Marketing plan for medical tourism patient in fv hospital master project in business and marketing management

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ TP.HCM UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY SOLVAY BRUSSELS SCHOOL MBMM4 GIANG HAI KIM NGOC Marketing Plan for Medical Tourism in FV Hospital MASTER PROJECT MASTER IN BUSINESS & MARKETING MANAGEMENT Tutor’s name: Dr Nguyen Duc Tri Ho Chi Minh City (2010) i Declaration I certify that my final project titled “Marketing Plan for Medical Tourism in FV Hospital” is my own work Material taken from other sources has been acknowledged according to requirements for reference ii Acknowledge I would like to express my appreciation for my tutor – Dr Nguyen Duc Tri for his valuable comment and assistance I also want to thank Ms Camilla Berglund and Mr Phan Le Dung for their supporting to finish this project Yours sincerely, iv CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Objective and Significance 1.2 Methodology…………………………………………………………………… 1.3 Project Limitation 1.4 Company Overview 1.4.1 Background 1.4.2 Mission 1.4.3 Value of FV CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Medical Tourism………………………… ……………………………………… 2.1.1 Definition ………………………………………………… …………………6 2.1.2 Brief History of Medical Tourism ……………………… …………………7 2.1.3 Different between Health and Medical Tourism ………… …………………7 2.1.4 Key Players in Medical Tourism Industry ….…………… …………………9 2.2 Contributing Factors in becoming Medical Tourism Destination ……………… 2.2.1 Pull and Push Factor ………… ………………………………… … ……10 2.2.2 Motivation Factors in Medical Tourism ………………… ……………… 10 CHAPTER 3: SITUATION ANALYSIS 3.1 SWOT Analysis 12 3.2 Competitor Forces 3.2.1 Vietnam 13 3.2.2 Asia 13 3.3 Key to success 14 3.4 Technology in Medical Tourism 14 3.5 Target Market 3.5.1 Medical Tourism of U.S Market 15 3.5.2 Other influencing factors 16 3.5.3 U.S Plastic Surgery 19 3.5.4 Market Trend 19 3.6 Survey 20 CHAPTER 4: MARKETING STRATEGY 4.1 Segmentation 23 4.2 Target Segment 23 4.3 Positioning 23 4.4 Marketing Mix v 4.5 4.6 4.4.1 Product 23 4.4.2 Price 25 4.4.3 Distribution 26 4.4.4 Promotion 27 Marketing Budget 29 Conclusion 29 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………….30 APPENDICES ………………………………………………….………………….32 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There are many tourism typologies: sport, leisure, religion, pilgrim pursuit, historical discovery and others The trend in combination of tourism and medical is called medical tourism which tourists primarily seek medical treatment and afterwards the more beneficial experience related to leisure and relaxation in tourist places Today culture of travelling abroad for surgery becomes more common in the world, especially people from developed countries fly to Asia to absorb cosmetic surgery regard to price connotation There are optimistic forecasts about medical tourism development in the future According Deloitte Medical Tourism Update, 540,000 American traveled abroad to receive medical treatment in 2008 and estimated 1.62 million medical tourists in 2012 The expected increase in medical tourism derives from high cost of healthcare in their home country, better customer care, the ease and affordability of international travel and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries Medical Tourism has contributed remarkable to GDP of many countries such as Singapore, Thailand and India It brings benefits not only for hospital as increasing revenue, innovating infrastructure but also for its country economy as creating jobs for local people, improving life conditions… With those benefits, medical tourism plays important role for bringing more money to national budget Recognizing these potential interests, Thailand governments have pushed promotion for the development of medical tourism by reducing barriers to attract more patients to their countries As a result, the number of international patient increases quickly Besides Thailand, India, Singapore and Malaysia also put efforts to lure the flow of oversea patient deciding their surgery procedures done in their countries Vietnam doesn’t promote to this model currently Medical Tourism is quite new to Vietnam However, as a trend of development, it’s believed that Vietnam will be soon a tough competitor for neighbor countries in future FV is the first hospital to take part in this model in Vietnam FV Hospital has operated since 2003 Its facilities were noticeably invested for years with foreign and Vietnamese doctor team who are trained oversea in reputation hospital in France In order to increase the operational efficiency, FV wants to attract medical tourism patients who want to combine their traveling