Concepts in service marketing for healthcare professionals

Patients are becoming increasingly involved in making healthcare choices as their burden of healthcare costs continues to escalate. At the same time, healthcare has entered a tightened marker economy. For these reasons, the marketing of healthcare services has become essential, for the financial survival of physicians and healthcare organizations. Physicians can successfully use the fundamental service marketing principles proven by other service industries to win patient satisfaction and loyalty and remain competitive in today's market economy. Understanding concepts such as service quality zone of tolerance, levels of consumer satisfaction, the branding of services, patient participation, and service recovery can be useful in achieving these goals. (C) 2001 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.