Healthcare market

Competition in the healthcare market was also changing. Before the nineties there were several medical equipment providers, but cost pressure and declining sales forced several competitors to close or to be acquired by the larger companies. Competition was intense during this period and three major players ultimately emerged Siemens, General Electric, and Philips. 

Attention is drawn to guidelines - The Legal and Ethical Framework for Healthcare Market Research - produced by the British Healthcare Business Intelligence Association in consultation with the ABPI. 

The Legal and Ethical Framework for Healthcare Market Research... 

Moisturizers form a prominent part of the skin healthcare market, which currently estimated at US 8 billion. It is a growing market.39,40 The effect on the economy is however not limited to producers of cosmetics or cosmeceuticals. Moisturizers regularly advertised and as such probably give substantial revenue for all media companies. These creams and lotions therefore form a valuable consumer good which is produced and marketed on an industrial scale, and is subject to the same mechanisms as other consumer goods. 

Some examples of fluorinated pharmaceuticals currently on the healthcare market are given in Figure 1.3. Both Ciprofloxacin (Bayer), a member of the 6-fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent range, and the controversial sunshine dmg Prozac (Eh Lilley), the leading member of a new family of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRl) antidepressants, are in the world top 20 best-seUing pharmaceuticals and achieve annual sales in the region of US 1 bilhon each. 

Many of the promotional activities of the pharmaceutical industry are directed at professionals in the healthcare market (doctors, pharmacists, hospitals, etc.), as advertising POM medications directly to the patient is prohibited. However, companies are receiving an increasing number of enquiries directly from patients about their products. This has necessitated the provision of a regulatory Guidance for companies on how to answer such direct requests for information from the general public. 

From a business perspective, the home infusion market is projected to have annual revenues approaching 4.5 billion (year ending 2000). The market continues to experience cost-containment pressures (as does the entire healthcare market) however, the future for providing care... 

Profile Formerly Dynatech Laboratories, the company has supplied microtiter technology products and services to research and clinical laboratories in the healthcare market for more than 30 years. Its products are marketed to scientists and researchers within universities, hospitals, and industry involved in research assays and clinical diagnostics. Dynex Technologies is a subsidiary of Thermo BioAnalysis Corporation, a Thermo Electron company. 

Taggart, World Pharmaceutical Industry, pp. 164-165 Business Week, Oa. 23, 1989 Memorandum on Entry into the Over-the-Counter Healthcare Market, Mar. 

Healthcare Marketing and Communications Council. 1525 Valley Ctr. Pkwy., Ste. 150, Bethlehem, PA 18017, U.S.A. Phone +1610-868-8299, Fax +1610-868-8387. E-mail info hmc-coun-cil.org. URL http //www.hmc-council.org. Founded 1934. 1600 members. Seeks to enhance the professional development of its members by providing continuing education and career development opportunities. Conducts industry-focused seminars and events throughout the year. Publishes annual Membership Directory. Formerly Pharmaceutical Advertising Council. Web site provides membership information and calendar of events. 

Increased competitiveness in the private healthcare market through timely quality services (hospital s perspective)... 

As severe conditions become more manageable, the healthcare market will continue to move toward removing limits and enabling optimum performance. More billions will be spent on troubling, but not life-threatening, conditions. Public acceptance of genetic interventions will follow this trend. The professions... 

In the present UK healthcare market, prospective DM companies will need to overcome a great deal of inertia and bureaucracy to establish a service. Apart from the usual requirements of business planning synonymous with all business start-ups, the unique environment of DM adds 10 additional requirements ... 

Identification of a healthcare market niche in which demonstrable cost saving or clinical quality improvements are clearly needed and achievable. 

Lucas L (2008). US Phamiaceutical Market Growth Slows. L3 Healthcare Marketing. http //www.l3hm.coin/perst)ectives.php... 

The healthcare market is not perfect for many reasons including asymmetric information, adverse selection, moral hazard, and externalities. The patient (consumer) often does not know what medical services he/she may require, and does not know how to assess the quality of services provided. The supplier (providers) determines the services the patient needs (diagnostic and treatment). Therefore, unless it is a standard service, the information asymmetry inhibits the patient from shopping around for price and quality. The second reason is the insurance market -healthy people prefer not to buy health insurance (adverse selection), and insured patients may agree to uimecessary procedures because purchasing insurance decreases their price sensitivity to healthcare services (moral hazard). Finally, there is an externality effect in health care especially where infectious diseases are concerned - vaccinations of others benefit my health . This may lead to vaccination services being under-consumed. 

In relation to consumer goods markets, the healthcare market possesses some unique features. First, as Nahata et al. (2005) point out, the demand for health care is inelastic at high prices, is elastic for middle price range, and becomes inelastic again at low prices. The third-party-payment system such as health insurance is the primary reason for this unusual behavior in the demand function, according to these authors. The authors propose an inverse demand function of the type, p = 2D — lOD + 50, that meets this requirement. 

Third, there exist many conflict of interest scenarios in the healthcare market. To a cOTisumer, prevention is much more important than treatment but to the providers, driven by profit-maximization, healthcare treatment is much more lucrative than prevention. Prevention reduces the volume of patients available to a traditional provider thereby decreasing its income. As a result prevention and wellness centers have received only lukewarm support from traditional providers. Preventive medicine that reduces the number of acute and chronic patients can fragment hospital services into many ambulatory care facilities, another cause of concern for providers. 

Brower, V. Nutraceuticals poised for a healthy slice of the healthcare market Nature Biotechnology, 1998, 16, 728-731. 

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