Background: The Healthcare sector has developed over the past 50 years, and the

marketing communication in this sector has developed along with it. The Swedish

healthcare has undergone several changes as a result of "Vårdval Sverige". These

changes enabled residents to choose which general practice they want to belong to.

A recipients could now be seen as a person that was well informed, educated and

could be responsible for her own health. These changes set the tone for today's'

market, which requires marketing communication and relationship strengthening

measures.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain how the general practice uses

marketing communication, and examine how the relationship perspective can help

explain the different roles.

Methodology: This study is based on a quantitative research. The marketing

communication that was used by the general practice in Sjöbo was examined

through a survey. It also included an investigation of the recipients' different roles.

Conclusion: The general practice does not understand the complexity of the

recipients' different roles. Therefore the marketing communication is not being

used in an optimal way. The role that the recipient takes depends on the relationship

perspective. The results show that a recipient could be either a patient, customer or

something in between.