to Vietnam with having medical treatment such as health check up, hip replacement, dental treatment or plastic surgery Therefore, this project will help FV to become a competitive medical provider in medical tourism market CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Objective and Significance The main purpose of this project is to increase operational efficiency of FV Hospital by building an effective marketing plan to attract abroad patients to FV Hospital It could be done by analyzing external and internal factors to implement the right method in foreign countries It is recognized that there is an expansion in demand of Plastic surgery in U.S According to Deloitte Consulting, over hundred thousand of Americans travel abroad for medical treatment in 2008 This number will increase by million in 2015 That’s a huge potential market for FV This project is designed to understanding the effective factors and competitive advantages to attract medical tourists to FV hospital Besides, it helps FV to become a global medical hub The significance of this project has indicated that: + Accelerating hospital revenue by attracting more foreigners who can combine cosmetic surgery with holiday trip + Analyzing clearly proper factors the marketing mix for attracting medical tourism have created more successful opportunity and reduced risks 1.2 Methodology Descriptive method is used to identify and obtain information on Plastic Surgery in the target market 1.2.1 Desk Research (Secondary data) The research use data from different resources published on economic newspapers, magazines, internet… for collecting information about plastic surgery industry in U.S, Social and psychology of American for Plastic Surgery and new trend for this industry in future 1.2.2 Market Research (Primary data) Qualitative survey is done by focus group with American visitors in Vietnam Quantitative survey is taken by survey with 80 American in U.S by email 1.3 Project Limitation  This project outlines a marketing plan which will be applied for US market only Other international market could have some similar points but not completely included  Plastic surgery is the only surgery package in Medical Tourism mentioned in this project  Due to geographic conditions, the survey in this project is only done with 50 interviewees by email 1.4 Company Overview 1.4.1 Background FV Hospital is a world class healthcare in Vietnam offering a comprehensive care range of medical and surgical services It is a wholly foreign-owned hospital, opening in March 2003 and equipping with modern machine to provide patients with efficient treatments It teams composed of Vietnamese who are oversea trained), French, Belgian, American and Korean doctors FV Clinic is a branch of FV hospital located in district giving more convenient options for patients who live in center FV operating revenue is more than 18 million USD in 2009 serving over 200,000 patients a year including 70% Vietnamese, 20% Western and Asian expatriates, 5% Cambodia and 5% Viet Kieu and tourists It is also the first hospital in Vietnam to be accredited by an international organization HAS and working to achieve “Joint Commission International” by 2010 1.4.2 Mission FV is an international organization in Vietnam for over years It becomes a trustful brand in Vietnam community with different society contributed activities such as charity trip to poor village in Vietnam for free consultation and medicine delivery It mission: “FV provide superior quality and comprehensive patient care in a continuous effort to gain patient trust” 1.4.3 Value of FV FV is non-stopping providing high quality service to serve patient in the best condition and make them comfortable It believes in “Medical Ethics” Value of FV includes: Being patient centered Being Professional, caring, trustworthy, compassionate and responsible Empathy with patients, share their thought and understand how their feeling Striving to provide comprehensive and high quality care including good doctors and nurses, high quality facilities, customer services teams… 24 * Single Medical Product Procedure Length of Results Back to work procedures Abdominoplasty or light travel 2-5 hours Permanent 30 minutes Temporary 1-3 weeks (Tummy Tuck) Botox (Repeat No downtimes treatments after 4-6 months) Breast 1-2 hours Augmentation Permanent (Possible implant 1-2 weeks replacement) Breast Lift 1.5 – 3.5 hours Long lasting 1-2 weeks Breast Reduction 2-4 hours Permanent 1-2 weeks Buttock Lift hours Long lasting 10-14 days Ear Surgery 2-3 hours Permanent days Eyelid Surgery 1-3 hours Long lasting Within 10 days Facelift 2-3 hours Long lasting Within weeks Lipoplasty 45mns – (Liposuction) hours Permanent 1-2 