The Solution We Propose Is a Package Deal. It Includes the Following Services

Dipti Bhende

Cécilia De Rovere

Aurélie François

Sarah Huet

Euzhan Mancee

Cécile Nabias

Bénédicte Théry

MARKETING PLAN

E-MERGENCY

Jean-François David

Abstract

We are a team of researchers and managers. We want to create a package of services to increase the efficiency of emergency services offered in France. Thanks to our experience in this domain (some of us are doctors), we are aware of the difficulties encountered by “urgentists” and would like to best respond to these problems with effective solutions.

The solution we propose is a package deal. It includes the following services:

A medical call-centre

A software that enables to find the best diagnosis as fast as possible

A possibility to access to the medical data of patients

Telephony, and live video and image sharing

The use of such a solution would provide better services to the patients, save time and money for the hospitals as well as improving the reputation of the hospital.

Here is the principle of our package.

OK

Table of Content

MARKETING PLAN

E-MERGENCY

Abstract

I. Context

II. Objectives

III. Methodology / process / planning

III.1 Methodology

III.2 Process

III.3 Planning

IV. Results

IV.1 External analysis: the competitiveness of the medical environment in 2006 and the predicted future changes

IV.1.1 Analysis of the competitiveness of the medical environment.

IV.1.2 Future environment changes predicted

IV.2 Internal analysis: critical success factors within the medical market and e-mergency’s position and core competencies

IV.2.1 Critical success factors

IV.2.2 E-mergency position

IV.2.3 Core competences

IV.3 External and internal analysis: SWOT

IV.4 Innovative idea

IV.4.1 The whole package

IV.4.2 The call center

IV.4.3 IP phone and webcam

IV.4.4 DSS (Decision support system)

IV.4.5 Emergency medical file

IV.5 Our Strategy

IV.6 Recommendations

IV.7 Discussion

References

Appendices

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

I. Context

In France, for many years, the emergency services have been overbooked and the queues are endless. Out of 14 million of people who were brought to the emergency department, only 20% were hospitalized in 2003 in France (source: santé gouv.com). This underlines the importance of pre-hospitalization diagnosis in order to simplify this service.

OK

Moreover, research findings show that almost half of the diagnosis and medical procedures implemented (45% in the US - Academy of Sciences 2003) don’t correspond to their scientific recommendations. OK

Due to this they don’t deliver awaited results. Certain medical errors committed lead to a huge number of deaths every year (about 20,000 each year in France - Wikipedia). If we could avoid such basic yet fatal errors we would save a lot of lives and even resources (These errors correspond to 30% of the medical expenditure in France).

YES

Thus, emergency services need new processes to improve their efficiency in terms of time and quality. To this purpose, we propose our own package of services called e-mergency. This entails a call center for the SAMU, the firemen and other physicians that would enable them to have immediate advice from specialized emergency doctors. Don't they already have?

With this advice, they could decide at this preliminary stage itself whether patients need to be hospitalized or not. As these specialists are experts in their fields, it would further enable to reduce he number of medical errors caused during the pre-hospitalization diagnosis.

Our firm would like to put in place a contract to sell these services to the Ministry of health. It is the ministry which will then further provide these services to the final users. However, our company has to first consider various aspects before making a conclusive decision. We have to answer several questions like: What is the market demand for this type of services? What kind of skills and competencies would we need to efficiently implement these services? What would be our best added-value? How would we successfully penetrate this market?

OK

II. Objectives

The aim of this project is to show how the implementation of a new service on the French emergency scenario will help reduce costs and save time.

Our main objectives are:

Doing a market research to understand the emergency services market, its problems and its needs

Proposing an added value service / product adapted to the market demand

Putting in place a reasonable budget

From a quantitative point of view:

OK

III. Methodology / process / planning

III.1 Methodology

In order to achieve the objectives of our study, we followed the following methodology. We started with a collection of data on the emergency services industry in France (external analysis) and then we analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of our business (internal analysis).

To have a clear and global view of our research we used the following tools:

PESTEL analysis

It helped us understand the general environment and the political, economical, social technological, environmental and legal barriers and opportunities to penetrate this market.

PORTER 5 FORCES analysis

It helped us analyze the competitiveness of the medical environment. The five forces are: the risk of new entry by potential competitors, the extent of rivalry among established firms, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, the threat of substitution products.

