2011

ARNAB CHATTERJEE

ROLL NO:19008

APOLLO HOSPITAL

ANALYSIS OF MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PRACTICES IN APOLLO HOSPITAL

Apollo Hospitals:

Analysis of marketing strategies and practices:

Introduction: Mission Statement: "Our mission is to bring healthcare of International standards within the reach of

every individual. We are committed to the achievement and maintenance of excellence in education,

research and healthcare for the benefit of humanity"

Vision: Apollo's vision for the next phase of development is to 'Touch a Billion Lives'.

The genesis of Apollo Hospital took place in 1983 by Dr. Prathap C Reddy, the founder Chairman of

Apollo Hospitals. Dr. Reddy's vision transformation to reality - a vision where quality healthcare was

given, where the pursuit of clinical excellence was daily endeavor, India a hub in the medical tourism

map and where the Apollo family touches and enriches lives every minute, every day. Apollo Hospitals

is one of Asia’s largest healthcare groups. Commenced as a 150 bed hospital in Chennai. Today, it has

over 8500 beds across 54 hospitals, and a significant presence at every touch-point of the medical value

chain. Today the group has grown exponentially both in India and overseas. Its growth is often said to be

synonymous with India emerging as a major hub in global healthcare. The group has made quality

healthcare accessible to the people of India, and even overseas. It has become an institution of trust, and a

beacon of hope to so many searching for a cure for their ailments. The Apollo Hospitals Group is

recognized as the ‘Architect of Healthcare’ in India. Apollo today has over 30 owned/ managed hospitals

across the country in cities such as Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Bilaspur.

Internationally, the Group finds presence in Sri Lanka, UK, UAE, Bangladesh, Nepal, Saudi Arabia,

Ghana and Nigeria. The Apollo Hospitals Group is the pioneer of integrated healthcare delivery in India

with owned and managed hospitals, diagnostic clinics, dispensing pharmacies and consultancy services.

In addition, the group’s service offerings include healthcare at the patient’s doorstep, clinical & diagnostic

services, medical business process outsourcing, third party administration services and health insurance.

To enhance performance and service to customers, the company also makes available the services to

support business, telemedicine services, education, training programs & research services and a host of

other non-profit projects.

Marketing Strategies:

As the pioneer Super brand in the healthcare category in India, Apollo’s brand equity (not just in

India, but also in a number of overseas markets), and its phenomenal understanding of the

healthcare business, offers a uniquely advantageous position to address this significant, yet

unexploited market opportunity: the day to day healthcare segment. The healthcare system as a

whole (with the doctor at the centre) is increasingly being viewed with suspicion and misleading

by the average Indian consumer. In order to remove this cloud of suspicion and disrespect, the

Apollo group plays the role of a strategic facilitator through The Apollo Clinics. In order to make

this happen, the clinic model encompass wide geographical reach, standardized service and

trust.

To offer convenience, The Apollo Clinic was conceived to offer specialists’ consultation,

comprehensive diagnostic services, pharmacy and preventive health check up packages under-

one-roof. Keeping in view the role played by family physicians, their sheer numbers and also

Apollo’s high-end image, it was decided that the clinic will confine itself to consultations by

specialists and super-specialists only. It would also help in leveraging general physicians’ role as

influencers for other services being offered by the clinic. To improve viability of the business

model, without compromising on the quality of services, it was decided that the clinic would have

medical equipment with state-of-the-art, but proven, technology. Adequate focus on information

technology, with a comprehensive clinic management software solution, was envisaged to allow

integration across clinics at a later stage, and also to improve accuracy, speed of service and staff

productivity. To reinforce the unique positioning in relation to a hospital, the interior design of

the hospital ensures a warm, soothing and non-hospital like ambience. It meant a rigorous selection

procedure for employees is of utmost importance (including psychometric testing), well-

developed training programs and continuous quality audits.

Emphasizing on relevance of services being offered across different segments, it was decided

that the volumes, not margins, would drive profitability. Though the facility would offer

significantly superior services, it would follow a value-for-money pricing strategy, with

specifics getting guided by the local market conditions. Since majority of the corporate hospitals

including Apollo suffer from them being perceived as elite and 5-star facilities, it was understood

that aggressive communication is vital to correct the perception.

Payers Fiscal Intermediaries

Providers Purchasers Producers

India

Government

Individuals

Third Party Administrators

(TPAs)

Hospitals

Physicians

Pharmacies

Wholesalers Drug Mfgrs

Device Mfgrs

Franchising as the business format was adopted as it helped to have a in-depth knowledge of local

market conditions and also the entrepreneurial drive of the franchisee became the key drivers of the

success. As a franchisor, Apollo leveraged their role as an ‘aggregator’ to offer economies of scale in

virtually every offering, ranging from equipment and procurement to clinic stationery.

The communication strategy for The Apollo Hospital focused on three key propositions:

ambience, convenience and value-for-money pricing. Subsequently, the communication

focused on the integrated services available under- one-roof as the key message.

Health Care Value Chain in India:

Service Marketing Mix:

Product: Apollo hospital provides quality healthcare services with more than 53 branches across the country. Prominently Apollo is known best for heart problems and Knee and Hip replacement surgeries besides other major ailments. The specialities include – Heart, Orthopedics, Spine, Cancer Care, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, Nephrology & Urology Critical Care.

Price: The hospital is priced premium and it can afford to do the same because of its positioning and its assurance as well as the reliability on the brand of Apollo hospitals. Along with it, it also helps that there are so many locations and specialities in Apollo hospitals. Thus a patient is reassured of his well being.

Place: Apollo Hospitals has around 8500 beds across 53 hospitals in India and overseas. It is located in 15 different places across India which include Ahmedabad, Aragonda, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Bilaspur, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kakinata, Kolkata, Madurai, Mauritius, Mysore Noida.

Promotions: Apollo promotes itself through the Community Initiatives viz

• Save a Childs Heart • CURE – Extends preventive as well as rehabilitative cancer treatment to the

economically backward. • SAHI – Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired • DISHA – Distance Health care Advancement Project

People: Currently engages more than 19,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics, clinical staff and management professionals to manage over 8500 beds across 53 hospitals in India and abroad. Along with this Apollo Hospitals has several courses along with research facilities to facilitate innovation.

Process:

• The largest achievement of the Apollo Group has been to take quality health care to across the length and breadth of India. This operation in itself involves very established procedures and documentation.

• It has been a major player in scripting the medical landscape of the nation. This is primarily because the group has continuously been at the helm of several game-changing innovations in Indian health care.

• Apollo hospitals is NABH, NABL accredited and also has ISO 9002 award.

Physical Evidence:

• Apollo Hospital has been known for its quality health care services, at much affordable price.

• Provides the services for all the ailments & diseases, assuring the healthy recovery with quality care from the staff.

• Apollo Hospitals conducts a rigorous site survey process as well to take care of various parameters in all their hospitals.

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