| Course | BUS 532 Healthcare Marketing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Health care marketing analysis |
| Length | About 1,050 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 532 Module 1
Why Patients Drive Past the Local Hospital: What Marketing Means for a Rural Critical Access Hospital
Student Name
MBA Program, Aspen University
BUS 532: Healthcare Marketing
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Why Patients Drive Past the Local Hospital: What Marketing Means for a Rural Critical Access Hospital
Prairie Valley Community Hospital, a composite 25-bed critical access hospital, serves a farming county of about 9,000 people in rural Nebraska. It has a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient beds, a laboratory, imaging, a general surgeon who operates two days a week and outpatient therapy. Two large health systems operate hospitals about 70 miles away, and many county residents drive there for care the local hospital could provide. Because critical access hospitals depend on volume to cover high fixed costs, every patient who leaves weakens the hospital's finances. The board has asked what marketing could do. This paper explains what marketing should mean for a hospital like Prairie Valley.
More Than Advertising
Many hospital boards think of marketing as billboards and newspaper ads. Kotler et al. (2008) describe a broader role: strategic marketing in health care means understanding the needs of the people an organization serves, designing services and access to meet those needs and communicating honestly about them. Under this view, decisions about which specialists visit, what hours clinics keep and how patients are welcomed are marketing decisions, because they determine whether the hospital offers what its community values.
Why Health Care Is Different
Berry and Bendapudi (2007) identified features that make health care unlike most services. Customers are often sick, so they are more anxious and more dependent than other buyers. They are frequently reluctant, receiving services they would rather avoid. They cannot easily judge technical quality, so they rely on cues such as how staff treat them, the appearance of facilities and the reputation of the organization. Health care is also intensely personal, and decisions are often shared with family members and shaped by physicians.
These features explain much of Prairie Valley's problem. When a condition seems serious, residents look for reassurance, and a large system's name and specialist staff signal competence even if the local hospital could provide the same care. Trust, not price or convenience, is the deciding factor.
Where Residents Go
The hospital's analysis of state discharge and outpatient data shows which services residents keep local.
The pattern is consistent with Berry and Bendapudi's account. Residents stay local for convenient, routine care and leave when they feel uncertain or when a city physician directs their care.
| Service | Share of county residents' volume at Prairie Valley | Main reason given for leaving |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency visits | 78% | Transfers for trauma and heart attack |
| Laboratory tests | 64% | Ordered by outside physicians |
| Physical therapy | 58% | Therapy continued near surgeon's office |
| Imaging, CT and MRI | 41% | Ordered by city specialists; perception of better equipment |
| General surgery | 29% | Preference for city surgeons |
| Specialty clinic visits | 12% | No local specialists |
The Referring Physician as a Customer
Patients rarely choose imaging, surgery or specialty care alone. In Prairie Valley's county, four family physicians and two nurse practitioners see most residents, and their referral habits shape where outpatient care goes. Interviews with them revealed practical reasons for sending patients away: city specialists send consultation notes quickly, while Prairie Valley's imaging reports sometimes took two days to reach them, and the hospital had never asked what services would help their patients. To a referring clinician, the hospital's marketing is the speed of a radiology report and the ease of scheduling a test. Treating these clinicians as customers, with their own needs and frustrations, is a central task for the hospital.
What Marketing Should Not Do
Because patients are vulnerable, some marketing practices that are common elsewhere would be inappropriate. Advertising that implies Prairie Valley can handle complex conditions it would transfer, or that frightens residents about travel to city hospitals, would damage trust and could harm patients. Incentives that reward physicians for referrals raise legal and ethical problems. The hospital's marketing must remain truthful, help residents choose the right place for each kind of care and accept that some patients belong in a city hospital.
Competing on Value
Porter and Teisberg (2006) argue that health care providers should compete on the value they deliver to patients, meaning health outcomes relative to cost over the full cycle of care for a condition, rather than on volume or reputation alone. For a small rural hospital, this argument cuts two ways. Prairie Valley cannot match city systems in complex care and should not try. But for many common needs, such as imaging, therapy, routine surgery and follow-up visits after specialist care, it can offer equal results with much less travel, lower out-of-pocket costs and faster access. Its marketing task is to make that value visible and credible.
The Community as a Stakeholder
A critical access hospital is also a community institution. It is often one of the county's largest employers, and its emergency department is the reason families and businesses feel safe living far from a city. Residents who use the city hospitals for elective care still expect the local emergency department to be there at night. Marketing can make this connection visible by explaining that local use of routine services keeps emergency care open, a message that is honest and important to residents.
A Marketing Agenda
Five actions follow. First, bring visiting specialists, such as orthopedics and cardiology, to a local clinic one or two days a month, so that care begins locally and follow-up stays local. Second, publish simple quality and wait-time information for imaging and surgery, using measures patients understand. Third, offer telehealth links so that city specialists can see patients in Prairie Valley's clinic. Fourth, strengthen relationships with the county's family physicians, who refer most outpatient tests, by providing results faster and inviting them to shape services. Fifth, train front-line staff in welcoming and explaining care, since patients judge quality through those encounters.
