1. Identify one key problem. While there may be several problems and a multitude of symptoms, attempt to identify one problem, the resolution of which would alleviate most of the symptoms found in the case. 2. Develop two or more alternative solutions to the defined problem. This should not be a laundry list of actions one could take to address every symptom, but alternative actions that could correct the problem at hand. Identify the pros and cons of implementing each alternative. (Please include 2 pros and 2 cons for each alternative) Winning Over Customers Dr. Barbara Hayes is stumped. After a few years of practice at various hospitals, she and two physicians from her medical school's graduating class decided to venture into the entrepreneurial world by opening their own clinic. By all accounts, their establishment, Boardwalk Clinic, is a success, but 24 months into the venture, Barbara is noticing a pattern that is 161 somewhat troubling. Patient retention is very weak. Specifically, the clinic is witnessing a hardy volume of patients, making it economically viable, but repeat business is not as frequent as desired, weakening the clinic's position in the market. In Barbara's mind, she and her colleagues are doing everything possible to accommodate patients, delivering the best available care with very personal service, leading her to believe that repeat business should be especially robust. But something apparently is missing. Perhaps elements of Boardwalk Clinic's business plan and marketing strategy are amiss. Knowing the importance of patient retention to the long-term success of healthcare establishments, Barbara sets her sights on getting to the bottom of this apparent problem. Drs. Barbara Hayes, Michelle Lewis, and Mark Montgomery founded Boardwalk Clinic 2 years ago, filling a need in Chelsea, a city of 279,044 located in the West South Central region of the United States, for a private medical clinic that offered its services during both traditional and nontraditional hours. The clinic operates from 7 AM to 8 PM , 7 days per week, far exceeding the hours of operation of any of its competitors. While the three physicians believed that operations during traditional hours would yield a viable patient population, they were especially enthusiastic about potential patient volume during nontraditional hours, given the lack of competitive options available and increasing demand for afterhours services stemming from the rise of dual-career couples and working single parents in and around Chelsea who often could not attend to medical wants and needs during regular business hours. Ultimately, they envisioned brisk patient volume. Barbara and her colleagues took great pains to design a servicescape that would be most accommodating to their patients. For example, they ensured that parking was readily available and accessible, that the waiting room area was comfortable and appealing, that patient wait times to see practitioners were very minim.

1. 1. Identify one key problem. While there may be several problems and a multitude of symptoms,
attempt to identify one problem, the resolution of which would alleviate most of the symptoms
found in the case.
2. Develop two or more alternative solutions to the defined problem. This should not be a
laundry list of actions one could take to address every symptom, but alternative actions that
could correct the problem at hand. Identify the pros and cons of implementing each alternative.
(Please include 2 pros and 2 cons for each alternative)
Winning Over Customers Dr. Barbara Hayes is stumped. After a few years of practice at various
hospitals, she and two physicians from her medical school's graduating class decided to venture
into the entrepreneurial world by opening their own clinic. By all accounts, their establishment,
Boardwalk Clinic, is a success, but 24 months into the venture, Barbara is noticing a pattern that
is 161 somewhat troubling. Patient retention is very weak. Specifically, the clinic is witnessing a
hardy volume of patients, making it economically viable, but repeat business is not as frequent as
desired, weakening the clinic's position in the market. In Barbara's mind, she and her colleagues
are doing everything possible to accommodate patients, delivering the best available care with
very personal service, leading her to believe that repeat business should be especially robust. But
something apparently is missing. Perhaps elements of Boardwalk Clinic's business plan and
marketing strategy are amiss. Knowing the importance of patient retention to the long-term
success of healthcare establishments, Barbara sets her sights on getting to the bottom of this
apparent problem. Drs. Barbara Hayes, Michelle Lewis, and Mark Montgomery founded
Boardwalk Clinic 2 years ago, filling a need in Chelsea, a city of 279,044 located in the West
South Central region of the United States, for a private medical clinic that offered its services
during both traditional and nontraditional hours. The clinic operates from 7 AM to 8 PM , 7 days
per week, far exceeding the hours of operation of any of its competitors. While the three
physicians believed that operations during traditional hours would yield a viable patient
population, they were especially enthusiastic about potential patient volume during
nontraditional hours, given the lack of competitive options available and increasing demand for
afterhours services stemming from the rise of dual-career couples and working single parents in
and around Chelsea who often could not attend to medical wants and needs during regular
business hours. Ultimately, they envisioned brisk patient volume. Barbara and her colleagues
took great pains to design a servicescape that would be most accommodating to their patients.
For example, they ensured that parking was readily available and accessible, that the waiting
room area was comfortable and appealing, that patient wait times to see practitioners were very
minimal, and that care provided from admission to discharge was excellent. Further, employees,
both clinical and administrative, were trained to deliver superior customer service and to
improvise, addressing patient needs before the patients themselves even realized such. The three
physicians were true believers in following leading edge techniques for ensuring that their
product offerings continually meet and exceed the wants and needs of patients. While they
assembled medical service offerings in the manner they viewed to be best, they were always
quick to consult consumers for their insights and opinions. For example. prior to Boardwalk
Clinic's grand opening, the physicians test marketed the operation by offering a group of 12
Chelsca residents free physical examinations in exchange for their insights and opinions
regarding Boardwalk Clinic's decor and accommodations, processes and procedures, care
delivery, and customer service. They also initiated an ongoing patient satisfaction survey.

2. Importantly, findings were acted on, ensuring ongoing attention to patient wants and needs. Now
2 years into the venture, Boardwalk Clinic clearly has witnessed success. Patient traffic is high,
especially during the evening and weekend hours, and the results of patient satisfaction surveys
indicate that the vast majority of patients are very satisfied with the care provided by the clinic.
This gave Barbara and her colleagues a great sense of accomplishment in knowing that they
largely were meeting and exceeding the expectations of their patients. But in the area of patient
retention, the clinic is not meeting their expectations, dampening their overall sense of
accomplishment and defusing what would otherwise be considered to be a total entrepreneurial
victory. Seeking answers to the patient retention issue, Barbara decided to conduct an intensive
investigation. Over a couple of weeks, she intensively reviewed patient records, satisfaction
surveys, and related documents in an effort to shed light on Boardwalk Clinic's inability to
witness robust repeat patient business. Her findings were insightful but unfortunarely yielded no
smoking gun. Specifically, Barbara observed that during traditional hours of operation-Monday
to Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM -Boardwalk Clinic appears to be developing a loyal patient base,
with many choosing to return for medical services after their first visic, something somewhat
expected as surveys indicated that many of these patients did not have a current family physician.
However, Barbara discovered that during nontraditional hours of operation-early mornings,
evenings, and weekends - the clinic is struggling to convert first-time visitors into loyal
customers. As the bulk of Boardwalk Clinic's patient volume occurs during nontraditional hours,
Barbara considered it to be especially unfortunate that patient retention is weakest during this
period. Seeking more detail, Barbara decided to probe deeper, interviewing patients presenting
during nontraditional hours over the course of several days, asking them about their future
medical patronage plans. Through these interviews, she learned that the vast majority of patients
visiting Boardwalk Clinic during its nontraditional hours of operation planned to return to their
current medical providers, using Boardwalk Clinic only during times when their current
caregivers were unavailable. Thus, patients presenting during nontraditional hours of operation
most often select Boardwalk Clinic not as their first choice, but as their only choice, just for
those odd times that their current providers cannot be seen. On the positive side, a number of
patients interviewed by Barbara indicated that they planned to select Boardwalk Clinic as their
medical provider of choice. Unfortunately, of all interviews conducted, this was the minority
view, making Barbara uncertain as to whether she and her colleagues could wrestle loyal patients
away from their established relationships with competing providers and clinics. Barbara knows
the difficulties associated with acquiring patients who are loyal to their current providers and
now understands that Boardwalk Clinic, by offering extensive hours beyond any other provider
in the community, will continue to see a great deal of first-time/only-time patients. But she also
knows that conversion of patients from first-timers into loyal customers is a key to survival,
growth, and prosperity. With a better understanding of the retention matter, Barbara now realizes
that she and her colleagues must direct their attention toward shoring up loyalty from patient
traffic experienced during nontraditional hours of operation. Having established leading edge
services throughout Boardwalk Clinic, Barbara currently is at a loss as to what steps her clinic
can take to entice those patients in the Chelsea marketplace who already have relationships with
other medical entities to make Boardwalk Clinic their medical provider of choice. She has
scheduled a meeting with Drs. Lewis and Montgomery to discuss her findings and brainstorm
about possible courses of action.