Why does the Clinic Need a Product Portfolio?
The product portfolio of a medical clinic serves as its shop window, showcasing both the center itself and the services offered. In retail, window dressing is handled by a merchandiser, but in healthcare, this responsibility typically falls to a marketer, the owner, or sometimes a senior administrator. The guiding principle remains the same: a well-presented window instills greater confidence in potential clients.
A well-structured medical design portfolio is essential, as it forms the conceptual backbone of the clinic, based on its available resources and established working principles. When designed effectively, the product portfolio can become a reliable source of profit. Conversely, if the portfolio is chaotic, the clinic risks losing appointment records, experiencing a decline in call frequency, and seeing a decrease in the number of services provided per patient, ultimately affecting cross-marketing efforts.
Most patients lack a comprehensive understanding of medical services and may not know how things should ideally be structured. If the price list or “Services” section of the clinic’s website is cluttered with duplicated, outdated, or missing offerings, patients can quickly become confused. It’s much easier for them to choose a competitor rather than navigate through multiple identical services. While they can call the contact center for assistance, how effective can that guidance be if the price list lacks organization?
When developing a product portfolio, it’s crucial to balance three key parameters:
1. The needs of patients
2. Profitability
3. Convenience for healthcare providers
Understanding patient needs is straightforward, and so is the aspect of profitability. However, ensuring service availability is vital for doctors’ convenience in prescribing these services. When services are disorganized and disconnected, they fail to generate profit.
What does convenience mean in this context? Similar to the process a pilot follows—takeoff, climb, flight, approach, and landing—each step requires both focus and specific actions. To ensure smooth operations, necessary controls must be easily accessible and responsive.
Doctors face a comparable process: they must gather patient histories, make preliminary diagnoses, order tests, possibly refer patients to specialists, review results, make final diagnoses, and prescribe treatment. If their management information system (MIS) contains multiple identical examinations without schedules for other doctors or offices, the effectiveness of their work diminishes.
Many clinics attempt to train doctors to refer patients to related services and offer sales training with financial incentives, but they often overlook the importance of work convenience and information flow. Sometimes, clinics don’t even provide internal updates about new services, doctors, or equipment. Consequently, physicians may remain unaware of changes in their own clinic that allow for new diagnostic methods or treatments.
For instance, there was a situation where an ultrasound room operated from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM for six months because the ultrasound technician had resigned and no replacement was available for the second shift. Doctors continued to offer their patients appointments in the afternoon, assuming that ultrasounds could only be done in the morning. Once a new hire was found, the office still sat idle. Why? Because there was no communication about the newly available second shift, leaving staff unaware that an experienced specialist was now available for appointments.
Who is to blame? The lack of effective communication and a convenient information system leaves no clear individual accountable, resulting in a systemic repeat of these issues.
The same problems arise with new services. Staff may not be aware of these offerings or may not grasp how they relate to their patients. The clinic owner may have a logical strategy for introducing new services, but if doctors don’t understand the purpose of these offerings, they are less likely to refer patients.
What are the most common mistakes in this process? The primary error is chaos. Often, the older a clinic is and the more attachment the owner has to it, the more disorder ensues within the portfolio. There’s a desire to offer everything at once, compounded by competitive pressures, leading to indiscriminate additions. Consequently, clinics may end up with 15 main services, all deemed “priority,” leaving them unable to determine which needs immediate promotion. This approach results in a flurry of advertising for every service instead of focusing strategically.
As a result, the clinic lacks a clear strategy, effective positioning, cross-marketing efforts, and insights into what actually drives revenue. Typically, this leads to underutilization across all departments. Unfortunately, many clinics continue in this state until ownership decides to implement necessary changes.