weeks Rhinoplasty 1-2 hours Permanent 7-10 days * Combo Product (Including Procedure and Travel Itinerary)  Day 1: Welcome to Vietnam  Day 2: First consultation(s)/tests  Days 3-6: Hospitalisation and surgery  Days 6-10: Relax at a charming riverside leisure complex Enjoy the city highlights and dine at some of the best restaurants in town  Days 11-13: Beach break 25  Days 14-15: Back to City Enjoy a dinner cruise Post-discharge consultation at FV  Day 16: Flight back home This “P” comes with criteria “C” – Competence including quality of hospital facility and medical team  Hospital Facility: well-equipped to process treatment with the best result, safety Rooms are designed following international standard to help patient recover quickly after surgery  Medical Team: knowledgeable and experience, avoid any incurring risk to surgery; always update new technology in treatment  Hospital Facility: well-equipped to process treatment with the best result, safety Rooms are designed following international standard to help patient recover quickly after surgery  Medical Team: knowledgeable and experience, avoid any incurring risk to surgery; always update new technology in treatment 4.4.2 Price There are many ways in which the price of a product or services are set Competition based pricing is used in this strategy One of the primary benefits of receiving Plastic Surgery abroad is the price Price for doing plastic surgery in FV is quite competitive Moreover, choosing FV as medical tourism destination also offers tourism benefits for patient accompany Procedure Estimated Price (USD) Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) 2,500 Breast Augmentation 2,800 Breast Lift 2,200 Breast Reduction 2,800 Buttock Lift 3,800 Eyelid Surgery 1,100 26 Facelift 2,100 Lipoplasty (Liposuction) 1,700 Rhinoplasty 1,200 4.4.3 Distribution Doyle (1994) has suggested that there are three generic channel options: direct marketing, via a sales force or via intermediaries Due to the geographic of U.S, size of the market and limited budget, intermediaries are used to distribute our plastic surgery in U.S market The main intermediary is Medical Tourism Facilitator coined as Referrer: as a middleman between patients and procedure providers They will responsible for attract citizens in their home country to travel abroad for Medical Tourism People can access to a medical tourism facilitator’s website and request a price estimate for a particular procedure from several hospitals In addition, once a decision on where to travel, the medical tourism facilitator can usually take care of all travel logistics such as flights, accommodation and transportation With direct patients, they can contact FV hospital through its website They will get reply of their inquiries for their treatment during 48 hours As a result, FV hospital’s website needs to be upgraded and friendly-users to all users Comments and testimonials will be posted on website as references Medical Facilitators or Referrers Consumer FV Hospital Word of Mouth Chart of Medical Tourism Distribution 27 The aim of distribution is Convenience “Convenience” indicates as below  Easily make appointment and contact with hospital  Free wireless internet is provided  Different type of foods are supplied including western, vietnamese, vegetarian menu  Convenient infrastructure around hospital refers to accommodation, restaurant and entertainment places around hospital 4.4.4 Promotion According to the aim of Medical Institute, promotion encompasses “C”- Communication An effective communication means that  English is compulsory language for staffs to create friendly and close environment as they are home  Patient has rights to know about information about his/her surgery procedures and understand all risks  All patient information is updated on system and alert to related department  Listening, taking time with patient before and after surgery to reduce the stress for patient In distribution system, there are two types of patient including direct patient and indirect patient Indirect patients come from referrers Therefore, referrers will help us to various forms of promotion in order to attract more patients They will help us to promote medical tourism in United States They also help to arrange everything for international patients who are willing to travel to Vietnam for medical treatments Although we use Medical Tourism Facilitator to attract patient, we also launch our own promotion campaign * Word of mouth This approach is one of main advertising tool Word of mouth advertising is more influential than other form of advertising Especially in Medical Tourism, Plastic surgery in particularly, people believes in neighbors and friends