Health care marketing and the clinical laboratory.

The steps involved in marketing and program development include: analyzing competition, identifying and measuring consumer needs, undertaking feasibility studies, determining patient potential, identifying specific market segments, designing services, location, etc., determining services most likely to succeed, deciding on price, and implementing and adjusting programs. The ultimate goal of a good laboratory marketing program is to make a precise determination of what the consumer's needs are and devise strategies to provide them with their needs. For those laboratories wise enough to implement a marketing program, marketing offers a fresh perspective for securing the clinical laboratory's future.