Hospital Heterogeneity: What Drives the Quality of Care?

2019

IJPHM

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents and outcomes of internal service quality (ISQ) in a health-care environment. The relationships among the heterogeneous health-care environment, coordinated care, perceived organisational support (POS), ISQ, internal customer satisfaction and patient-centred care were explored. Design/methodology/approach Based on a review of the literature, a structural model was developed. A 37-item questionnaire was circulated among service providers in the health-care system, including doctors, nurses and system staff, all over India. The random sampling method was adopted to collect data. A total of 238 valid responses were received. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings The results show that the heterogeneous environment, coordinated care and POS act as antecedents of ISQ, which drives internal customer satisfaction and patient centricity in health care. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to the health-care literature by identifying the antecedents and consequences of ISQ and developing a structural relationship among ISQ, the heterogeneous health-care environment, coordinated care, POS, internal customer satisfaction and patient-centred care. Practical implications Hospital administrators may use various constructs of POS, ISQ and coordinated care to measure process and employee performance, which may aid the design of appropriate processes and improve employee selection. The constructs of patient centricity and internal customer satisfaction may be used as benchmarking tools to facilitate the formulation of immediate corrective actions and policies for future courses of action. Social implications This paper highlights how patient centricity may be achieved by focussing on ISQ, coordinated care processes and a facilitative internal environment. This understanding may aid the design of processes that in turn deliver health as a social good in an effective manner. Originality/value This paper extends past research on ISQ by showing that ISQ affects internal customer satisfaction and, in turn, the quality of service delivery in the system. In the health-care context, heterogeneity in patient needs, coordinated care and organisational support play crucial roles in determining ISQ, which in turn influences the level of patient-centred care.

Section: Internal Service Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Model and Research Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Linkage Of Heterogeneity In Health Care and Perceived Organisational Support (Pos)mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Role of internal service quality in enhancing patient centricity and internal customer satisfaction

Prakash

2019

IJPHM

“…Moreover, healthcare service delivery involves tasks that are variable and non-deferrable and require error-free performance (Shortell & Kaluzny, 2000). Sharing and integration of information are challenging due to the lack of standardisation in healthcare services (Ali, Salenhejad, & Mansur, 2017). Healthcare systems are subject to many factors, including multiple types of healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, administrators, etc.…”

Section: Conceptual Model and Research Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a healthcare system, each process of care provision has its own requirements, and care providers must be comp-rehensively trained in these specifications. The unique challenges of these heterogeneous systems include inadequate infrastructure, little or no access to continuous training for the use of advanced technologies and limited access to primary healthcare facilities (Ali et al, 2017). Therefore, the healthcare system requires re-engineering of their service processes in the form of better organisational support.…”

Section: Conceptual Model and Research Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Modularity in Healthcare Services Through Integration

Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation

Prakash

2019

The objective of this article is to identify and validate the theoretical relationships between facilitators of modular architecture in healthcare service delivery context. The relationships among heterogeneity in healthcare services, coordinated care pathways, organisational orientation, integrated supply chain performance and modularity in health service delivery were explored. A structural model was developed based on a literature review. A 35-item questionnaire was circulated among service providers in the healthcare system all over India. A cross-sectional research design was used to assess the framework of research. The random sampling method was adopted to collect data. A total of 127 valid responses were received. Data analysis was performed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).Results reveal that modular architecture can be achieved by building an environment which has coordinated and integrated efforts of service providers incorporated with enhanced organisational orientation. The study added insights to the theory of modular systems. The authors recognise that modularity helps in enhancing the patient-centric orientation. The findings provide potentially important information to health service managers and providers, enabling them to understand the requisites of modular architecture. This is the first study exploring the relationships between facilitators of modularity in healthcare services. The study complements literature on service modularity with reference to specialised care unit of maternity services.

Exploring Enablers of Value Co-Creation in the Healthcare Service Delivery

International Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Technology

2021

The paper identifies the enablers of value co-creation (VCC) in the healthcare context which in result enhances service delivery capability. A 45-item questionnaire was circulated among service providers in the healthcare system, including doctors, nurses, and system staff all over India. A cross-sectional research design was used to assess the research's framework. A total of 294 valid responses were received. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using SPSSv23 and AMOSv22, and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results reveal that organizational orientation, technology integration and internal service quality (ISQ) are the enablers of value co-creation in healthcare services context from the internal customer perspective. Future researchers may explore the inter-relationships among the enablers of VCC process. The study provides practitioners with suggestions to facilitate service delivery capability by leveraging organizational orientation, technology integration, and ISQ in the VCC process.