Hospital Marketing Condition and Strategy -Of a General Hospital-

병원마케팅 실태와 전략방안 -지역사회의 일 종합병원을 대상으로-

The purpose of this study was to investigate the real condition of hospital marketing and concrete strategy on medical consumers need for enhance the effectiveness of hospital management. The data were collected from January 27 to February 3, 2000 at a general hospital located in M city to 205 in-patients and out-patients by questionnaires. The research tool was based on literatures. The data was analysed by the use of percentage, mean, t-test and ANOVA by SAS(Statistical Analysis System) Package Program. The results of this study are summerized as follows: 1. Mean score of the marketing mix (4P 's) was 3.1 in total and each mean score was 3.6 in product, 2.5 in prices, 3.3 in place and 3.1 in promotion. The following are the items which received the highest scores in each: 'The hospital is clean' in service category; 'the prices of meals at the restaurant the patients' families use are reasonable ' in price sphere. In distribution, 'it is easy to locate the hospital' and in promotion,'we'll use this hospital again' and 'we'll recommend this hospital to others'. 2. Marketing mix factors(4P's) was significantly different on the general characteristics in terms of marriage status, occupations and the period of hospitalization. 3. The most important reason for choosing this hospital was 'This is a general hospital with good facilities' and the next were 'The hospital staffs are kind and the hospital is clean' and 'The traffic is convenient to come'. The most important factors contributing to a good image formation of the hospital were 'this is a clean hospital', 'This is a hospital with kind people' and 'this hospital is equipped with good medical facilities'. 4. The factors for making a good image concerning the nursing service were professional knowledge, good nursing skills and kindness. After grasping the marketing conditions of the hospital aided by the above-mentioned research results, the researchers concludes that it is necessary to develop an institutionalized service strategy to increase the satisfaction the patients feel about the hospital facilities and kindness of the staff and as a result, to differentiate it from other medical institutions.