Maria Helena Vinagre and José Neves
The purpose of this research is to develop and empirically test a model to examine the major factors affecting patients' satisfaction that depict and estimate the relationships…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to develop and empirically test a model to examine the major factors affecting patients' satisfaction that depict and estimate the relationships between service quality, patient's emotions, expectations and involvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach was tested using structural equation modeling, with a sample of 317 patients from six Portuguese public healthcare centres, using a revised SERVQUAL scale for service quality evaluation and an adapted DESII scale for assessing patient emotions.
Findings
The scales used to evaluate service quality and emotional experience appears valid. The results support process complexity that leads to health service satisfaction, which involves diverse phenomena within the cognitive and emotional domain, revealing that all the predictors have a significant effect on satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The emotions inventory, although showing good internal consistency, might be enlarged to other typologies in further research – needed to confirm these findings.
Practical implications
Patient's satisfaction mechanisms are important for improving service quality.
Originality/value
The research shows empirical evidence about the effect of both patient's emotions and service quality on satisfaction with healthcare services. Findings also provide a model that includes valid and reliable measures.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this paper is to test empirically a framework that contributes to the understanding of patients' satisfaction by estimating the relationships between the satisfaction…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to test empirically a framework that contributes to the understanding of patients' satisfaction by estimating the relationships between the satisfaction of particular types of customers with their emotions and perceived justice.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was developed in two segments. First, an exploratory analysis was conducted to find a factor structure and to test the psychometric properties of satisfaction and perceived justice scales. After that the hypothesized model was tested through an empirical study, with a sample of 520 patients from six Portuguese public healthcare services, using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results show that the scales are psychometrically sound and confirm that satisfaction results from a complex cognitive and affective mechanism, thus highlighting the interactive characteristics of the services.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to find if there is any possible conditioning factors that would interfere with these variables and change their effects on satisfaction.
Practical implications
Patients' satisfaction is an important issue for improving the provided healthcare services.
Originality/value
The paper offers empirical evidence about the complementary effect of emotions and perceived justice on the satisfaction with healthcare services. Findings also provide a model of analysis with valid and reliable measures.
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Maria Helena Vinagre, Leonor Gaspar Pinto and Paula Ochôa
This paper aims to deepen the concept of service quality in digital libraries based on the analysis of the Digital Library Service Quality Model (adapted from Zeithaml…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to deepen the concept of service quality in digital libraries based on the analysis of the Digital Library Service Quality Model (adapted from Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra) and a multiple‐item scale (dlQUAL scale) created to evaluate the quality and performance of service delivered by the Portuguese Digital Library Consortium as part of the Digital Library Integrated Evaluation Programme.
Design/methodology/approach
The Digital Library Service Quality Model makes it possible to assess gaps between different levels based on a multiple‐item scale to evaluate service quality, which was designed as a web survey. Considering the strategical groups (users, LIS professionals, library managers and top managers), the research team developed four different web‐survey versions to evaluate the different gaps. In the first step of this study, they looked for measures validity.
Findings
The scale proved good psychometric proprieties. This study also showed the usefulness of the Digital Library Service Quality Model to evaluate and analyze digital libraries' service quality.
Practical implications
The scale is valid and useful to evaluate digital libraries' service quality and it can provide valuable performance information to digital libraries' decision‐makers. Moreover, the Digital Library Service Quality Model is a useful instrument to check the critical points that are related to organizational deficiencies. If these gaps are regularly monitored, it is possible to implement adequate correction measures and improve service quality.
Originality/value
This paper presents a Library Service Quality Model specifically designed to evaluate digital libraries.
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Elena Bellio and Luca Buccoliero
Delivering patient-centered healthcare is now seen as one of the basic requirements of good quality care. In this research, the impact of the perceived quality of three…
Abstract
Purpose
Delivering patient-centered healthcare is now seen as one of the basic requirements of good quality care. In this research, the impact of the perceived quality of three experiential dimensions (Physical Environment, Empowerment and Dignity and Patient–Doctor Relationship) on patient's Experiential Satisfaction is assessed.
Design/methodology/approach
259 structured interviews were performed with patients in private and public hospitals across Italy. The research methodology is based in testing mediation and moderation effects of the selected variables.
Findings
The study shows that: perceived quality of Physical Environment has a positive impact on patient's Experiential Satisfaction; perceived quality of Empowerment and Dignity and perceived quality of Patient–Doctor Relationship mediate this relationship reinforcing the role of Physical Environment on Experiential Satisfaction; educational level is a moderator in the relationship between perceived quality of Patient–Doctor Relationship and overall Satisfaction: more educated patients pay more attention to relational items. Subjective Health Frailty is a moderator in all the tested relationships with Experiential Satisfaction: patients who perceive their health as frail are more reactive to the quality of the above-mentioned variables.
Originality/value
Physical Environment items are enablers of both Empowerment and Dignity and Patient–Doctor Relationship and these variables must be addressed all together in order to improve the value proposition provided to patients. Designing a hospital, beyond technical requirements that modern medicine demands and functional relationships between different medical departments, means dealing with issues like the anxiety of the patient, the stressful working environment for the hospital staff and the need to build a sustainable and healing building.
