Marketing for International Health Care Organizations

The healthcare organization being reviewed is the Sanford Health. Sanford Health is a healthcare facility with its headquarters at Sioux Falls, in Dakota. Sanford Health is a non-profit and an integrated healthcare organization. The organization has about 45 hospitals and 289 clinics spread out across nine states and over five countries. The healthcare facility has a staff capacity of more than 1300 physician and more than 80 specialties in the field of medicine. Sanford Health also operates centers of excellence focused on cancer, children, heart, orthopedics and sports medicine, and women health. The health facility seeks to attain the vision of enhancing human condition at different stages of life through exceptional care, spiritual enrichment, innovation, and discovery. The global expansion of Sanford Health has seen the expansion of Sanford World Clinics in Ghana through a partnership with the Ghanaian government. 

A review in the global marketing and its impact on Sanford Health’s expansion efforts, leads to the consideration of market types and its potential impact on the growth and expansion plans. In this case, the type of market that influences the opening of new clinics in Ghana is the local institutional market where the national institutions are engaged in the purchasing of technologies. To expand to the Ghanaian market, Sanford Health has focused on this market as evident in its collaborations with the government to increase the network of its clinics in the country. A key characteristic of this market is its need for strong facility inputs such as skilled healthcare professional and complex clinical protocols to ensure deliverance of the goods and services (Matthias, Taylor, Sen, & Metzler, 2014).  

Another issue on global marketing that will influence the success of Sanford Health’s success in the expansion in Ghana is the level of competition. It is noted that among the major reasons for entering the global market is based on the need to attain competitive advantage in the foreign markets and avoid competition in the domestic market. In Ghana, Sanford Health can easily gain an upper hand in the competitive edge, especially due to the partnership with the government coupled with the fact that is a renowned brand. 

The strategy that Sanford Health can use for its branches in Ghana to succeed is positive positioning as compared to its competitors. In this case, the organization needs to align its strategy with the government’s strategic health plans. If the government is focused on increasing access to healthcare for its citizens, Sanford Health should be ready to establish facilities in the remote areas. In case the government is focused on availing specialized services, then Sanford health needs to focus on equipping the facility to offer specialized services (Ristovska & Ristovska, 2014). This strategy within the international market is focused on assisting managers to come up with a strong international vision and allocate the necessary resources required to attain a competitive edge. 

One of the major sources of competitive advantage of Sanford Health in engaging in medical tourism is support from the government. In the case of Ghana, Sanford Health’s efforts are a collaborative effort with the government of Ghana to offer quality healthcare to its citizens. This implies that the organization is bound to get government support and incentives as it opens more facilities. 

Another major source of competitive advantage to Sanford health is that it is a renowned brand best known for its initiatives to improve the human condition. The healthcare facility has received almost $1 billion from philanthropist Denny Sanford, which has seen the transformation of the manner in which Sanford Health improves human condition including expansion to the global markets. The facility is known to operate Centres of Excellence such as cancer, children’s, orthopedics, and women’s health, which improves its scope in the approach for medical tourism. 

References

Matthias, D. M., Taylor, C. H., Sen, D., & Metzler, M. (2014). Local markets for global health technologies: lessons learned from advancing 6 new products. Global Health: Science and Practice, 2(2), 152-164.Ristovska, K., & Ristovska, A. (2014). The Impact of Globalization on the Business. Economic Development/Ekonomiski Razvoj, 16(3).