IHPME Course Spotlight: HAD5767H – Health Services Marketing

When most hear the word “marketing,” they might think of “sales” or “ads.” However, marketing can best be described as understanding what people need, and creating value in a product or service.

By: Marielle Boutin

When viewed through a healthcare lens, marketing becomes much more complex, with decisions factoring in many diverse stakeholders such as patients, families, physicians, and governments. With these complexities in mind, one IHPME course is preparing students to help cater to modern healthcare consumers, who are becoming increasingly informed and selective about their healthcare experiences, in order to ensure care is delivered innovatively, efficiently and safely.

Health Services Marketing is a Health Administration course that provides students with the insight needed to translate ideas into action.

“Bold new innovation ideas are necessary for our health system to transform and meet the current and future needs of our evolving population,” says course instructor Julian Wong.

Recent years have seen the course shift from focusing solely on promoting products to emphasizing how organizations deliver services to meet peoples’ needs. One way the course does this is through the combination of lived experience in the health sector and relevant theory and marketing concepts, such as branding, marketing strategy and service delivery.

Students in the course are exposed to several key concepts that highlight practical application, fortifying them with a strategic marketing mindset, learning how to evaluate markets and consumer needs, drive innovation, build strong brands, develop evidence-based marketing plans, and communicate persuasively through presentations and pitches.

“The course’s most impactful and transformative element is the practical value of its skills and theory, which students can apply immediately to improve their day-to-day work in the health system,” says Wong. “The intent is not to steer students into marketing and communications oriented holes in health. The focus is on learning how to leverage marketing oriented skills and concepts in their day to day whether it be a care delivery or administrative role”.

To learn more about Health Services Marketing and how it equips students to drive innovation in healthcare, visit the course page.