What is it about?
Convenience has become an important topic in the healthcare sector. While prior research has studied the convenience construct and developed a few measurement scales, one common limitation is that authors adopted only a “goods-centered” perspective. The existing conceptualizations fall short in a services context that is characterized with high levels of credence attributes. To address the research gap, we conduct an exploratory study and propose a refined model of service convenience in healthcare. We offer new insight how convenience is perceived by patients during the pre-encounter, service encounter, and post-encounter stages.
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Why is it important?
This study identifies new convenience dimensions that have not been captured in prior research. Our findings show that service convenience in healthcare encompasses seven different dimensions: decision, access, scheduling, registration & check-in, transaction, care delivery, and post-consultation convenience. Most notably, scheduling convenience and registration/check-in convenience have a strong influence on customer satisfaction.
Perspectives
Service convenience has received growing attention. But what is service convenience and how do you measure it? Several studies have conceptualized the construct in the context of retailing. But the "goods-focused" view does not universally apply for services that consist of three different stages: pre-encounter, service encounter, and post-encounter stages. We propose a refined model that consists of seven dimensions. Healthcare practitioners can use the framework as a diagnostic tool to analyze patients’ convenience perceptions and improve organizational service design.
Dr Sven Tuzovic
Queensland University of Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Developing a framework of service convenience in health care: An exploratory study for a primary care provider, Health Marketing Quarterly, April 2016, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/07359683.2016.1166840.
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