OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to identify the usage patterns and perception of Internet-based medical information services and its effect on hospital selection. METHODS: An Internet survey was conducted on a web-site between 10 and 25 June, 2004. A total of 600 surveys were administered, of which 409 were adequately completed and included in the study. The collected data were analyzed on SPSS 11.0. Frequency and percentile were calculated. RESULTS: Among the survey respondents, almost 90% reported having access to Internet-based medical information services. The majority(66.3%) of respondents reported the reasons for accessing the Internet-based medical information services were treatment modalities of disease, promoting health, and acquiring general knowledge in health. Seventy-eight respondents reported that they visited the hospital which provided the Internet-based medical information services they had accessed. CONCLUSION: This study implies that Internet-based medical information services can be used in health service marketing.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Health Services ; Information Services* ; Internet* ; Marketing ; Marketing of Health Services

Medical tourism has emerged as a an increasingly relevant issue worldwide and its spread is gaining greater momentum. In 2008, 750,000 Americans went overseas for medical procedures and the number is expected to reach 6,000,000 by the year 2010. The Health Industry Development Institute of Korea announced that the number of medical tourists to Asia has seen an annual increase of 30%, to 1,590,000 from 950,000, between 2003 and 2005. Among Asian countries, Thailand, India and Malaysia have already established themselves as particularly attractive destinations for medical services thanks to low medical fees and/or tourism related prices. The number of foreign patients visiting these countries for medical services has increased rapidly as they had been from the very early days of medical tourism. Following the revision of its laws and regulations in medical practice, Korea will join the competition against existing leaders of medical tourism to gain a larger share of global medical shoppers. Some strength that Korea offers as a medical service destination are its plentiful supply of high quality physicians and medical facilities, relatively low medical fees compared to quality of service, excellent medical accessibility, and the geographical closeness to medically less developed countries. A vibrant medical tourism industry will not only create new jobs and generate a new source of income for medical professionals but also enhance the national image of Korea abroad. Another benefit of developing Korea as a destination for medical services is the maintenance of a better balance between medical supply and demand. The recent and rapid increase in the number of hospital beds and medical professionals in Korea has triggered a concern for a possible oversupply in medical services. Medical tourism is precisely the type of business that could help prevent the development of these situations. The patient's trust in medical professionals and their medical skills is a critical factor in medical decision-making. Therefore, to further develop Korea's medical tourism, policy support by the government along with meticulous preparation by health service providers would be required to build up a firm foundation. At the same time, active marketing promotions to heighten the awareness of Korea as a medical destination would be necessary to maximize the economic benefit of the nation from medical tourism.
Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Commerce ; Developing Countries ; Fees, Medical ; Health Services ; Humans ; India ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Malaysia ; Marketing ; Medical Tourism ; Salicylates ; Social Control, Formal ; Thailand

As the rapid growth of internet users, the implementation of e-commerce and e-community are becoming popular also in health fields. Especially, the marketing strategy through joint purchasing for health services such as lasik, plastic surgery, etc. has increasingly been an important issue in clinics and health portals. Therefore, this study purposes to investigate the current status of joint purchasing for health services and estimate the demand on them. Since the university students use an internet most frequently and tend to purchase the goods and services actively through it, the intention for health services were targeted to university students. Only 29% of respondents acknowledged the joint purchasing system for health services. And the purchasing intention was higher in the university students who experienced the joint purchasing for general goods than those who did not experience. Non-surgery items such as stress clinic, dental scaling showed higher intention. Meanwhile when respondents purchase the health services through an internet, they consider the reliability of quality for health services at most. Considering this, if the legal regulations and ethical standards for reliable health services are systematically prepared, positive attitudes and behavioral intention on joint purchasing for health services will be increased and the market of joint purchasing will be enlarged.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Dental Clinics ; Group Purchasing* ; Health Services* ; Humans ; Intention ; Internet ; Joints* ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ ; Marketing ; Public Opinion* ; Social Control, Formal ; Surgery, Plastic

