Marketing in health care

¶ … orientation in marketing of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. The ELGSS is a not for profit health care organization with 238 nursing and health care facilities throughout the United States. Founded in the early 1920's as a care home by the Reverend August Hoeger, it grew to encompass multiple types of health care services. On the Good Samaritan Society web cite they outline their target audience and services as follows;

The vast majority of those the Society serves are elderly, but we also serve others in need. We offer housing options that include nursing beds, assisted living, basic care, congregate living and independent living..." (good-sam. 2003)

Although Lutheran in affiliation, the Society does not require that its staff or residents practice that faith. It is important to note, however, that the focus of both the mission and vision of the society is Christ-centered. This focus constitutes the basis of their not-for-profit status. In a phone interview with a 22-year employee P.Gebo, she states, "In recent years some of their facilities have been challenged on their tax status. In response, a renewed focus on religious values and practices has been stressed.

The Society laid emphasis on a marketing orientation as opposed to either a sales or product approach. It does so by making the public aware of its mission and showing the value of that mission in the quality of care provided in a Christian setting.

They are also employing a brand management approach, setting themselves apart from other non-profit agencies and for profit homes with their brand symbol; a cross with a foreground illustration of the well-known biblical story of a Good Samaritan helping another. The Society "lives the brand" (BMT,2003) in every contact and advertisement they design, thereby practicing brand-based marketing with their readily identifiable symbol.

Because the ELGSS has a variety of centers across the United States it cannot sell the product as easily as it can sell the service. Further, it is not just the service but the type of service that is important in its marketing approach. "Value is the cornerstone of business marketing" (The Marketing Orientation) and value is what The ELGSS is selling. Who can deny that a family would find comfort in placing their elderly family member in a facility that stresses its close relationship to God? Regardless of the level of involvement that the family may have in organized religion, the communication by the Society that it is different that other health care facilities because of its religious orientation is evident.

The core of marketing, whether for a product or service, is to be sure that the offering meets a need and meets it better"(The Marketing Orientation, 2003). The ELGSS markets itself with God. When a person is looking at death they are confronting their beliefs about eternity. Who can be better than God to assist them in their quest?