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Diya Guha Roy, Srabanti Mukherjee and Sujoy Bhattacharya
The medical tourism market across the globe lacks a consolidated, standard customer-based brand equity (CBBE) scale till the present day. The purpose of this research is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The medical tourism market across the globe lacks a consolidated, standard customer-based brand equity (CBBE) scale till the present day. The purpose of this research is to theorize a scale with probable existing dimensions and based on prior literature adding culture and infrastructure/superstructure as new components for global comparison among BRICS and SAARC nations. This empirical research initiates laying the foundation of deriving a unified scale.
Design/methodology/approach
Extensive literature reviews from leading academic journals, books and web information were used to theoretically propose the scale. R (an open source coding language) was used for quantitative analysis.
Findings
Culture (environment index) and infrastructure/superstructure (industry/economic index) were found to be relevant in the context of CBBE scale for medical tourism. The other dimensions are brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
The research literature was fragmented because of international scopes of medical tourism destinations as well as a variety of medical services offered. The dynamic nature of this industry, which is dependent on several factors such as healthcare, cost, related services, tourism etc. made it difficult to access the real contribution of individual items.
Practical implications
This paper proposes the foundation to develop a CBBE scale for medical tourism in India, adding culture and infrastructure/superstructure as new dimensions. It opens doors for new research with scale refining, branding assessment and fine-tuning items for the new dimensions.
Originality/value
This research is the first of its kind to create a standard CBBE scale for developing countries. It has added a new set of literature and consolidated prior contextual works on culture and infrastructure in reference to medical tourism. The questionnaire is of practical value to hospitals. The interview transcript is novel in nature for future works.
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Muhammad Kashif, Siti Zakiah Melatu Samsi, Zainudin Awang and Mahadzirah Mohamad
The customer experience quality (EXQ) cannot be measured by using traditional tools to investigate service quality. There is a need to use new tools to directly measure EXQ from a…
Abstract
Purpose
The customer experience quality (EXQ) cannot be measured by using traditional tools to investigate service quality. There is a need to use new tools to directly measure EXQ from a customer perspective. The current study aims to contribute in this domain of knowledge and validate EXQ scale by linking it to marketing outcomes of satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth in Malaysian private healthcare settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from 330 randomly selected Malaysians, visiting private hospitals in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The data analysis is performed by confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling – SEM – procedures.
Findings
The results reveal that two dimensions of EXQ scale moments of truth and peace of mind are highly valued by customers. Furthermore, the EXQ perceptions significantly contribute to satisfaction and loyalty. In a mediating relationship, the customer satisfaction is found to be a positive and significant variable.
Practical implications
Healthcare marketing policymakers should emphasize on recruitment of frontline staff – individuals with strong interpersonal skills and expertise who are able to create a memorable customer service experience.
Originality/value
The study is an original contribution to the existing body of knowledge – generally in services marketing literature and specifically in the field of healthcare marketing with a focus on customer experience in a developing country context of Malaysia.
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Tiago Oliveira, Helena Alves and João Leitão
This systematic literature review aims to identify the main areas of study related to co-creation and innovation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as well as the main…
Abstract
Purpose
This systematic literature review aims to identify the main areas of study related to co-creation and innovation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as well as the main external and internal stakeholders with whom co-creation is made.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical approach is based on 258 articles selected from the Web of Science (WoS), Clarivate Analytics and Scopus, Elsevier databases, with analysis of titles, abstracts and keywords following a research protocol. VOS viewer and CitNetExplorer software were used, with the twin aim of identifying publications with a higher number of citations and designing maps of reference word co-occurrence.
Findings
The analysis led to three clusters being identified: Cluster 1. Management and transfer of knowledge from HEIs to companies; Cluster 2. Co-creation and innovation in HEIs through cooperation between universities and companies; and Cluster 3. Universities’ third mission and their role in developing entrepreneurship education. The results of the literature clusters analysis led to proposing a conceptual model of analysis.
Research limitations/implications
Despite only employing two databases and the content analysis criteria, the three found clusters are linked, recognising the interplay between co-creation and innovation in HEIs, knowledge transfer to enterprises and the influence on HEIs' third goal.
Practical implications
This systematic literature review highlights and gives a picture of the state-of-the-art in co-creation and innovation in HEIs, as well as presenting a model of co-creation and innovation in HEIs that can contribute to reinforcing the University-Industry-Community ties.
Social implications
This study can lead to a better knowledge of the issue of co-creation and innovation at HEIs, as well as a deeper analysis of the sorts of relationships between HEIs and their stakeholders, as well as its impact on surrounding areas and influence.
Originality/value
The research highlights the interaction between HEIs and their stakeholders on a basis of value co-creation and innovation, providing mutual benefits for all involved, as well as greater development and recognition of HEIs and their surrounding regions’ image andreputation. A future research agenda is also presented on the topic of co-creation and innovation in HEIs.