Product Development

For this assignment, the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida was the local health care establishment that was selected to be analyzed. The Mayo Clinic is a hospital that is known throughout the world for their innovative products and services. After assessing the products and services that are offered by the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic, the product’s life cycle can be identified, strategies to improve the marketing mix of the health care establishment can be offered, and the importance of utilizing technology to provide patients with accessible information will be provided.

After analyzing the products and services that the Mayo Clinic provides consumers, two products have been identified. First, a product that Mayo Clinic offers its customers is a Mayo Clinic Mobile Application. This product allows consumers to quickly access their medical records, pay their bill, or refill their prescriptions through their cell phones (Mayo Clinic, 2013). The purpose of this product is to offer consumers an innovative way to maintain their health care while satisfying the immediate needs of the client. In addition, a second product that Mayo Clinic offers consumers is a Pregnancy Application for Apple's iPad and iPhone users. This product enables women to immediately obtain information about their pregnancy and newborns (Mayo Clinic, 2013). The purpose of this product is to offer a segment of the market access to top doctors while providing consumers with educational information regarding their pregnancy.

The two products that are offered by the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic have life cycles. The product life cycle explains that “products are expected to move from an investment toward a profitable peak that ends with the product phases out” (Christiansen et al., 2010, p. 797). First, Mayo Clinic’s Patient Application is in the Growth stage of the product life cycle. The product is currently in this stage since it underwent its product launch to market a year ago, and patients can now download the application through multiple channels. In contrast, Mayo Clinic’s Pregnancy Application is in the Introduction stage of the product life cycle. This product has just been introduced to the market, and it is only available to consumers who use Apple products.

To improve the marketing mix of Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic, a Targeted Marketing strategy can be employed. According to Bolling (2011), “targeted marketing can put the right information into the right hands of consumers quickly and efficiently. And sometimes, it will be information that might save a life” (p. 1). Currently, Mayo Clinic markets themselves to all consumers by providing health care services and free medical information to any consumer that needs it. However, Targeted Marketing will greatly benefit the Mayo Clinic since it will allow marketers to focus their attention specifically on those who have illnesses and need medical attention.

A Targeted Marketing strategy for Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic can be supported by a portfolio analysis from the Boston Consulting Group. One benefit of this portfolio analysis is high market growth potential, which is a characteristic of the Question Mark cell. Targeting a specific segment of the market will allow for Mayo Clinic’s products and services to grow since they will be specifically marketed for those consumers who need them instead of the general public. Further, this strategy will also create two differential advantages for the health facility. For example, Mayo Clinic will offer products that allow consumers to connect with their doctors through their phones or computers while other hospitals in Jacksonville have nurses transmit information to clients. This advantage will help Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic to increase their number of clients since most patients who are ill preferring to have direct access to their physicians. In addition, Mayo Clinic will develop more mobile applications that directly notifies patients when important information that pertains to their health is available. This is a differential advantage for Mayo Clinic since most hospitals transmit patient information to outside doctors, and these doctors then have their nurses call the client to transmit the information.

Technology supporting healthcare informatics is vital to providing patients with clear and accessible information about health care organizations and the service that they provide since most consumers search for health-related information on their computers and mobile phones. Today, most hospitals are computerizing their health care services by providing patients with online access to their doctors, medical records, and appointments. According to Rajagopal (2013), online health care technologies benefits both the hospital and the patient, as it has “improved the overall quality, efficiency, and safety of the health delivery system” (p. 81). At Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic, information technology has allowed patients to go online and select a doctor that specializes in a specific disease. In addition, technology has allowed consumers at Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic to schedule appointments at three Mayo Clinic locations. According to Mayo Clinic (2013), the Mayo Clinic has hospitals in Florida, Minnesota, and Arizona. Therefore, if consumers are referred to another one of Mayo Clinic’s facilities, patients can access important information about their trip and schedule necessary appointments online.

If a survey was created to capture patients’ expectations regarding the delivery and accessibility of Mayo Clinic’s product and services, consumers would be asked the following questions: How often do you utilize Mayo Clinic’s Mobile Applications? How effective is the Mayo Clinic Mobile Application in answering your questions? Is the Pregnancy Application useful? What can we do to improve the Pregnancy Application? What products and services can Mayo Clinic provide to consumers in the future to improve the quality and efficiency of our health care services? These questions will allow Mayo Clinic to collect data regarding their products and to use this information to upgrade the products and services that are produced for their target market.

Overall, Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic has products and services that phase through the product life cycle. While Targeted Marketing strategies can improve the marketing mix of the health care establishment, it will also enable the facility to experience growth in the market as those who are ill will seek out the clinic for treatment. However, the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic cannot grow in the market unless they continue to develop and upgrade technological applications to provide patients with accessible information about their health care.

References

Bolling, J. (2011). Targeted marketing isn’t ‘unfair and deceptive.’ Medial Marketing & Media, 46(1), 31.

Christiansen, J.K., Varnes, C.J., Gasparin, M., Storm-Nielsen, D., & Vinther, E.J. (2010). Living Twice: How a product goes through multiple life cycles. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 27, 797-827.

Mayo Clinic. (2013). Mayo Clinic in Florida. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/jacksonville/

Rajagopol, N. (2013). Impact of information technology on service quality of health care services. Vilakshan: The XIMB Journal of Management, 10(1), 79-96.