Introduction A successful health care organization in today’s current economy relies on a number of aspects in order to stay in competition with other organizations both familiar and new. One of the larger important aspects of these organizations is marketing. This paper covers one particular organization Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, or CHOMP. At Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, their marketing and communications department works hard to ensure that the strategic planning, marketing, and communication of the hospital are held to a high standard of quality. The department sets goals to be collaborative and provide the best customer service. This paper will look at the current techniques and strategies used by this department, how it affects consumer trends, and the positive/negative affects these techniques have on those employed. Current Health Care Marketing Techniques and Trends According to the Mary Barker, Director of the Communication and Marketing Department at CHOMP, there used to be this feeling that marketing was nothing more than advertising which many in health care frowned upon. I understand why this used to be the feeling, for when deciding to get into a career in health care I thought primarily about helping patients. I do not believe I ever saw health care or hospital services as something that needed to be sold. According to her though with the advancements in health care and the emergence of competitors this view has shifted. Many health care organizations understand that health care is also a business environment. I too share this understanding, and support the marketing efforts made by the organization. At first, I did see marketing as a negative, as to me marketing meant
