Marketing strategies for vascular practitioners.
BACKGROUND
A common misconception is that marketing is synonymous with advertising. Marketing by physicians has undergone a transformation from the earlier unacceptable slick sales pitches to a more common sense, tasteful, comprehensive, and well thought out plan to reach potential patients.


RESULTS
Marketing is a much broader concept comprising four aspects: product, price, promotion, and place. Marketing activities for a medical practice include not only external but internal tactics. Publicly available resources are available to assist physicians in developing and targeting the plan towards a narrow patient demographic. The marketing process includes: determining objectives, identifying resources, defining target population, honing a message, outlining a media plan, implementing the plan, and finally, evaluating the success or failure of the marketing campaign.


CONCLUSIONS
A basic knowledge of marketing combined with a common sense approach can yield dividends for those practices that need the service. For surgical practices that exist in heavily populated urban areas with significant competition, a well thought out marketing plan can assist the practice in reaching out to new groups of patients and maintaining the existing patient base.
Satiani
Anand
A
Division of Vascular Diseases and Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University School of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Satiani
Bhagwan
B
D000329:Advertising; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011357:Product Line Management / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011365:Professional Practice Location; D016730:Program Development; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*