Week 2 problems (mkt6250 healthcare marketing)

Week 2 Problems (6250 Healthcare Marketing)

Chapters 4 and 5

1. For several years. Annie Brouck’s employer has offered a traditional indemnity plan for healthcare coverage for herself; her husband, Jim; and their children, Tess and Tasha.  Annie and Jim are in their early 30s; their children are 10-year-old twins.   Recently, the monthly premium for their insurance coverage has increased dramatically, Annie’s employer has decided to offer a high deductible health plan in which the family will have an initial deductible of $5000.  The cost of the high-deductible plan has a monthly premium, that is almost 50% lower than the indemnity plan.  Describe the steps Annie might follow in deciding whether to choose this plan or to remain with the more-expensive indemnity plan.

2. Two recent graduate students, one from an MBA program and the second from a master’s in public health, have decided to start a new venture promoting a wellness app.  After a year of testing the program, which involved offering various levels of rewards to users who tracked their behaviors in the app, they received some initial venture funding.  The partners were able to hire 10 employees to help roll out the app to small- and medium-sized firms with fewer than 100 employees.  The firms were self-insured.  Believing in also providing good insurance to their own employees, they decided that providing choice was also important.  However, they also wanted to consider how they might do so without being too directive to consider promoting one of the three alternatives that was being offered to their employees.  The partners decided to be fair with their contribution to the employees.  It would be equal, however; one plan with the broadest coverage required a $200 per month contribution, the middle tier plan $150, and the plan with the least coverage $75.  The least-expensive plan was the most restrictive in terms of provider and facility choice and had the largest deductibles for services.  The company’s workforce was primarily between ages 25 and 40; 40% of employees were married, and half of them had children.   Suggest a strategy that would promote a particular plan you believe would be best given the profile of the workforce and the underlying logic for your strategy.

3. You have recently been hired by an advertising agency as its marketing research director.  In making a presentation to a medical practice in the evening for a web-strategy campaign, the discussion turns to some the ad agency has proposed presenting to the group.  The medical practice is a rather large group covering western Virginia and eastern Tennessee with 12 satellite clinics and two ambulatory surgery centers, one in each state.  The agency has decided to conduct four virtual focus groups.  As you outline how these will be conducted, a physician introduces himself and says, “I was a math major in college, a statistics major actually.  How can we rely on four focus groups made of not too many people and base our approach to mount a campaign and build a strategy for our group?  How many people would we survey in a statistical, quantitative survey?  I am not comfortable with this  You won’t even be seeing these people face to face.”  He then sits down as some of his partners nod in agreement.  Provide a rationale.

4. A nursing home has decided to conduct a short survey to assess whether the family members who are responsible for an elderly resident are satisfied with the care being given.  Please critique the survey.  A portion of the survey is listed here: 

1. How often do you visit your relative?  _____ daily   _____ 3 to 4 times a week   _____ 2 to 3 times a week   _____ less than once a week

2. Please rate each aspect of care: 

 Nursing quality     Excellent     Very Good     Somewhat Good     Good

 Room cleanliness  Excellent     Very Good     Somewhat Good     Good

3. Do you like our newsletters and phone call updates?  _____ Yes    _____ No

4. Why do you think we are the best nursing home in the area?___________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Please tell us your age:  _____ Under 25   _____ 25 to 35   _____ 36 to 50   _____ 50 to 60   _____ Over 65

End of chapter conceptual problems evaluate your understanding of key concepts and elements of the Health Care Marketing learned in the chapters. Showing an understanding of the problems using clear logic and supporting facts, you must address the problems analytically and thoroughly. The Assignment must follow the following guidelines:

1. You must use citations with references to document information obtained from sources. The key elements of Health Care Marketing are found in the sources listed in this syllabus (it is your duty to search for them, read, analyze, evaluate, summarize, paraphrase in your answers, and cite the authors who wrote the articles, books, term papers, memoirs, studies, etc. What it means is that you will have not less than 4 references from the listed sources.

2. Grammatically correct paper, no typos, and must have obviously been proofread for logic.

3. Problem numbers must be typed out as headings, with follow-up answers in paragraph format.

The Assignment must be in APA format