HCA 520: Healthcare Marketing

Course Description

This course is designed to build innovative, customer-centric thinking and investigates the decision-making processes of marketing leaders operating within complex and competitive healthcare settings. Marketing concepts and strategies are presented relative to the development, implementation, and successful management of dynamic healthcare organizations. (3 credits)

 

Associated Program Learning Outcome(s)

#13 Use Marketing data analysis to develop a plan for growing an organization and creating brand recognition.

 

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  1. Describe and critically analyze marketing theories and methodologies, applied to healthcare marketing.
  2. Analyze a healthcare product or service in regards to the four Ps - product, price, place, and promotion.
  3. Developing skill in applying marketing strategy and tactics to the health sector. These skills include an appreciation for the factors that distinguish marketing within the health sector from other marketing application areas. Conversely, these skills also include an appreciation for how health sector marketing can benefit from tactics and strategies taken from marketing techniques in other industries.
  4. Describe perspectives to allow students to predict and understand how important environmental trends will shape marketing decision making and opportunities in the health sector moving forward.
  5. Describe major bases for segmenting consumer and business markets; define and be able to apply the three steps of target marketing: market segmentation, target marketing, and market positioning; understand how different situations in the competitive environment will affect choices in target marketing.
  6. Perform research within a given market to assess the marketability of a product or service.
  7. Develop a marketing plan for a healthcare service, or a social marketing campaign.
  8. Describe the costs and benefits of marketing channels; discuss the firms and the functions involved in typical channels in North America.
  9. Understanding healthcare decision making.
  10. Analyze uses of marketing communications, especially social media, in healthcare.
  11. Analyze the uses of social marketing.
  12. Evaluate and predict how healthcare marketing will change with the current restructuring of the industry.

 

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Discussions (20 Pts each, Weeks 1-7)

40%

Assignments (100 Pts each, Week 2-7)

40%

Final Assignment (100 Pts Week 8)

20%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's online bookstore

  • Berkowitz, Eric N (2017). Essentials of Health Care Marketing - with Access Code. 4th ed. Jones and Bartlett Learning. ISBN-13: 978-1-284-09431-2 (Print version) or ISBN-13: 978-1-284-12420-0 (Digital version)

Additional Resources

 

Course Schedule

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

2

Topic: 4 P’s of Marketing

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 1
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

2

1,3

Topic: Marketing Strategies in Healthcare

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 2
    • Chapter 8
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

3

4

Topics: Healthcare Pricing and Transparency

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 9
    • How price transparency would revolutionize healthcare

 

  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

4

5,6

Topic: Target Markets

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 6

 

  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

5

8

Topic: Marketing Channels

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 10

 

  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

6

9,10

Topics: Social Media Marketing

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 12

    •  Digital Transformation in Healthcare and the Pharmaceutical Industry

    • Healthcare Marketing - Is Your Healthcare Marketing Firm Digital Ready?

  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

7

7

Topics: Social Marketing and Buyer Persona

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 3
    • Chapter 11

 

  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

8

11

Topics: Reflection and Marketing Plan

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 4
    • Appendix
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Written Assignment

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.