Branding and Competitive Strategies’ Impact on Consumer Choice and Bargaining Power

Branding and Competitive Strategies’ Impact on Consumer Choice and Bargaining Power
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Branding and Competitive Strategies’ Impact on Consumer Choice and Bargaining Power
The East Chestnut Regional Health System (ECRHS) is a merger of Archway Hospital (AH), Northern Mountain Hospital Consortium (NMHC), and East River Medical Center (ERMC). The paper analyzes the competitive and branding strategies that affect consumer choice and bargaining power on ECRHS.
Part I: Branding Strategy Impact
The ECRHS's current branding strategy needs improvement. In particular, a branding strategy refers to a holistic approach that builds a company’s favorability and identification with potential customers. Despite the merger, the ECRHS leadership for the three entities has not been harmonized. Based on the service line performance, it is clear that the ECRHS needs to improve numerous things. Some of the areas that require improvement include obstetrical deliveries, recruiting younger cardiologists, orthopedic, emergency department, general surgery, and the marketing department (“East Chestnut Regional Health System,” 2021). The ECRHS should ensure that many individuals from Chestnut, Butternut, Walnut, Maple, and Oak counties chose it when they need treatment.
The ECRHS is perceived as a good hospital since it has a reputable brand. However, the hospital is not providing high-quality healthcare services in all its departments. Since the merger, the ECRHS does not have good governance. For instance, its chief executive officers (CEOs) have been coming and going. Other executive leaders, such as the chief nursing officer (CNO) and the chief operating officer (COO), should be removed. In other words, despite the ECRHS having appropriate resources, it lacks the human capital to steer the hospital in the right direction.
The current legal cases have adverse impacts on the ECRHS within the community and its consumers. For example, the merger and acquisition of the NMHC raised questions about antitrust. Specifically, ECRH has been found to have 52% of the oncology and 60% of the cardiology market share (“East Chestnut Regional Health System,” 2021). Another case that significantly affects how the ECRHS is perceived by its potential consumers involves an elderly patient whose home was taken away to cater to her medical bills. The family had maintained this home for more than 100 years (“East Chestnut Regional Health System,” 2021). These legal cases are likely to reduce the probability of potential consumers selecting this healthcare provider.
Acquisitions of healthcare facilities can positively or negatively affect the brand image and the consumer choice of an organization. Notably, acquired hospitals converge with the behavior of the parent company (Eliason, Heebsh, McDevitt, & Roberts, 2020). In the scenario at hand, ERMC, on the east side of Chestnut River, was the anchor hospital. Since the reputation of this hospital has deteriorated for the last 3-5 years, acquiring other facilities does not change its brand image (“East Chestnut Regional Health System,” 2021). ...