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Average intake of calcium among college students is below the recommended intake, and knowledge surrounding the attitudinal and behavioral factors that influence milk and dairy intake, a primary food source of calcium, is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate college students' attitudes and behaviors concerning milk and dairy consumption and their association with calcium intake. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Participants were 1,730 undergraduate students who completed an online survey (SurveyMonkey) as part of baseline data collection for a social marketing dairy campaign. The online survey assessed attitudes and behaviors concerning milk and dairy intake, and calcium intake. Questions about milk- and dairy-related attitudes and behaviors were grouped into 14 factors using factor analysis. Predictors of calcium intake were then evaluated. RESULTS: Median calcium intake across all participants was 928.6 mg/day, with males consuming higher calcium intakes than females (P < 0.001). Adjusted for gender, calcium intakes were most strongly (and positively) correlated with associating milk with specific eating occasions and availability (i.e., storing calcium-rich foods in one's dorm or apartment) (both P < 0.001). Other correlates of calcium intake included: positive-viewing milk as healthy (P = 0.039), having family members who drink milk) (P = 0.039), and taking calcium supplements (P = 0.056); and negative-parent rules concerning milk (P = 0.031) and viewing milk in dining halls negatively (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Calcium intakes among college students enrolled in the current study was below the recommended dietary allowance of 1,000 mg/day, reinforcing the need for dietary interventions in this target population, especially females. Practitioners and researchers should consider the factors found here to impact calcium intake, particularly associating milk with specific eating occasions (e.g., milk with breakfast) and having calcium-rich foods available in the dorm room or apartment, as intervention strategies in future efforts aimed at promoting milk and dairy foods and beverages for improved calcium intake in college students.
Beverages ; Calcium* ; Dairy Products ; Data Collection ; Eating ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Male ; Milk* ; Recommended Dietary Allowances ; Social Marketing ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to build basic information related to the production and market of human vaccine products in Korea, which can be an important indicator to provide basic data in practical use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Statistical data were obtained from the Bank of Korea, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Korea Pharmaceutical Traders Association, and Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. RESULTS: Vaccines are the 10th ranked drugs in the classification of whole complete preparated drugs. The production output of vaccines in Korea was 392.2 billion KRW in 2011, comprising 2.83% of complete preparated drug production output (13 trillion 880.8 billion KRW) and 2.54% of medical-pharmaceutical product output (15 trillion 440.3 billion KRW). The market scale of vaccines in Korea was 710 billion KRW in 2011, with an annual average growth rate of 11% in the past 6 years, comprising 2% of vaccine market in the world. There was also a significant increase in essential vaccines and other preventive vaccines in a global scale. CONCLUSION: Vaccines have the potential of becoming an emerging attractive industry. Based on the current analysis about the production of vaccine products and market scale, further development of the vaccine industry is expected in Korea.
Drug Industry ; Humans ; Immunization ; Korea ; Marketing of Health Services ; Vaccination ; Vaccines

Culex ; Marketing of Health Services ; Mosquito Control/*methods ; Tanzania ; Women

There are increasing interest and need for information on health care consumer with the significance of hospital marketing and strategic planning being increasingly emphasized. This study was conducted to investigate the criteria for selection of medical facilities according to the characteristics of health care consumer by the types of medical services on a sample of 1,500 population aged 20 years and above. Major findings are as follows; 1. When considering the criteria for selection of medical facilities into two factors, namely, quality or convenience factors, convenience factor was the major contributor for outpatient and dental services whereas it was quality factor for inpatient services. 2. Females and those residing in large cities selected medical facilities based on convenience factor in the outpatient services. In the case of inpatient service, persons who considered their present health status to be good and whose ages were 50 years old and above choose medical facilities based on quality factor. 3. Persons who considered medical facilities to be profit-making tended to choose medical facilities based on convenience factor for outpatient services. There were no differences in the cases of inpatient and dental services. 4. There was no significant difference on the criteria for selection of medical facilities according to the decision maker for selection or trust on medical facilities. On the use of health service information, selection of medical facilities was based on qPality factor for those who made more use of the information in the cases of outpatient and dental services. 5. Analysis using the logistic regression model on the criteria for the selection of medical facilities with the characteristics of health care consumer as independent variables was performed. The selection of medical facilities was significantly related with residential area, sex, and use of information on medical facilities for outpatient services and with age, average monthly income, and perception of health status for inpatient services. For dental services significant association with residential area and use of information on medical facilities was seen. The results of this study, despite some limitations, can be used as baseline data for marketing and strategic planning of hospital management.
Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Health Services ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Logistic Models ; Marketing ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; Patient Selection

