| Course | BUS 532 Healthcare Marketing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Health care customer analysis |
| Length | About 1,058 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 532 Module 3
Three Customers for Every Knee: Understanding Patients, Referring Physicians and Payers at an Outpatient Physical Therapy Company
Student Name
MBA Program, Aspen University
BUS 532: Healthcare Marketing
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Three Customers for Every Knee: Understanding Patients, Referring Physicians and Payers at an Outpatient Physical Therapy Company
Bluegrass Motion Therapy, a composite company, operates nine outpatient physical therapy clinics in and around Louisville, Kentucky. Its therapists treat patients recovering from surgery, sports injuries and back and neck pain. Over the past two years, new patient visits fell 11%, mostly because two large orthopedic groups began sending fewer patients. The company's marketing has consisted of brochures in physicians' offices and occasional radio ads aimed at the public. This paper argues that the company has three customers, patients, referring clinicians and payers, and examines what each needs.
Why Health Care Has Several Customers
In most industries, the customer who buys a product also uses it. In physical therapy, a physician or physician assistant usually recommends where a patient should go, the patient decides whether to follow that advice and attend, and an insurer or employer pays most of the cost under rules it sets. Kotler et al. (2008) describe health care organizations as serving multiple publics whose needs must each be understood and balanced. A marketing plan that speaks only to patients misses the people who make or shape most decisions.
Referring Clinicians
Referrals have become a larger part of medical care. Barnett et al. (2012), analyzing national surveys of ambulatory visits, found that the probability that a visit resulted in a referral to another physician rose from 4.8% in 1999 to 9.3% in 2009, and the number of visits resulting in referrals more than doubled. Although their study concerned physician-to-physician referrals, the same growth in specialist involvement shapes referrals to therapy.
Bluegrass's marketing director interviewed 14 orthopedic surgeons, primary care physicians and physician assistants who refer to therapy. Their needs were consistent. They wanted patients seen within two or three days, especially after surgery. They wanted short progress notes they could read in a minute, sent before follow-up visits. And they wanted patients to return to them satisfied, since unhappy patients complained to the surgeon. Several said the two orthopedic groups had started sending patients to a competitor that faxed progress notes within 24 hours.
Patients
Victoor et al. (2012) reviewed studies of how patients choose health care providers and found that many patients do not actively choose; they follow a physician's advice or go where they went before. Those who do choose weigh factors such as accessibility, reputation, the advice of others and, to a lesser extent, published quality information. Patients' ability and willingness to choose varied with education, age and the urgency of their condition.
Interviews with 30 Bluegrass patients fit this pattern. Twenty-three said they went where their surgeon or physician recommended. The rest chose because a clinic was near home or work or a friend recommended it. Patients' concerns centered on time and cost: three visits a week for six weeks was difficult for working parents, and several were surprised by copayments that added up to hundreds of dollars. All states allow some form of direct access, letting patients see a therapist without a physician's referral, but few patients knew this, and some insurers still required a referral for payment.
Payers
Insurers and self-insured employers form the third customer. Insurers set visit limits, require authorization and increasingly ask for evidence of functional improvement. Employers, who pay for both treatment and lost work, have an interest in getting injured employees to therapy quickly, since earlier treatment of back pain can reduce the use of imaging, injections and surgery. Bluegrass had never approached employers directly.
What the Competitor Did Differently
The competitor that gained the orthopedic groups' referrals offered nothing clinically new. Its advantage lay in operations: a central scheduling line that booked post-surgical patients before they left the surgeon's office, a liaison who visited each orthopedic practice weekly to solve problems, and progress notes generated from a template that took therapists five minutes to complete. Each of these addressed a need the referring clinicians named in Bluegrass's interviews. The lesson is that in a market where clinical quality is similar and hard for outsiders to judge, the experience of working with a provider becomes the basis of choice.
Comparing the Three Customers
The table shows that fast access and clear communication matter to all three, while cost matters differently to patients and payers. A plan built around speed and communication can serve all three customers at once.
| Need | Referring clinicians | Patients | Payers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast access to first visit | Very important | Very important | Important |
| Clear communication | Progress notes before follow-up | Explanation of the plan | Functional outcome data |
| Convenience | Less relevant | Location and hours | Less relevant |
| Cost | Less relevant | Copayments and visit count | Total episode cost |
| Results | Patient returns satisfied | Return to work and activities | Fewer costly services later |
An Integrated Plan
Bluegrass should take five actions. First, guarantee a first appointment within 48 hours of referral at any clinic, with online and phone scheduling. Second, send a two-page progress report to the referring clinician within 24 hours of the initial evaluation and before each follow-up visit. Third, give every patient a written estimate of expected visits and out-of-pocket costs at the first visit, with evening and Saturday hours at four clinics. Fourth, offer self-insured employers an early-access program in which injured employees can be evaluated within one day. Fifth, track and report functional outcome scores to payers and referrers each quarter.
