FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Gary Paquin, Director

The Paquin Group
Phone: (407) 566-1010
Email: info@thepaquingroup.com
Website: www.thepaquingroup.com

The Paquin Group to Collaborate With The Hartman Group on Groundbreaking Study of Healthcare Retail Channel

CELEBRATION, FL, June 12, 2006 – The Paquin Group (www.thepaquingroup.com), the nation's leading specialist in healthcare-based retail, today announced that it is joining forces with The Hartman Group (www.hartman-group.com), the authoritative source for insights into health and wellness consumers, to conduct a first-of-its-kind exploration of the healthcare retail channel.

This comprehensive study, Healthcare Retail: Consumer Insights on the Channel, the Market and the Opportunities, will investigate the potential for the hospital to extend its "wellness" halo into the mass mainstream marketplace as well as identify ways to transform the overall healthcare retail experience across all channels. Understanding consumers’ current health and wellness choices and attitudes will have critical implications for those delivering healthcare products and services to consumers across all lifestages and lifestyles.

"Currently, consumers do not attach the label of ‘wellness’ to specific products; instead they use ‘wellness’ to describe a way of living. The challenge is to connect the idea of wellness to a specific retail experience and to help position healthcare retail stores as providers of wellness lifestyle items. This study will answer the questions on how to establish the link," said Tony Paquin, The Paquin Group CEO.

The healthcare retail channel study will examine the following areas:

• The potential for healthcare retail to attract customers to a healthcare organization such as a hospital.

• How healthcare retailers can establish customer loyalty and what lessons (best practices) in loyalty building from traditional retailers can be applied to healthcare retail channels.

• The size and scope of the healthcare retail channel and market in total and by category segment (i.e., healthcare medicines, spas, related products and services).

• Who shops healthcare retail and why.

• What is the motivation and interest in health and wellness and how does this trigger shopping trips to healthcare retail channels – and which ones.

• What are the implications for manufacturers and marketers of health and wellness-related products, services and brands.

• What role does retail experience play in differentiating healthcare retailers.

• Do consumes trust hospitals and healthcare providers and can healthcare retail benefit from that trust.

"Given consumers’ definitions of wellness as an ultimate, all-encompassing experience and the general perception of the mainstream retail setting as being very low on the emotional experience scale, there is a tremendous opportunity for bridging the existing gap between health and wellness, as it relates to healthcare retail shopping in consumers’ minds," said Harvey Hartman, Founder, Chairman and CEO, The Hartman Group.

The study is scheduled for summer 2006. Companies and organizations interested in this study should contact The Paquin Group.

About The Paquin Group

The Paquin Group is an alliance of industry leading experts and resources created to assist hospitals in the implementation of healthcare retail strategies. The company's core mission is to increase revenue opportunities and minimize risks for healthcare organizations. As Medicare reimbursement rates continue to be pressured downward and expenses rise, new sources for non-reimbursed revenues are becoming essential to the financial viability of hospitals. The Paquin Group helps hospitals identify and implement these new retail revenue strategies.

About The Hartman Group

The Hartman Group, Inc., founded 1989, is a full-service consulting and market research firm offering a wide range of services and products specializing on the health and wellness markets. The company specializes in the analysis and understanding of consumer lifestyles including how they LIVE, where they SHOP and what they USE. The company's headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington.

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