By
Dr. Shalini Ratan, MD
Founder and Chief Knowledge Facilitator
Nirvan Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd.
ratanshalini10@gmail.com
Health care today is unlike health care yesterday. Any actual or potential recipient of healthcare, such as a patient in a hospital, is a healthcare consumer rather just being a diseased person. Patient has become a healthcare consumer with demands similar to any other service industry consumer.
The role of a medical practitioner today is not only of a clinician and an academician but also a manager and executer for providing excellent medical services. Their work requires the mastery of a complex body of knowledge, patient service skills and the art and humanism of medicine.
Knowledge and understanding of the needs of patients and their families now is more crucial than ever in providing exceptional patient service. Today medical practice is driven by the combination of patient experience and perception of services provided to them. This would ultimately help in winning patient loyalty.
What is patient loyalty ?
Patient loyalty is defined as his commitment to consult a particular medical service provider. It is characterized by both affective as well as behavioral components. The affective aspect of patient loyalty is a psychological commitment to the service provider while the behavioral component is the act of repeat consultation.
The overall attributes that influence loyalty depends on the service provider’s performance in specific areas of service which fulfills patients’ expectations.
Basic attributes: These expectations must be met in order for a provider to retain patients. Eg: medical expertise of the doctor, modern equipments and procedures etc.
Value adding attributes: These attributes are perceived as highly valuable in the relationship between the service provider and the patient. High performance in these areas leads to patient loyalty as well as differentiation in the healthcare marketplace. Likewise, low performance in these areas will have a significant negative impact on patient acquisition and retention. Eg: personal care about patient’s physical and emotional needs, comfortable stay, communication with the patient etc.
When a patient visits for the first time in a hospital, a great VALUE is attributed to the doctors and on the hospital’s technical capabilities, such as modern equipments and procedures. On the other hand, for patients with previous hospital stay and experience the technical capabilities become the BASIC attributes. The issues that now drives the patient is the VALUE perceived for personal care of the patient, comfortable and quiet room, amenities for the patient and visitors and how the doctor and the staff respond to their needs The past experience with a hospital stay
causes patients to put a higher priority on comfort-related issues than medical issues.
The actual experience of a hospital stay, therefore, makes the selection of a service provider more experience-based than outcome-based. The ability of the hospital to treat the ailment becomes a BASIC, while physical and psychological comfort becomes VALUE Issues.
Berry et al (2006) describe three elements of a consumer’s experience with a service provider: functional, mechanical and humanic.
In case where consumer is the patient then:
Functional issue is technical expertise of the physician. This forms the basis of fundamental service delivery.
Mechanical issues are generally sensory in nature and are helpful for creating first impression. This could be clean environment of the hospital, uniform of the staff and even the color of the patient’s room.
Lasting attitudes and opportunities for differentiation are found in the humanic area. These are issues related to the patient’s emotional preferences and needs.
Humanic issues are the key to the loyalty of the patient and differentiation from others.
Founder and Chief Knowledge Facilitator
Nirvan Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd.
ratanshalini10@gmail.com
Health care today is unlike health care yesterday. Any actual or potential recipient of healthcare, such as a patient in a hospital, is a healthcare consumer rather just being a diseased person. Patient has become a healthcare consumer with demands similar to any other service industry consumer.
The role of a medical practitioner today is not only of a clinician and an academician but also a manager and executer for providing excellent medical services. Their work requires the mastery of a complex body of knowledge, patient service skills and the art and humanism of medicine.
Knowledge and understanding of the needs of patients and their families now is more crucial than ever in providing exceptional patient service. Today medical practice is driven by the combination of patient experience and perception of services provided to them. This would ultimately help in winning patient loyalty.
What is patient loyalty ?
Patient loyalty is defined as his commitment to consult a particular medical service provider. It is characterized by both affective as well as behavioral components. The affective aspect of patient loyalty is a psychological commitment to the service provider while the behavioral component is the act of repeat consultation.
The overall attributes that influence loyalty depends on the service provider’s performance in specific areas of service which fulfills patients’ expectations.
Basic attributes: These expectations must be met in order for a provider to retain patients. Eg: medical expertise of the doctor, modern equipments and procedures etc.
Value adding attributes: These attributes are perceived as highly valuable in the relationship between the service provider and the patient. High performance in these areas leads to patient loyalty as well as differentiation in the healthcare marketplace. Likewise, low performance in these areas will have a significant negative impact on patient acquisition and retention. Eg: personal care about patient’s physical and emotional needs, comfortable stay, communication with the patient etc.
When a patient visits for the first time in a hospital, a great VALUE is attributed to the doctors and on the hospital’s technical capabilities, such as modern equipments and procedures. On the other hand, for patients with previous hospital stay and experience the technical capabilities become the BASIC attributes. The issues that now drives the patient is the VALUE perceived for personal care of the patient, comfortable and quiet room, amenities for the patient and visitors and how the doctor and the staff respond to their needs The past experience with a hospital stay
causes patients to put a higher priority on comfort-related issues than medical issues.
The actual experience of a hospital stay, therefore, makes the selection of a service provider more experience-based than outcome-based. The ability of the hospital to treat the ailment becomes a BASIC, while physical and psychological comfort becomes VALUE Issues.
Berry et al (2006) describe three elements of a consumer’s experience with a service provider: functional, mechanical and humanic.
In case where consumer is the patient then:
Functional issue is technical expertise of the physician. This forms the basis of fundamental service delivery.
Mechanical issues are generally sensory in nature and are helpful for creating first impression. This could be clean environment of the hospital, uniform of the staff and even the color of the patient’s room.
Lasting attitudes and opportunities for differentiation are found in the humanic area. These are issues related to the patient’s emotional preferences and needs.
Humanic issues are the key to the loyalty of the patient and differentiation from others.
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