Decision support systems for health care marketing managers.

Health care organizations are encouraged to implement decision support systems geared to meeting the challenges of tomorrow. The author outlines a decision support system (DSS) and illustrates its usefulness for health care marketing managers. A schematic representation of a DSS is described. Applications of DSS in strategic marketing and planning, product, promotion, pricing, and distribution decisions are discussed. Potential problems of integrating DSS into the health care organization are identified and some useful guidelines for implementation are offered.