OBJECTIVE: Despite the increasing number of websites about health information, there have been few studies on the issues of enhancing the service quality of health information websites. The purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to identify what customers request from health information websites and the key attributes of service operations. The second objective is to determine a strategy to improve the service quality of health information websites by applying the House of Quality(HoQ) framework. METHODS: Service attributes and functional characteristics were gathered through an online survey: in particular, 250 questionnaires were collected through an online survey at a large internet community. Based on the survey, conducted are various statistical methods including principal component factor, logistic regression, correlation, and multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: First of all, 9 key service attributes and 5 key functional characteristics to health information websites are derived from principal component factor analysis. And the logistic regression analysis determines the relative importance of service attributes. To complete the relation matrix at the center of the HoQ model, it is necessary to measure the interdependency, if any, between all service attributes and functional characteristics. All the relationships are exhibited as standardized estimates. The completed HoQ results show that the search function represents the highest importance to customers. CONCLUSION: The result of this study confirms the proposition that it is critical for website managers to provide health information service that best meet customers' needs. The HoQ framework employed in this study provides an efficient way of improving healthcare websites. Moreover, the insights from the study will serve as a good stepping stone towards a marketing strategy for the website providers under a fierce competition.
Delivery of Health Care ; Information Services ; Internet ; Logistic Models ; Marketing ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Analyzing the complicated variety and specification of drugs and the objective demand of pharmaceutical circulation, to seek out the key factors in improving the efficiency of pharmaceutical circulation, for putting forward suggestions to promote the development of pharmaceutical circulation in China. The conclusion is drawed from industrial organization theory and successful experience of foreign countries, high market attention met with the demand of complicated variety and specification of drugs in pharmaceutical circulation.
China ; Drug Industry ; economics ; organization & administration ; Marketing of Health Services ; economics ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; economics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the current status of carrying out the workplace health promotion (WHP) in the enterprises, and to provide a basis for formulation of relevant policies.

METHODSThe enterprises that declared Jiangsu Provincial Health Promotion Demonstration Enterprise received on-site assessment by the expert group, including organization management and protection measures, health management, workplace, health, and cultural environment. And a questionnaire survey was performed. The data of evaluations were analyzed by SPSS 19.0.

RESULTSIn the last four years, 108 enterprises which had achieved the standard of Health Promotion Demonstration Enterprise were mainly distributed in Southern Jiangsu, including 34 (31.48%) large-sized enterprises, 58 (53.70%) medium-sized enterprises, and 16 (14.81%) small-sized enterprises. And there were 49 (45.37%) wholly foreign-owned enterprises. There were significant differences in the scores between different economic types of enterprises (F = 2.820, P = 0.014). The most deducted points were due to unqualified bulletin boards and warning label of occupation hazards, about 78 times (72.22%); 54.55% of the indices whose deduction rates were higher than 20% were related to occupational disease prevention and control.

CONCLUSIONRegions and economic types affect carrying out WHP in enterprises. The current priority is to standardize physical work environment in China. The professional technical level should be improved, and the government needs to redouble efforts to promote the WHP.

China ; Health Promotion ; methods ; Humans ; Marketing of Health Services ; statistics & numerical data ; Occupational Diseases ; prevention & control ; Occupational Health Services ; standards ; Program Evaluation ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Workplace ; standards