Vila Health: Market Analysis

Vila Health: Market Analysis
Welcome  to Vila Health, your virtual health care organization. Congratulations  on being selected to serve as the health care administration intern to  the vice president of operations at St. Anthony Medical Center! In this  role, you will interface with a variety of virtual leaders to construct a  new marketing plan for St. Anthony’s Labor and Delivery service line.
Currently,  there are two major competitors in the Minneapolis marketplace. Your  role is to examine St. Anthony Medical Center’s current Labor and  Delivery service line, describe how this service is marketed to the  public, and to make recommendations for future improvement. St. Anthony  is at break-even status with respect to profitability, and the board of  directors is wondering if this is a service line worth continuing, given  that it does not appear to directly contribute to the bottom line:  profit.
To start your strategic health care marketing and  consumerism activities, it may be helpful to scan a widely used  approach for marketing planning. Marketing expert Philip Kotler has  developed an eight-step plan that can greatly simplify and streamline  your efforts (Fortenberry, 2010).
Overview
It  is necessary for all members of a health care leadership team to  contribute to the overall success of the organization. For this reason,  strategic plans are utilized to focus on service offerings of a health  care organization. Part of this process involves determining the  direction in which the organization is headed, including positioning the  organization for optimal results. To customize an organization’s  service offerings to prospective consumers, considerable market  assessment must precede development of plans. In this assignment, you  will engage in an assessment of the overall health care marketplace, and  then assess a subset of the marketplace. Specifically, you will analyze  the service offering for Labor and Delivery at St. Anthony Medical  Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Part of your market  analysis will include use of a tool for external environmental  assessment, followed by application of a tool for internal analysis of  the Labor and Delivery service line. Additionally, you will examine the  features, advantages, and benefits of the Labor and Delivery service  line relative to competitors, along with a short list of important  issues that are relevant for marketing plan development. Finally, you  will share insights regarding critical success factors for labor and  delivery services in the Minneapolis marketplace, return on investment,  and organizational viability. As the intern to the CEO at St. Anthony  Medical Center, you will be asked to seek information across various  departments, and to explore existing internal resources for various  tasks.
Instructions

• Conduct  an external environmental assessment of the health care labor and  delivery marketplace. Utilize at least one situational or environmental  assessment tool from your studies or research.
• Using an  internal assessment tool (such as SWOT), analyze St. Anthony Medical  Center’s Labor and Delivery service, and provide an executive summary  and analysis of the internal organization.
• Integrate  the external environmental and internal organizational analyses, and  propose a list of relevant health care marketing issues.
• Share any insights regarding critical success factors, return on investment, and organizational viability.
• Communicate  your response in a professional manner that is consistent with a  master’s degree level of scholarly work (clear flow of logic, analysis,  integration of evidence based and authoritative sources, coherent  sentences, correct spelling, use of TurnItIn source verification  software, succinct/substantive use of language).
• This assignment corresponds with step three of Kotler’s Marketing Plan as presented in Health Care Marketing.
  Before  you get started on the assignment, be sure to carefully read the  scoring guide. This is your roadmap for success. Also, it is expected  that successful interns will conduct research on model programs and best  practices to include as recommendations (accompany recommendations with  APA formatted citations and references in the list).
  You  may consider exploring accreditation for hospitals and nursing  services. How does St. Anthony Medical Center stand? Do they have  certifications, and if so are they visible on the Web site to consumers?  What about patient satisfaction? Is this data on the Web site? Do they  share medical and nursing expertise, and showcase innovative technology  or services? How can St. Anthony Medical Center position itself as a  unique leader in Labor and Delivery and women’s health in general? Be  creative, and think like a C-suite executive; try to imagine how growing  this service line might positively impact the rest of the organization.
  Submit your assignment by Sunday of this week. Remember to use APA format and style throughout.
  Reference
  Fortenberry, J. L., Jr. (2010). Health care marketing: Tools and techniques (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
  Resources