Measuring Progress
The hospital will track the local share of each service in the table annually, specialist clinic visits, imaging ordered by local physicians and patient experience scores.
Conclusion
For a rural critical access hospital, marketing is not mainly about advertising; it is about offering the services residents need in a way that earns their trust. Health care's distinctive features explain why residents leave when they feel uncertain, and value-based competition shows where Prairie Valley can win. An agenda built on access, visible quality and relationships with local physicians fits both the hospital's finances and its mission.
References
Berry, L. L., & Bendapudi, N. (2007). Health care: A fertile field for service research. Journal of Service Research, 10(2), 111-122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670507306682
Kotler, P., Shalowitz, J., & Stevens, R. J. (2008). Strategic marketing for health care organizations: Building a customer-driven health system. Jossey-Bass.
Porter, M. E., & Teisberg, E. O. (2006). Redefining health care: Creating value-based competition on results. Harvard Business School Press.
BUS 532 Module 1 instructions, in plain terms
Aspen's catalog describes BUS 532 as applying marketing principles to health care and adjusting strategy to the forces of the health care marketplace, so an opening paper usually asks what marketing means in a health care organization. Here the question is worked through for a single small hospital, though your own prompt may frame it differently. Define marketing in a way that fits health care, going beyond advertising. Explain what makes health care services different from other services, with research. Use evidence about the organization's patients and where they go. Identify who influences choices, including physicians and payers, not only patients. Distinguish marketing from persuasion that would be inappropriate in health care. Close with an agenda that ties marketing to the organization's mission and to what patients need.
How this BUS 532 Module 1 example is built
The paper begins with Prairie Valley Community Hospital, which retains most emergency visits but loses many imaging, surgery and specialty visits to two city systems. Berry and Bendapudi's Journal of Service Research article lists the features that make health care distinctive, such as customers who are ill, reluctant and unable to judge technical quality. Kotler, Shalowitz and Stevens's book defines health care marketing as aligning services with what communities need and value. A table compares local and outside volumes for six services, showing that residents keep convenient, low-risk care local and leave for anything that feels serious. Porter and Teisberg's book argues that providers should compete on the health results they achieve for a condition, measured against what that care costs. The agenda includes visiting specialists, published quality data, telehealth links and stronger ties with local family physicians.
BUS 532 Module 1 rubric: what earns full marks
Opening papers in an MBA healthcare marketing course are marked on a definition of marketing suited to health care, accurate use of research on what makes the field different, evidence about the organization's market and recommendations that respect patients' interests. This example rejects a narrow, promotional definition and uses Berry and Bendapudi's Journal of Service Research article to explain why trust and reassurance drive choices. The patient volume table grounds the discussion in specific services rather than general claims. Kotler, Shalowitz and Stevens's text supports the strategic view of marketing, and Porter and Teisberg's book connects marketing to the value patients receive. The agenda links each action to a reason patients leave, which shows the student can turn analysis into strategy appropriate to a community hospital.
BUS 532 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
A first health care marketing paper often goes wrong by treating marketing as nothing more than advertising. Marketing in health care includes deciding which services to offer, how to make them accessible and how to earn the trust of patients and referring physicians. Drafts also stumble when they overlook what sets care apart, for instance how frightened patients are and how little they can judge clinical skill. Use data about the organization's patients where you can. Recognize that physicians, payers and family members often influence choices. Avoid recommendations that would pressure patients or overstate results. Connect marketing to the organization's mission, especially for nonprofit and rural providers. Finally, make your recommendations specific, so the reader can see how each one would change where patients go.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More BUS 532 and MBA sample papers
- BUS 532 Module 2: The Health Care Marketplace
- BUS 532 Module 3: Patients, Referrers and Payers
- BUS 532 Module 4: Segmentation and Service Lines
- BUS 532 Module 5: Pricing, Access and Value
- BUS 532 Module 6: Digital Marketing and Reputation
- BUS 532 Module 7: Ethics and Regulation
- BUS 532 Module 8: Health Care Marketing Plan
- BUS 551 Module 6: Payout Policy
- BUS 540 Module 4: Competition and Monopoly
- BUS 553 Module 8: Multinational Working Capital
- BUS 799 Module 3: Capstone Methodology
BUS 532 Module 1 questions, answered
What does BUS 532 Module 1 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 532 begins with marketing in health care organizations, so a paper explaining what marketing means in health care and applying it to an organization is typical. Check your classroom prompt.
How is health care marketing different from other marketing?
Patients are often ill and anxious, cannot easily judge technical quality, and rely heavily on physicians, family and trust, so reassurance and access matter more than promotion.
Who are the customers of a hospital?
Patients, but also referring physicians, employers, insurers and the community, each of whom influences where care is received.
Where can I find a free BUS 532 Module 1 sample paper?
The complete paper is above: a rural critical access hospital losing patients to city systems, with research on health care marketing, a table of services kept and lost and a marketing agenda.
Is advertising appropriate for hospitals?
It can be, if it is truthful and helps patients understand available services, but it is only a small part of health care marketing.