SWOT analysis

It helped us know where and how to reach our goal, and to adapt our strategy to our strengths and weaknesses.

BCG matrix

It helped us determine how we should prioritize our product portfolio. According to this matrix, the company’s business units can be classified into four categories based on combinations of market growth and market share relative to the largest competitors.

BOWMAN’S strategic routes

They helped us analyze our company's competitive position in comparison to what the competitors offered.

OK

III.2 Process

To manage our study, we gathered data from different sources: Internet, business articles and reviews (EBSCO HOST, Euromonitor Global Marketing, Diane) and interviews with members of the SAMU were very helpful to understand the French emergency services market.

We first set up the project objectives in order to efficiently divide the tasks to be done amongst all team members. Then, we conducted a market research (external analysis) that showed us the lack of this kind of service on the emergency market. Our marketing plan (the mix) recommended that we implement this service.

YES

III.3 Planning

IV. Results

IV.1 External analysis: the competitiveness of the medical environment in 2006 and the predicted future changes

IV.1.1 Analysis of the competitiveness of the medical environment.

The model of the Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter and can be used to analyze visualize the competitiveness of the medical environment. The five forces are: the risk of new entry by potential competitors, the extent of rivalry among established firms, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, the threat of substitute products.

The Porter framework is important in order to see all the pressures and difficulties that e-mergency will have to deal with. In this Porter framework, we may presume that the strongest force that e-mergency will have to face is new entrants. They are numerous on the market and they can become a real threat to it. To attract the Government attention, e-mergency will have to take into account every critical success factor that final users seek. It is through specific core competencies that e-mergency will be able to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

OK

IV.1.2 Future environment changes predicted

To study the future changes for the medical industry, we need to focus on PESTEL’s analysis. The PESTEL framework categorizes influences into six main types: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal.

Political context:

The bird flu in 2005 and other such epidemics have made the government realize the importance of giving people access to more sophisticated medical care. The bird flu put in place various services like call centers. We want to extend this service to all sorts of illnesses.

SARS earlier saw similar services opening up in other countries.

“Médecins Sans Frontières” were already allowed to perform similar work.

The heat waves which have been hitting France over the past few years have also increased the importance of such services.

Economical context:

It is a new market which has not yet been exploited. The number of emergency phone calls is constantly increasing and has recently reached 11 million per year.

The activity of SAMU has increased by 10% per year in case of emergency cases and calls.

There is only one SAMU per department in France and 3-4 SMUR (SMUR deals with more complicated cases which sometimes bring in helicopters and other such emergency facilities).

Social context:

The emergency services in France are always full. 13 million people are brought into the emergency units but only 19% of them are hospitalized. This shows the need for a service which will render the emergency situation scenario more efficient.

Moreover, the number of elderly people in France is increasing. They require a lot of emergency care. Here follows a table that shows this evolution:

Evolution of the aged population in France, from the second world war till date:

Technological context:

SAMU already has emergency free telephone lines in place. However, more and more sophisticated technologies are needed like webcams, location detectors, transfer of cardiograms via telephone and internet.

Legal context:

LNE in France is responsible for this sector. It sets the norms, rules and regulations for setting up any service in this sector.

Conclusion

The government is more and more concerned about public healthcare; however, the only actor on the market (SAMU) cannot respond well to the increasingly occurring emergency situations. On the other hand, new technologies have been developed that can help this service in terms of efficiency.

OK, not so bad…

IV.2 Internal analysis: critical success factors within the medical market and e-mergency’s position and core competencies

IV.2.1 Critical success factors

According to Johnson and Scholes, “Critical success factors are those product features that are particularly valued by a group of customers and, therefore, where the organisation must excel to outperform competition” G. Johnson and K.Scholes (2002) Exploring Corporate Strategy Financial Times-Prentice Hall p: 151-152.

On the medical markets, companies were trying to achieve the following specific critical success factors.

High level of quality: Considering the market (health care) on which our service is positioned, optimal quality is highly important. The medical advice offered must be precise and provided by skillful people. The waiting time must be dramatically reduced and technology cannot present any defect.

Easiness of use: The technology used for the service has to be simple in order to be used easily by a variety of different actors: emergency doctors, auxiliaries, physicians, firefighters…

Innovation: Health care actors need an innovative service that is able to better meet their specific needs in terms of emergency. They need to have personal support in order to handle difficult situations.

