Typically, when health care is discussed in financial terms, the usual focus is on the rising costs of providing health care, which are increasingly being felt by patients, employers, state and federal governments and other stakeholders in the game. Less discussed is the fact that, with the world in a recession and excellent health care companies valued extremely cheaply, significant opportunities currently exist, if one employs the right strategy and tactics, to make significant amounts of money while simultaneously benefiting physicians, patients and other stakeholders.
For many professionals in health care marketing and marketing research, the considerations involved in investing in health care and how they fit together are largely unknown. To have a fully rounded background for their jobs, all health care professionals need to have a thorough understanding of their overall business as one of portfolio management, and many of us, lacking formal business school training in such matters, need coherent guidance.
This month’s published document for The Orange Pages points to the book Health-Care Investing, by Les Funtleyder, as an invaluable resource for laying out and organizing the various considerations involved in making health care investment decisions and how these factors fit together. The book discusses the characteristics of good pharmaceutical companies vs. less adequate ones; the differences in investing in large pharmaceutical companies vs. small; some other special risks (e.g., time limitations on intellectual property) and opportunities (rapid innovation and uptake) that are especially characteristic of the health care market; as well as this market’s unique ability to effect social change for the good or bad.
As health care marketing and marketing research professionals, we spend a lot of time immersed in the science and creative aspects of our businesses. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that success in our endeavor is not measured by winning advertising awards or even by market share, but rather by evaluating the return on the investments made in health care. Increasingly, health care companies are developing complicated strategic plans, and understanding the factors involved in making investment decisions is an important component of understanding this strategic development process.
To download the complete March 2009 discussion on health care investment, please click here.
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