title: Mission-driven marketing: a rural example.
abstract: Marketing receives little attention in the academic healthcare management literature, possibly because it is associated with pursuit of profit rather than community benefit. However, a marketing perspective can be applied to the pursuit of the traditional missions of healthcare delivery organizations. Mission-oriented market selection criteria could include characteristics such as relevance to mission, underserved or vulnerable population status, resistance to care, limited resources, and low accessibility. A survey conducted in a rural county is used to demonstrate ways that underserved market segments can be identified and targeted. In the market surveyed, men used less medical care than women; depressed people and those with low levels of education used less medical care than people without these characteristics. Consumers were more likely to defer care because of cost if they lacked health insurance coverage, were female, were under age 55, had fair health status, were depressed, and were chronically ill. Marketing strategies worthy of consideration relate to price (e.g., free care, coupons and sales for eligible individuals), distribution (e.g., visiting nurses, malls and fairs, occupational medicine programs), product (e.g., satisfaction, waiting time, attractiveness, assertive follow-up), and promotion (education about insurance benefits, facilitating development of regular sources of care, health education).
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Management and Policy, University of Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rohrer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Westermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D007484:Iowa; D008297:Male; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States