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Satisfied patients are the key to creating a global customer base.
EXECUTIVE HIGHLIGHTS
Mayo Clinic has a long international history and has been providing care to international patients since its inception. Despite its history and reputation, however, the marketing staff continues to monitor the international market to gauge the level of awareness, reputation. and attractiveness of Mayo Clinic around the world. Here's a look at how one institution has used word-of-mouth marketing to maintain its global reputation.
Marketing, as most formally defined, has historically not been a critical factor in delivering patients to Mayo Clinic. Indeed, the marketing department at Mayo Clinic has existed for only the past 15 years, and patients have been coming to us for care for more than a century. We like to believe the marketing department provides valuable information to physicians and their support staffinformation that helps them deliver better care, highlights their patients' wants and needs, and educates them as to what's going on in the marketplace.
In reality, however, it's the providers themselves-the doctors, nurses, receptionists, and all the rest of the allied health staff-who bring in business by creating positive experiences for patients. Patients who leave Mayo Clinic highly satisfied with their care will return to their communities in the United States and elsewhere and say good things about us to their family and friends. And these family members and friends in turn travel to Mayo Clinic when they need tertiary or quaternary medical care. While we in marketing strive to provide excellent internal support, we know that it's the doctors and other care providers who have created and maintained a brand of health care excellence.
Despite the hype surrounding what has been presented as the highly lucrative international marketplace, "international" is not something new at Mayo Clinic. We know from experience and research that "international" is a part of who we are, as well as part of how the market defines us. Nearly 100 years ago, our founders, a family of physicians named "Mayo," created an international legacy by traveling around the world to compare notes and surgical approaches with physicians across the globe. In some cases, they even returned with international patients who were in need of additional expertise. As in so many other...