Transitioning health care marketing into the twenty-first century.

With this issue, Marketing Health Services unveils an interview with an expert in health care marketing. As seen through the eyes of an industry leader, this regular feature identifies the cutting-edge developments, innovative approaches, and new ideas expected to significantly contribute to marketing in health care. In the first interview, Terrence J. Rynne, who, through his marketing consulting firm has served more than 600 hospitals nationwide, discusses the biggest trends in health care marketing and the top marketing approaches.

Line managers as marketers.

Many hospital administrators and boards of directors, having overcome their initial opposition to advertising and hired a marketing professional, are wondering why their marketing programs have not accomplished all that they had hoped. The answer lies in their perception of who is responsible for marketing. Marketing is not a specialty separate from the disciplines of management--it is a basic management skill. Its goal is to satisfy the customer by providing products and services that meet the customer's needs, wants, and preferences. Line managers must understand the hospital's customers and make the critical day-to-day differences in satisfying them. They are the hospital's front-line marketers, and the marketing department's role is to support them in this function. The marketing department should develop the line managers' marketing skills by furnishing them with the appropriate tools: formats, models, examples, and instructions. In addition, the marketing staff should provide such specialized services as marketing research, ad agency management, and development of communications.

Managing the community hospital's reputation.

A hospital's reputation is important to its viability. That reputation should be planned and managed to the hospital's best advantage. A marketing model that delineates phases and steps has been developed to assist hospital management staff in enhancing their hospital's standing in the community.

The third stage of hospital long-range planning: the marketing approach.

Today most hospital administrators are convinced they should implement long-range planning. The marketing approach to long-range planning is an effective strategy that is consumer oriented. It starts the planning process with the consumer, letting the consumer's needs and wants guide the organization's planning.