The application of marketing research in the Birmingham Dental Hospital

Abstract

In itself market research is unremarkable ‐ as were the methods in this particular instance ‐ but the context, i.e. the Birmingham Dental Hospital, was untypical, even by contemporary health standards. Reform of the public sector/NHS and the creation of the “internal market” have created conditions increasingly appropriate to the application of the marketing paradigm. This paper reports one such application and demonstrates the organizational benefits to be derived from marketing research in an unusual health care “provider” setting. Particular benefits included: the ability to conduct informed contract negotiation within the internal market; pursue service design and quality strategies to retain customers and maintain market share; and, the generation of an evidence based agenda to provoke internal change. As such it is an important contribution to understanding the changing nature of NHS culture and thus augments the health, dental and marketing literature(s).