experiences With proliferation of social network, people are easier to express their experiences and opinions to friends through Internet Therefore, social network is also an effective “world of mouth” tool to advertise about FV hospital 28 * Email Marketing Email marketing is also used to advertising Medical Tourism to existing Viet-Kieu patients This aims to Vietnamese American who visited hospital sometimes * Advertising We will advertise our hospital in Medical Tourism Magazine which is a monthly Medical Tourism industry magazine in both print and electronic versions The circulation of the Medical Tourism on average for its printed version ranges over 90 countries around the world in all regions * Search Tool As result of survey, Internet is the method for patients to find out necessary information about their oversea treatment Therefore, FV hospital will corporate with some searching companies to help FV hospital appearing on the top of searching lists for medical tourism in Vietnam * Seminar Attending World Medical Tourism organized every year in Los Angeles is a chance to approach Medical Tourism Facilitators and potential customer World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress is the World’s Largest Medical Tourism Conference with up to 2,000 attendees from 50 countries 4.4.5 Patient Patient is centered in 5P This is the crux in the FV strategy: everything that is said, done, or thought must be oriented about the consumer Patient would be an effective advertising method for others including friends, families and people they met From them, the image of FV hospital can be enhanced in customer’s perception Provided patient is satisfied, nothing else will be matter Moreover, when patient is not satisfied, they will tell at least 12 people It would make a bad reputation about FV in the target market Especially with development of social website, un-satisfaction spreads triple more than satisfaction 29 4.5 Marketing Budgeting Marketing Expense Budget in 2010 Estimated revenue 75,000 540,000 Expected Average Transactions/ Customer 360 Expected Average $/ Customer 1,500 Referrer (30,000) Seminar (25,000) Magazine (Medical Tourism Magazine) (10,000) Other (10,000) 4.6 Conclusion Medical Tourism is a niche market of Healthcare Tourism It has been developing in Asia such as Thailand, Singapore, India It is expecting to continue growing in next few years This marketing plan is a general structure for FV Hospital in order to attract Medical Tourism focusing on U.S market As applying this marketing plan into practice, more information will be considered and more research will be implemented Base on current situation, most medical tourism patient is received from Medical Facilitators or Referrers Therefore, in the first year facilitors and referrers will be one of the main source of getting patients Promotion is also enhanced However, with the shift of healthcare system and economic situation in developed countries, Medical Facilitators or Referrers are not only the available sources for bringing patient to FV Hospital such as Medical Insurer would start to think about sending their patients across the border because of governmental healthcare reform 30 REFERENCES  Bennett, M., B King and L Milner (2004) ‘The health resort sector in Australia: A positioning study’, Journal of Vacation Marketing, 10 (2): 122-37  Connell, J (2006) ‘Medical tourism: Sea, sun, sand and … surgery’, Tourism Management, 27 (6): 1093-1100  Henderson, J.C (2004) ‘Healthcare Tourism in Southeast Asia’, Tourism Review International, (3-4): 111-21  Horowitz MD, Rosensweig JA Medical tourism: health care in the global economy Phys Exec 2007;33: 24–30  Keckley PH, Underwood HR Medical Tourism: Update and Implications Washington, D.C.: Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions; 2008  Pollock, A and P Williams (2000) ‘Health Tourism Trends: Closing the Gap between Health Care and Tourism’, pp.165-73 in W.C Gartner and D.W Lime (eds.) Trends in Outdoor Recreation, Leisure and Tourism Wallingford: CABI Publishing  Richard M.S Wilson and Colin Gilligan (2005) “Strategic Marketing Management” 31 WEBSITE www.deloitte.com http://www.hospitalimpact.org/index.php/2010/11/03/why_competition_from_medical_tou rism_is http://www.health-tourism.com/medical-tourism/history/ http://www.unescap.org/ESID/hds/lastestadd/MedicalTourismReport09.pdf http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/060410_medical_tourism_asias_ growth_industry http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/countryprofile/north-central-america/united-states?profile=today http://www.healthhorizonholidays.