Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

Last month, I highlighted how retail health clinics can increase patient loads by promoting both excellence of care and lower costs. The most recent Survey of Health from Deloitte indicates that retail health clinics are gaining acceptance by consumers – especially when they are seeking primary care services. About 15% of all consumers have visited a retail health clinic this year which is about 2% higher than the findings showed last year.

The pending health care changes require costs savings to be realized throughout the system. One key player in the health care delivery channel is the retail health clinic. This sector has long promoted cost savings. While many medical professionals were concerned about the quality of care that would be delivered by these clinics, studies indicates that retail health centers are saving consumers and health insurance companies money and they are delivering a high level of care.

I’ve written before about the legal concerns facing big pharmaceutical companies as they market directly to consumers. These concerns multiply when marketing shifts to new online formats such as social networking. But more companies in this sector are exploring the best way to move online.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Home Health Care Services. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the Home Health Care Services report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

* A recent survey revealed that 88% of adults ages 55 to 64 want to stay in their current residences as long as possible. Despite this desire to age in place, 53% of Baby Boomers report concern about being able to do so, creating opportunity for this industry.
* This employment sector is projected to be one of the fastest-growing categories through 2014. This is the result of an aging U.S. population, the high expense of keeping patients in the hospital, and patient interest in staying at home.
* Per-visit payment models are increasingly popular among these businesses and growth in this method is expected to continue.

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment, blindness, diabetic eye disease and cataracts than non-Hispanic whites, according to a new report conducted by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health. Data from the new LALES report have “significant public health implications and present a challenge for eye care providers to develop programs to address the burden of eye disease in Latinos,” stated NEI director Paul Sieving. Hispanics numbered 45 million in the United States as of 2007, according to the Census Bureau. In addition, the study results “underscore the importance of Latinos, especially those with diabetes, getting regular, dilated eye exams to monitor their eye health,” said Rohit Varma, M.D., M.P.H., principal investigator of LALES and director of the Ocular Epidemiology Center at the Doheny Eye Institute, University of Southern California.

When preparing a new product for market, pharmaceutical companies face challenges not shared by other types of marketers. Drug companies must be sure to educate patients on the medical condition a product has been approved for, any possible side effects and they must not market the product to patients with other (off-label) medical conditions. For many drug companies, the rollout of a new product includes DTC marketing and promotions to physicians. But these companies also turn to another tool: Public Relations.