Avoiding the Wrong Kind of Referral Marketing
Federal law makes it a crime to pay or reward anyone, in cash or in kind, for steering patients whose care federal programs fund, and many states have similar rules for private insurance. Bluegrass's outreach to referrers will therefore focus on service quality, such as speed and communication, rather than gifts, meals or payments. This keeps the marketing both legal and centered on patients.
Measures
Success will be measured separately for each customer group: referral volume by referring practice, time from referral to first visit, patient satisfaction and completion of the plan of care, and employer program enrollment and outcome scores.
Conclusion
Bluegrass Motion Therapy has three customers whose decisions are linked. Referring clinicians control most patient flow, patients decide whether to attend and complete care, and payers set rules and fund the work. Research and interviews show that fast access and clear communication serve all three. A plan built on those needs can restore referrals without compromising patients' interests.
References
Barnett, M. L., Song, Z., & Landon, B. E. (2012). Trends in physician referrals in the United States, 1999-2009. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(2), 163-170. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.722
Kotler, P., Shalowitz, J., & Stevens, R. J. (2008). Strategic marketing for health care organizations: Building a customer-driven health system. Jossey-Bass.
Victoor, A., Delnoij, D. M. J., Friele, R. D., & Rademakers, J. J. D. J. M. (2012). Determinants of patient choice of healthcare providers: A scoping review. BMC Health Services Research, 12, 272. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-272
What the BUS 532 Module 3 instructions ask for
Aspen describes BUS 532 as applying marketing to the health care industry, where patients, physicians and payers all influence decisions, and a customer module usually asks students to analyze these groups. All three groups are examined here for a single therapy company. Explain why health care has multiple customers and how they influence each other. For each group, describe its needs and how it decides, using research and, where possible, your own evidence such as interviews. Avoid assuming patients choose like ordinary consumers. Compare the groups' needs in a table to find where they align and conflict. End with a plan that addresses each group's needs without compromising patients' interests, and say how its results will be measured.
Inside the BUS 532 Module 3 example
The paper begins with Bluegrass Motion Therapy, nine clinics, and a decline in new patients from two large orthopedic groups. Barnett, Song and Landon's Archives of Internal Medicine study documents the rise in referrals from 4.8% to 9.3% of ambulatory visits. Interviews with 14 referring physicians and physician assistants show they value fast scheduling, clear progress notes and patients returning satisfied. Victoor and colleagues' BMC Health Services Research review shows patients often defer to referrers and weigh convenience and reputation. Thirty patient interviews add concerns about cost and visit frequency. A section on payers covers insurers' visit limits and employers' interest in earlier therapy. A table compares the three groups' needs, and the plan includes 48-hour scheduling, two-page progress reports, cost estimates and an employer early-access program.
Reading the BUS 532 Module 3 grading rubric
Customer analyses in an MBA healthcare marketing course are graded on recognition of multiple customers, use of research on how each decides, quality of primary evidence and the coherence of the resulting plan. This example draws on Barnett, Song and Landon's study of referral trends and the Victoor team's synthesis of patient decision studies to describe two of the three customers, then adds interview evidence that is reported with sample sizes. The payer section explains what insurers and employers measure, and a needs table shows where the groups align. Recommendations serve all three without compromising patient care, which reflects the ethical dimension of health care marketing. Kotler, Shalowitz and Stevens's text supports the multi-customer view. Measures for each group show how success will be judged.
BUS 532 Module 3 help from the desk
The most frequent weakness in Module 3 is treating patients as the only customer. In much of health care, physicians refer, insurers set rules and employers pay, and each group must be understood. Another is assuming patients shop like consumers of other services; research shows many defer to their physician and rely on convenience and reputation. Support claims about each group with research or your own interviews, and report how many people you spoke with. Look for needs the groups share, such as timely care, and needs that conflict, such as visit limits versus recovery goals. Keep the patient's interest first in any recommendation. Measure results separately for each customer group. Finally, avoid marketing tactics aimed at referrers that could create legal problems, such as gifts or payments tied to referrals.
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.
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BUS 532 Module 3 questions, answered
What does BUS 532 Module 3 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 532 covers understanding patients, referrers and payers in this module, so analyzing these customer groups and how they make decisions is typical. Follow your classroom prompt.
Why are referring physicians important in health care marketing?
Many patients go where their physician sends them, and the share of visits ending in referrals has grown, so referrers strongly influence where care is received.
How do patients choose health care providers?
Research by Victoor and colleagues found patients weigh factors such as physician advice, convenience, reputation and their own experience, and many do not actively compare options.
Where can I find a free BUS 532 Module 3 sample paper?
The full analysis appears above: a physical therapy company's patients, referring physicians and payers, with research, interview findings, a needs table and a plan serving all three.
What is direct access to physical therapy?
The ability of patients to see a physical therapist without a physician referral; all U.S. states allow some form of it, though rules and insurer requirements vary.