TY - JOUR
T1 - Limitations of secondary data for strategic marketing in rural areas
AU - Borders, Tyrone F.
AU - Rohrer, James E.
AU - Vaughn, Thomas E.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Market research is an important element of the strategic marketing process. By understanding the healthcare needs of a market area, hospital and health system managers can set priorities for new services and allocate resources appropriately. The process of market research often begins with an evaluation of health status and socioeconomic indicators collected from secondary sources. Unfortunately, indicators that have been recommended in the literature may not be feasible for use in rural markets because of their lack of statistical precision or inability to differentiate healthcare service needs. The study evaluated the statistical precision and variability of 79 secondary health status and socioeconomic measures reported at the county level in Iowa, USA, a largely rural state. Our findings suggest that many readily available health status and socioeconomic indicators do not discriminate need among rural health care markets. Only six health status and two socioeconomic indicators met our statistical precision and variability criteria. These not findings have important implications for managers planning health services in rural localities. Managers of rural health systems may need to employ alternative market research methods, such as claims-based utilization rates or community health surveys.
AB - Market research is an important element of the strategic marketing process. By understanding the healthcare needs of a market area, hospital and health system managers can set priorities for new services and allocate resources appropriately. The process of market research often begins with an evaluation of health status and socioeconomic indicators collected from secondary sources. Unfortunately, indicators that have been recommended in the literature may not be feasible for use in rural markets because of their lack of statistical precision or inability to differentiate healthcare service needs. The study evaluated the statistical precision and variability of 79 secondary health status and socioeconomic measures reported at the county level in Iowa, USA, a largely rural state. Our findings suggest that many readily available health status and socioeconomic indicators do not discriminate need among rural health care markets. Only six health status and two socioeconomic indicators met our statistical precision and variability criteria. These not findings have important implications for managers planning health services in rural localities. Managers of rural health systems may need to employ alternative market research methods, such as claims-based utilization rates or community health surveys.
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U2 - 10.1177/095148480001300402
DO - 10.1177/095148480001300402
M3 - Article
C2 - 11142068
AN - SCOPUS:0033760124
SN - 0951-4848
VL - 13
SP - 216
EP - 222
JO - Health Services Management Research
JF - Health Services Management Research
IS - 4
ER -