Answer

Opening a New Clinic for Primary Care

Initial Response

The dynamic nature of health practice has made it crucial for provision of primary care service. People are looking for skilled physicians, especially patients with undiagnosed conditions, to provide professional diagnosis and assessment of their conditions to help in suggesting and following up on treatment progress. Thus, starting a primary care clinic is a viable business idea that has the potential of growth depending on how it is executed.

Planning and Marketing Analysis

Healthcare industry is complex and requires understanding of the market before establishing operations. The analysis of 4Ps of marketing mix is essential in considering the possibility of succeeding in a given market.

Price

The cost of healthcare has been increasing and price is an important consideration, especially for a new primary healthcare clinic. Therefore, offering best care at affordable prices will be a good starting strategy. Pricing can be challenging since even as you offer affordable prices, you must also keep the clinic profitable. The management can think about opportunities where they can offer best care at affordable prices. For instance, the cost of simple test and procedures should be lowered to encourage patients. 

Pace

In reference to healthcare provision, place refers to providing accessible healthcare services to consumers. It will be important to make use of the internet and mobile phones to leverage the ease of access to the facility. Consumers will be encouraged with a 24-hour phone access for emergency cases. The facility should a same day appointment for efficiency purposes. Consumers should find it easy to locate the hospital. The facility should share driving directions and guidelines for public transport. Primarily, the services should not be available in location or hours that patients cannot access them since the clinic will miss the opportunity to provide their services to consumers.

Product

The quality of the products determines whether the clinic will have return clients. The best form of advertisement is through word of mouth enhanced by satisfied consumers. The products offered for primary care includes diagnosis, treatment, tests, critical care, and long-term care among others. Doctors should determine the type of care that is suitable for their clientele. For instance, the physician should not just determine if the patient experiences pain. They should also determine the best product for pain management based on the individual characteristics of every patient.

Promotion

Promotion will be important for the clinic to gain relative market shares, especially during the early stages of establishment. Small clinics can promote their products at local levels, the use of social media and referrals from friends will be important aspects of promotion for the clinic. Furthermore, creating brochures and issuing with to the visiting clients and the public can help advertise the services provided by the clinic. 

 The Major Risks

The venture may fail when the clinic fails to comply with strict health care regulations in today’s healthcare practice. Therefore, it is important to be fully aware of the laws regulating the establishment of a new clinic. Inadequate financial strength to address all the necessary requirements of establishing a new clinic may also make the clinic to fail. The staff should be professional and competent. When the first experience of a customer is negative, they do not come back and give negative feedback to prospective customers.