Product
Houston Methodist Hospital offers a wide range of medical services, which can be categorized into six main groups. These are a transplant, orthopedics and sports, neurology and neurosurgery, heart and cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, and cancer (“Services & specialties,” 2021). In other words, the hospital provides both primary care and acute care, where the treatment is focused on an array of conditions and diseases. A potential patient can visit the hospital’s website and search for his or her condition, which helps him or her with the issue. For example, a person with Adult Congenital Heart Disease or ACHD can rely on the hospital’s service for both long-term and acute treatments, where the condition is monitored, and interventions are introduced if there is a sudden need for surgical repairs. Therefore, Houston Methodist Hospital’s products are comprehensive medical services, which cover a wide range of health-related concerns.
Price
Similar to many hospitals and healthcare facilities, the pricing of Houston Methodist Hospital is not as transparent as with other industries. It is stated that the pricing approaches are affected by a number of key factors, which include outpatient and inpatient services, payment discounts, individually negotiated packages, fixed government rates of Medicaid and Medicare, and negotiated health plan rates (“Charge description master,” 2021). In other words, it is highly challenging to pinpoint one specific strategy, but the most apparent and plausible one is cost-based pricing, where the price value contains all of the costs associated with the service provision. For example, the hospital will bill for non-employed medical specialists separately from the numbers of the charge description master. It is evident that there are no sophisticated or intricate pricing approaches used by the hospital since the costs need to be included in the final price.
Promotion
The primary form of the promotion strategy utilized by Houston Methodist Hospital is advertising and brand image development. The hospital positions itself as a top healthcare institution with high-quality service and the most advanced equipment for conducting these services. In addition, it provides a multitude of medical services, which makes it comprehensive and encompassing, where the appeal is present for all types of patients. The hospital advertises itself online through its website, which solidifies its internet presence. It also promotes itself offline through its branches and locational availability. Digital advertisement is also one of the promotion strategies of the hospital because it understands the importance of digital presence. Houston Methodist Hospital focuses primarily on the quality of care as well as patient satisfaction as key determinants of its promotion-related success.
Place
Houston Methodist Hospital has an expansive footprint in the Greater Houston area. It distributes its services through the community hospitals located sporadically across the specified region. Houston Methodist consists of six community hospitals and one major academic medical center, which can be found in the Texas Medical Center. The main services are provided through these six community healthcare institutions, which offer all range of services mentioned on the website. There are also additional centers, which are the Houston Methodist Outpatient Center, the Houston Methodist Breast Care Center, the Houston Methodist Imaging Center, and Houston Methodist Emergency Care Centers (“About Houston Methodist,” 2021). All of them enable Houston Methodist Hospital to have an increased reach for its patients. In addition, it allows the hospital to be available and accessible for a patient, for whom the distance is a concern
References
About Houston Methodist. (2021). Web.
Charge description master. (2021). Web.
Services & specialties. (2021). Web.