Positioning and Differentiation Review

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Choose two existing health care organizations or companies in the same discipline, such as hospital-hospital, insurance company-insurance company, med spa-med spa, and so forth. Compare each organization’s positioning and differentiation strategies in a 1,400- to 1,750-word review.

INTRODUCTION

A key to the success of a business is its ability to develop a comfortable or rather a suitable position in the marketplace. With the changes occurring in the world in terms of globalization and innovation, there is no organization that can claim this “suitable position” without having to work out things. The increasing competition that most organization face in the wake of this new technologies is pushing most of them to look for ways of enhancing their competitiveness. This has brought about the use of management marketing strategies. Some of these strategies like positioning strategy conveys an organization’s image in terms of how bigger it is or even how better it offers its services when compared to its competitors. Differentiation strategy has also become key in claiming a comfortable position in the marketplace by putting into consideration the promotion of distinct attributes and benefits an organization offers. In my discussion am going to compare two health care organizations namely, Anthem Inc group and the UnitedHealth group in respect to the use of positioning and differentiation strategies.

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

Anthem Inc. group is a health insurance company in the United States, being the largest managed health care organization in the Association of Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Initially it was a non-profit organization before merging with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Associations of several states in an effort to achieve economies of scale. Recently the organization had been operating under the name WellPoint, Inc. after acquiring WellPoint Health Networks in 2004, a merger that attracted market value of approximately $20.8 billion but in year 2014 it acquired the corporate name Anthem Inc. Its affiliated health plans have come up with a variety of PPOs, HMOs and specialty products like network-based dental products. All these plans aim to combine attributes that consumers find attractive with techniques that effectively control costs. Services like flexible spending accounts are also available.

On the other hand, UnitedHealth Group Inc. is a managed health care company that offers products and services through its two operating business subsidiaries, UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Optum is in charge of health services while UnitedHealthcare deals with delivering health benefits. With its service to over 70 million individuals globally, the group has a large scale advantage that allows its extension across product lines to attract new hospitals as members and also to negotiate for low prices. The organization runs across the 50 states and other 125 countries with a workforce of around 18,500 physicians and nurses that are focused on helping people live healthier lives.

DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES:

This strategy applies when an organization creates campaigns that attract at least two market segments or at least two target groups (Smith, W. R. 1956). This can be in terms of pricing, where you can price your products below competitors so as to cut into their markets while at same time offering products at higher prices in other markets. In the latter case, you may need to also include additional services to attract customers. Differentiation can also be done through offering different products/services than your competitors or by emphasizing the convenience of your organization to set yourself free from competition (Smith, W. R. 1956). Your expertise from previous experiences can also be a factor.

The two organizations offer services that provide good features in terms of quality and reliable delivery. This alone has set them apart from the rest of other competitors. We can confidently say that UnitedHealth and Anthem Inc. groups have established a position high up that gives them the competitive advantage over other managed care system organizations.

Their brands are different from the rest, with addition of creativity and other qualities that strike customers. This attribute enhances their ability to maintain a big market share. In addition, the attractive brands have been able to raise a massive base of loyal customers who are not sensitive to other competitors’ brands.

UnitedHealth group in particular has a mobile application called Health4Me that provides information to concerned customers regarding benefits and details of all registered nurses and physicians that operate under the organization. The application also gives information about the locations all hospitals managed under the UnitedHealth group.

On matters of payment, the UnitedHealth group’s cancer care transactions are differentiated (Stroh, P. J. 2005). The model concerned with cancer care bundles payments directly to oncologists to ensure continuity of care to patients and also to improve the quality of healthcare offered.

The iPlan of UnitedHealth group integrates health reimbursement accounts with others-highly deductible health plans. By doing so the ordinary plans are expanded to incorporate employer group’s health savings accounts.

The organization’s care coordination is also differentiated for purposes of delivering services. This has ensured channeling of resources to consumers as well as physicians without need for prior authorization.

Anthem Inc. as well is not lagging behind on its service delivery. The group in collaboration with IBM has established an application program – IBM Watson that helps physicians analyze large volumes of data and at the same time receive results over a very short period of time. This has enhanced the organization’s ability to find solution for complex cases.

Another way they improve on their service delivery through application of the differentiation strategy is the provision of an online feedback tool that allows clients to give feedback on the experiences they had with physicians. They can as well rate the services received.

Anthem Inc. group provides a virtual enrolment center (Hall, M. A., & Conover, C. J. 2003), a platform where customers can engage with the organization’s employees. Customers can use the same platform to access healthcare plans and prescription information.

POSITIONING STRATEGIES:

Positioning involves the ways a business communicates its benefits to potential customers. The basis of this strategy is a company’s philosophy and values plus distinct attributes of the products or services it provides that clearly separates it from competitors (Hooley, G. J., Saunders, J. A., & Piercy, N. 2004). In most cases it’s a deliberate branding plan operating on the symbolic levels of customers’ consciousness where associations hold weight. By using the strategy, businesses aim to use their data to compose the chain of words that balances various concepts of differentiation, distinction and similarity in a common brand-narrative. Generally it’s a long term strategy to solidify a company’s identity within minds of target audience (Hooley, G. J., Saunders, J. A., & Piercy, N. 2004).

In reference to the two organizations, UnitedHealth and Anthem Inc. groups position their services to consumers depending on packaging, availability, advertisement and benefit factors. They use distinctive qualities as additional stimuli to their brands names like colors, symbols and styles of advertising.

UnitedHealth group positions itself as an entity that allows wide connections relevant to the healthcare in terms of the best doctors for their patients, provision of right patient data, provision of information on the needed medicine for patients and provision of other kind of medical information to consumers (Stroh, P. J. 2005). The organization is now an established national exchange center for important clinical information that can also be accessed globally by other interested parties.

On matters of healthcare technology, UnitedHealth has set itself as a global leader. For instance, it has a health coverage that provides different health insurance plans to individuals and families. The plan for individuals below 64 years through the Golden rule Insurance has positioned itself as the preferred health service provider for that particular target population.

Anthem Inc. on the other hand seeks to make access to health care much easier through the improvement on their system that deals with clients care access (Hall, M. A., & Conover, C. J. 2003). Its LiveHealth online program caters for minor illnesses like colds, rashes and sore throats that don’t necessarily need regular visits to a doctor. One only needs at least a smart phone to launch a live video visit with a certified doctor.

On the same matters of access, the organization has launched education programs for use of retail health clinics and urgent care centers when their physicians are not available. They are also mobile applications that allow access to benefits details, among other things.

CONCLUSION:

The discussion above has demonstrated the use of positioning and differentiation as crucial in establishing successful businesses that can compete effectively in the health industry that is facing increasing rivalry. The need to identify a target market by various firms is also key for their success. UnitedHealth and Anthem Inc. seem to apply almost similar positioning and differentiation strategies although there are also contrasting tactics that are unique to each one of them. The strategies, though not the absolute reason, have had a significant impact on both organizations as the two are now established choices for consumers especially nationally.

References:

1. Hooley, G. J., Saunders, J. A., & Piercy, N. (2004). Marketing strategy and competitive positioning. Pearson Education.

2. Smith, W. R. (1956). Product differentiation and market segmentation as alternative marketing strategies. Journal of marketing, 21(1), 3-8.

3. Stroh, P. J. (2005). Enterprise risk management at UnitedHealth Group. Strategic Finance, 26-35.

4. Hall, M. A., & Conover, C. J. (2003). The impact of Blue Cross conversions on accessibility, affordability, and the public interest. Milbank Quarterly, 81(4), 509-542.