Ok, a bit basic…

IV.2.2 E-mergency position this chapter a bit too early in the presentation….

To study e-mergency’s position, The Value Chain described by Michael Porter is helpful. It enables to identify a firm’s value activities. “To diagnose competitive advantage, it is necessary to define a firm’s value chain for competing in a particular industry.” Michael E. Porter (1985)’s Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior PerformanceFree PressChapter 2 p: 45

E-mergency’s value chain illustrates the possibility to decentralize some of the activities to other partners. We will identify the way we go through in order to mobilize the required competencies and resources for the implementation of the service.

Our sponsors

The sponsors provide us the required financial resources for the development of our service in exchange for the promotion of their brands. Our sponsors are: Draeger (specialized in the manufacturing of ventilators), Ohmeda, Hewlett Packard, Philips, Datex, Abbott Medical, Gygon.

Our Subcontractors

A software house will help us develop the technology required for our service in terms of hardware (webcam and IP phones). We chose Objin, a French softawre house specialized in medical engineering.

We will also subcontract the team responsible for the training of our workforce in the call centers. We chose Minerve, a company specialized in the training in the medical industry.

ok

Our partner

We will develop a partnership with Noesis, a company which has developed a free software known for its reliability for medical professionals, hospitals, health care centers and organizations.

Same remark. All that must be later, not far from implementation plan…

IV.2.3 Core competences

Core competencies are an essential part of a company’s strategy. According to G. Johnson and K. Scholes, “core competencies are activities or processes that critically underpin an organisation’s competitive advantage.” G. Johnson and K. Scholes (2002) Exploring Corporate Strategy Financial Times-Prentice Hall Chapter 4 p: 156. Core competencies are also key in managing the linkages between all the elements of the value chain.

E-mergency’s core competencies are:

Skilled workforce: Our well-trained team will provide excellent, rapid response and specialized service to end users.

Innovative technology: Our specific packaged service uses the most reliable latest technologies and softwares.

According to Porter, “Differences among competitor value chains are a key source of competitive advantage” Michael E. Porter (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior PerformanceFree PressChapter 2 p: 36. That’s why e-mergency will be able , thanks to its particular value chain and specific core competencies, to compete and acquire a sustainable competitive advantage on its market.

IV.3 External and internal analysis: SWOT

Ok, but a bit too general…IV.4 Innovative idea

IV.4.1 The whole package

Product

Our service consists in a call-centre, an IP phone and webcam, a DSS (Decision support system) and the emergency medical file. We can use the BCG matrix to define our product according to the market

OK, needs a more in-depth description there…

Price

The service provided by our company uses the latest technologies and its price is therefore very high.

Place

Our service will be sold to the French government which will put it in place in the regions. The technological device will be provided to firemen and SAMUs.

Promotion

Our service is aimed at being sold to the government and the promotion will therefore be directed toward that specific customer. To promote our service, we will contact the French Ministry of Health to agree on a date to present our service with our marketing plan.

ok

IV.4.2 The call center

The regional SAMU (French mobile emergency medical service) of Lille already uses the collaboration of the following teams to ensure the medical regulation:

a team of 4 regulating doctors on the set 24 hours a day, including one anaesthetist,

7 auxiliary operators with medical education (permanenciers) from 8 am to 8 pm,

5 other auxiliary operators from 8 pm to 8 am.

The package includes a call centre reachable through a toll-free number. At the call centre, 12 auxiliary operators will be assisted in their decisions by a DSSand 5 doctors will be in charge of the medical regulation.

The regional SAMU of Lille is one of the most active in France.

The call centre should to be able to receive many calls at a time: that’s why we chose to use a PABX (Private Automatic Branch eXchange) and an ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) software. An ACD is essentially a telecommunications switch that routes calls, either inbound, outbound or both, between a caller and an “agent”. In this case, with the addition of a software package and additional hardware, the in-house telecommunications switch (PABX) will support a call centre and route traditional phone calls.

ok

The call-centre will also include the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI). This technology allows interactions between a phone and a computer to be integrated or coordinated.

It will allow Automatic Number Identification, so that the agents will be able to determine who is calling before they answer the call. This improvement will add to the quality of the service and will help decrease the duration of the conversation.

The very high technology provided by our service suggests that we make an analysis of the risks that could be faced when using it. To ensure 24/7 reliability, our service provides: