Understanding Hospital Customers

Hospitals represent the largest market for healthcare products distributors. Because of their size and buying volume, hospitals are often demanding and sophisticated purchasers.

Succeeding in selling to hospitals requires more than excellent logistics services and quality products. It requires that you as a sales representative understand the forces impacting hospitals and use this understanding to meet your customers’ needs.

Even if you call only on physicians or nursing homes, it is beneficial to understand the hospital environment. Your physician customers most likely practice there several times each week. Your nursing home customers receive many patients directly from the hospital.

After completing this course, you will gain knowledge in the following areas:

• Types of hospitals and the services they provide
• Key decision-makers and their roles
• Common hospital departments and what they do
• Funding sources
• Trends and issues impacting hospitals
• The impact of regulatory and accreditation requirements
• The role of the distributor representative in effectively serving hospital customers