Case - Dr. Beckett’S Dental Office

1. Situation analysis

1.1 Analysis of the 7 Ps

1.1.1 Product

Dr. Beckett’s and her team’s goal is it, to “provide superior dentistry in an efficient, profitable manner within the confines of a caring, quality environment” as they stated in their mission statement.

According to the case study, they offer the complete range of dental care from simple teeth cleaning to complicated dental surgery and implants.

1.1.2 Price

The practice is no member of one of the HMOs, because Dr. Beckett was not of the opinion that she could provide the level of service she wanted, at the reimbursements given by the HMO. Therefore she offers now her dental services at a higher price, but therefore also at a higher quality.

1.1.3 Promotion

The practice does with 2000 “active” patients very well, at the moment. Dr. Beckett got her patients mainly form her old practice and from positive word of mouth by current patients.

She did no advertising whatsoever, as she believed word of mouth promotion to be the best way. According to her, this means that the new patients would already have heard of her service and her business strategy of high quality and appealing environment.

Patients wait for appointments even for 3 or 4 month, so the promotion worked so far very well in respect of attracting new customers.

1.1.4 Place

Dr. Beckett is providing her service in her own practice in a Northern California town. That means that patients will have to go to her to receive the dental care.

Therefore, it is important, that her customers do know where her practice is located and how to get there. In the case study is no further information provided as to where the practice is located, but it seems likely that the new office building was built in a reasonable area, with good access to public transportation.

1.1.5 People

An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people. Recruiting the right staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service is essential if the organisation wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage.

Even without any marketing background, Dr. Beckett seems to have understood this perfectly. She selects her employees very carefully and bears in mind that the team fits together and that there is no rivalry.

First of all, Dr. Beckett divided up the team so that each team member can work in his/her field of specialisation. Additionally, each team member received special training so that they can fulfil their part of the job as perfectly as possible.

To build up a corporate identity, the whole team wears the same uniform (which also fits with the office design) and they also meet up socially outside work to build up frindships. Further, to strengthen the feeling of acting in concert, the whole practice meets every morning to briefly check the daily work.

Dr. Beckett way, of letting her employees contribute to the practice’s processes is very good, as it is an efficient way to keep your personnel satisfied. And satisfied service personnel will always appear much friendlier to the customers or patients.

1.1.6 Process

Dr. Beckett tried to standardise the procedures as much as she could, in order to improve the level of service and to provide the same level of care to each of her patients.

Special times where introduced as to what kind of care patients need, so that the doctor could fully concentrate on the topic and also, that all the equipment is ready.

As an additional service for the customers, the practice offers the possibility to reschedule their appointments, if they have to wait too long.

1.1.7 Physical Evidence

Physical Evidence is the element of the service mix which allows the consumer again to make judgements on the organisation. If you walk into a practice your expectations are of a clean, friendly environment. But Dr. Beckett does not only want to fulfil the “normal expectations” of her patients, she wants to provide a friendly, caring and calming atmosphere so that the patient feels comfortable.

To achieve that, she designed the whole building with a lot of light and bright, friendly colours. Besides, there is classical music playing in the background and coffee and tea is provided to the patients. Like this, the customers feel more like guests than patients.

During the treatment, patients can listen to music via headphone and they can observe birds through the large windows so they are distracted from the pain that might occur to them.

1.2 Economic Environmental Analysis

1.2.1 The dentist profession

The dentist profession is generally considered as a not so much rewarding profession. People, who go to the dentist, generally go there because they have to. Only a small percentage of the population really goes twice a year to the dentist to have a routine check, as it is suggested by the health care organisations. This is simply because they are afraid of the possible pain, a dental treatment can involve.

Also the atmosphere in dental practices is mostly quite cold and sterile and the receptionists are unfriendly. That makes patients even less comfortable.

Therefore, the idea of Dr. Beckett, to improve the whole service around the dental care is a very good and promising idea.

1.2.2 HMOs

Today, more than half of all Americans who have health insurance are enrolled in some kind of managed care plan вЂ" an organized way of both providing services and paying for them. Different types of managed care plans work differently and include health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and point-of-service (POS) plans.

The most obvious advantage to belonging to an HMO is cost. First, the premiums of managed care are usually lower than traditional health insurance, which can end up saving you money if you are now paying any of your own insurance costs. Secondly, HMOs and most other types of managed care do not require that you pay for your medical care up front, so there are no claim forms to fill out or waiting periods for.

But