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor y&id=0&Itemid=44 http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/article/healthcare-reform-and-the-demise-of-medicaltourism-.html http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/issue-article/the-effects-of-the-world.html 32 APPENDICES 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 40-54 50% 30-39 40% 20-29 30% 20% 10% 0% s ea Br m ug tA n io at t en N os e R es ng pi e Ey lid r Su ry ge Li ct su po n io y m ck Tu m Tu Appendix 1: Top five plastic surgery procedures by age 40% 35% New England & Middle Atlantic 30% East & West North Central 25% South Atlantic 20% 15% East & West South Central 10% Mountain & Pacific 5% tio n Tu ck Tu m m y R os e Li po su c es pi ng er y Su rg Ey e lid N Br ea s tA ug m en ta ti o n 0% Appendix 2: Top five plastic surgery procedures by location 33 120% 100% 80% No 60% Yes 40% 20% 0% Women Men Appendix 3: Number of people say “Yes/No” to Plastic Surgery 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Men Women 18-34 35-44 45-54 Over 54 Appendix 4: Age agreeing plastic surgery by Gender 34 Appendix 5: QUESTIONNAIRE I’m a student of Solvay Business School I would greatly appreciate if you could take your precious time to fill below questionnaire The purpose of this survey is to serve my final thesis which is Marketing Plan in Medical Tourism of U.S market Yours sincerely, Giang Hai Kim Ngoc Note: Please put “X” to remark the answer you choose NAME: EMAIL (OPTIONAL): Gender Male Female AWARENESS OF MEDICAL TOURISM How old are you? Under 19 19-34 35-50 51-64 65 and over Have you ever heard about Medical Tourism (going abroad for medical treatments such as cosmetic surgery, dental treatment…) ? Yes No (If answer is “No”,Please move to the question 4) 35 How you know about Medical Tourism? Friends Magazine or Newspaper TV Advertising Documentaries Other (Please specify ) COMPETITOR’S PROFILE Which country in Asia you know offer Medical Tourism? Have you ever received Medical Treatment in these countries? Yes No (If “no”, Please move to question 8) What kind of treatment did you receive? Why you choose this country for your treatment? CUSTOMER’S BEHAVIOUR Will you consider having Plastic Surgery abroad in high quality hospital if the cost is less double compare to your country? Yes No In your opinion, which is your alternative when making decision for medical tourism? 36 Thinking about travel demand first then combining with plastic surgery Having plastic surgery demand first then finding the procedure country 10 How would you prefer to arrange your trip? Independently Through your business Middleman (Travel agent, Medical Facilitator) Other (Please specify _ ) 11 What sources you rely on for your procedure? Newspaper & Magazine (Please specify ) Internet advertisement TV advertisement Guide books (Please specify Brochures of tour-operators Word of mouth Other (Please specify ) 12 How many days you spend for your treatment trip? 4-7 days 7-10 days 11-14 days ) 37 Longer 13 Average budget for your treatment trip Less 3,000USD 3,000 – 5,000 USD 6,000 – 9,000 USD >9,000 USD 14 How long in advance you start planning your treatment trip? Around month months in advance months in advance Other 15 What for you would be the main reason for electing to Ho Chi Minh? High quality hospital with reasonable procedure price Easy accessibility (Visa application, Custom regulation, Trade agreement) Political Stability Tourism Other 16 What factors would contribute to your decision to travel to Ho Chi Minh for procedure treatment? 38 Infrastructure and transportation Language High quality hospital with reasonable procedure price Cultural and Social environment Tourist Attraction Affordable and Cost saving alternatives Value add on and Personal Other (Please specific ) 17 Please consider the importance to you if you have medical treatment oversea Rate: 1-extremely; 2-very; 3-normal; 4- don’t care at all a Quality of medical treatment & doctor b Internationally Accredited Hospital c Hospital Facilities (equipment, hygiene…) d Hospital Services (room cleaning, food…) e Attitude of staff f Price of treatment g Time for treatment h Language ... carefully for patient in choosing Medical Tourism destination including quality of medical treatment and doctor, internationally accredited hospital, hospital facilities, hospital services and staff’s... about medical tourism It includes definition of Medical Tourism, history of Medical Tourism It also discusses about motivation factors in Medical Tourism 2.1 Medical Tourism 2.1.1 Definition Medical. .. quality and comprehensive patient care in a continuous effort to gain patient trust” 1.4.3 Value of FV FV is non-stopping providing high quality service to serve patient in the best condition and