that inhibited your ability to complete the assessment tool? How would you address these in the future or change your assessment to better address these challenges?
3. How can this tool assist you in providing appropriate interventions to meet the needs of your patient?
4. Did you discover that illness and stress amplified the spiritual concern and needs of your interviewee? Explain your answer with examples.

Submit both the transcript of the interview and the analysis of your results. This should be submitted as one document. The interview transcript does not figure into the word count.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

This benchmark assignment assesses the following competencies:

CONHCP Program Competencies for the RN-BSN:

5.2: Assess for the spiritual needs and provide appropriate interventions for individuals, families, and groups.

 1-Do you think it is important for nurses to be involved in their professional organizations? Why or why not?

2. The Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”) has been both praised and vilified. Debate the pros and cons of this legislation and of health-care reform in general.

3. What is your vision of nursing’s future? How will you contribute to shaping it?

4. Interview a nurse educated in a diploma program at least 20 years ago.

a-How did that nurse’s education differ from your education today?

5. Locate the website of a professional organization related to nursing. Bring a copy of the organization’s mission, membership criteria, and standards of practice.

6. Ask five people of different ages and gender who do not work in the health-care field what they think most nurses do. Compile their answers with the answers your classmates collected and summarize them. Compare the summary to what you know nurses actually do.

a-Were the answers realistic?

b-Did they over- or underestimate the responsibilities most nurses have?

c-Did they recognize the wide variety of things nurses do?

d-Was there a difference by age or gender of the person answering the question?

e-What do the results tell you about the public’s image of nursing?

f-What do you think influences their image the most? Explain your answer.

7. Describe the nurse of the future.

a-What does he or she do?

b-Do you think nursing will become a more powerful force in health care?

c-Why or why not?

1- A new director decides to reorganize the department you work in. This reorganization comes about without input from the employees and many of the nurses that you oversee are feeling resentful of the change. As a nurse leader, identify factors that may lead to conflict and ways you can manage them. 

  Incorporate challenges you would anticipate for the proposals in the write up below, as well as arguments to overcome those challenges. Should be 200 to 400 words :

 

Access to healthcare is more than just the ability for one to receive care but also the way that they receive it (Shi & Singh, 2018). It is important as future providers to improve the quality of care we give to our patients without increasing cost. One public policy that could be implemented in order to improve the quality of care without increasing the cost is through programs established via the Affordable Care Act. This act was established in order to provide healthcare coverage to all including those who may not be able to afford it. However, this has come with many challenges when it comes to quality care as well as cost. Changes to the ACA are being looked at frequently especially within the Trump administration. One of the changes was recently brought to light through a new program that would allow states to offer patients more benefits while controlling costs and government spending (Galewitz & Pradhan, 2020). This would be an option for states and not required however it would allow them better control over spending and cost. This could also improve the quality of care that patients receive because it would be geared towards patients who have great medical needs rather than focusing on the poverty class that is frequently looked at within the ACA (Galewitz & Pradhan, 2020).

Another policy that could improve quality without increasing expense is through the plans established in the KFF comparison models. These are public plans in comparison to Medicare to offer the public options in additional to current sources of coverage private or public (Shi & Singh, 2019). A good example to help keep cost down but improve quality would be through the KFF comparison model, Single payer plan (Medicare for all) federal program. This plan provides comprehensive benefits for all US residents, tax financed with no premiums, replaces all private insurances, and eligibility is based on US residency (KFF, 2019). This plan could aide in the quality of care because it provides comprehensive benefits that could cover preventive medical visits and screenings. That is an important step to improving quality healthcare and life as well as decreasing cost (Shi & Singh, 2018). As we have looked at in previous discussions and lectures those who are uninsured and struggle are those that fall within the poverty class because of their risk for financial insecurity. By implementing these new changes to the ACA we could see more people getting quality care which could improve outcomes. However, there are still many changes that need to occur within the healthcare system and the ACA in order to insure that all Americans are receiving healthcare even if they cannot afford it. Research showed that many who are uninsured end up going into financial debt related to medical bills and those who specially may not be able to afford care just don’t seek it therefore end up in the hospital for illness that could have been prevented (Majerol, Newkirk, & Garfield, 2015). Although our hands are tied to an extent as healthcare providers we can do our best to treat our patients to the highest standard of quality care while the politic side of healthcare continues to change.