MHA Strategic Planning and Marketing 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Balanced Scorecard in healthcare typically measures performance across which four perspectives?
- Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, Learning & Growth (Correct answer)
- Quality, Safety, Efficiency, Satisfaction
- Cost, Revenue, Volume, Margin
- Staff, Technology, Facilities, Patients
Correct answer: Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, Learning & Growth
Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard uses Financial, Customer, Internal Process, and Learning & Growth perspectives to give a holistic performance view.
Question 2: A hospital notices patient volume declining despite high quality scores. The MOST likely strategic issue is:
- Clinical staff shortage
- Poor marketing and low brand awareness in the community (Correct answer)
- Excessive regulatory burden
- Outdated electronic health records
Correct answer: Poor marketing and low brand awareness in the community
High quality with low volume typically signals a marketing or awareness gap — patients don't know about the hospital's quality.
Question 3: Which pricing strategy positions a healthcare service at a lower price than competitors to rapidly gain market share?
- Skimming pricing
- Penetration pricing (Correct answer)
- Value-based pricing
- Cost-plus pricing
Correct answer: Penetration pricing
Penetration pricing uses lower-than-competitor prices to quickly attract patients and gain market share.
Question 4: A 'referral marketing' strategy in healthcare focuses on:
- Advertising in medical journals
- Building relationships with physicians and specialists who send patients (Correct answer)
- Paying patients for recommending friends
- Running TV ads during prime time
Correct answer: Building relationships with physicians and specialists who send patients
Referral marketing cultivates physician and specialist relationships to drive patient referrals, a key volume driver for hospitals and specialty practices.
Question 5: In Porter's Five Forces applied to healthcare, 'buyer power' is primarily represented by:
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Insurance payers and large employer groups (Correct answer)
- Medical device suppliers
- Government regulators
Correct answer: Insurance payers and large employer groups
Insurance payers and large employer groups wield significant buyer power because they negotiate rates and control which providers are in-network.
Question 6: A strategic plan's 'vision statement' differs from its 'mission statement' in that the vision statement:
- Describes current organizational purpose
- Lists specific financial targets
- Articulates an aspirational future state the organization seeks to achieve (Correct answer)
- Outlines tactical action steps
Correct answer: Articulates an aspirational future state the organization seeks to achieve
A vision statement describes the desired future state, while a mission statement describes the organization's current purpose and identity.
Question 7: Which segmentation strategy divides a healthcare market based on patients' health behaviors, attitudes, and lifestyle choices?
- Geographic segmentation
- Demographic segmentation
- Psychographic segmentation (Correct answer)
- Behavioral frequency segmentation
Correct answer: Psychographic segmentation
Psychographic segmentation groups patients by attitudes, values, health behaviors, and lifestyle, enabling more targeted health messaging.
MHA Strategic Planning and Marketing 3
The Balanced Scorecard in healthcare typically measures performance across which four perspectives?