Health Care

Case 1.2 Health fare Office Solutions, Inc. 191

Case 1.2

Health Care Office Solutions, Inc.
Greg Braver, vice president of sales for Health Care Office Solutions (HCOS), has spent the last several weeks preparing for today. After receiving a call from John Marston, the founder and CEO of HCOS, two weeks ago he has been reviewing the company's overall marketing and, more specifically, sales strategy. Marston, Braver, and the entire senior management team at HCOS are meeting to chart the company's marketing strategy for the next several years. As vice president of sales, Braver is heading up the discussion and wants to be ready for any and all questions that might come up during the day. To help guide the company through this strategic analysis, HCOS has enlisted the services of Strategic Marketing Specialists (SMS), a consulting firm that worked with health care companies to develop effective strategic business plans. Grace Johnson, CEO of SMS and a wellrespected consultant to the health care industry, is going to lead the discussion during the meetings. Founded in Chicago by John Marston, HCOS began in 1980 as a printing company known as Printing Solutions, Incorporated, that worked with a wide variety of businesses in a number of industries. Despite being in a highly competitive industry, Printing Solutions developed a reputation for customer service and opened four other locations in the Chicago area over the next five years. However, after only a couple of years the company realized that many of its best clients were doctors' offices. Small- to medium-sized doctors' offices (2-10 doctors) have very special printing needs due to the demands of internal record keeping for patients and insurance as well as government regulations. As a result, in 1985 the company made a strategic decision to focus exclusively on health care companies—specifically, doctors' offices and small clinics. The company had found a niche focusing on doctors' offices that did not have... [continues]

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