Qualitative identification of associated words with the respective online service ratings

Author(s):  
Diya Guha Roy ◽  
Sujoy Bhattacharya

Purpose Collectively knowledge is mentioned to surpass the traditional assets such as workers, property and financial investment. The research studies on how the existing knowledge can be merged with new knowledge for further development of organizational progress is moving from nascent to active state. In this context, the applications of online data pose a research gap in the domain of hospital review ratings. The purpose of this study is to explore how this raw tacit knowledge can be transformed to explicit keywords associated with individual review ratings of the hospital. Design/methodology/approach The authors have attempted to decrypt the tacit knowledge extracted from Facebook page of nine Indian hospitals (sources for the nine hospitals) using NVivo 12.3 to explain the resources associated with the poor or good review ratings. Findings Distinct patterns emerged with review ratings and associated words, which can be used to improve the facets of health-care services. Research limitations/implications The data used are only from India catering to national and international patients. Originality/value The sentiment analysis and word cloud associated with individual review rating can be further used for devising finer branding scales, as well as be practically used for real-time branding efforts by health-care industry.

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 1400-1422
Author(s):  
Hannah Snyder ◽  
Lars Witell ◽  
Mattias Elg ◽  
Janet R. McColl-Kennedy

Purpose When using a service, customers often develop their own solutions by integrating resources to solve problems and co-create value. Drawing on innovation and creativity literature, this paper aims to investigate the influence of place (the service setting and the customer setting) on customer creativity in a health-care context. Design/methodology/approach In a field study using customer diaries, 200 ideas from orthopedic surgery patients were collected and evaluated by an expert panel using the consensual assessment technique (CAT). Findings Results suggest that place influences customer creativity. In the customer setting, customers generate novel ideas that may improve their clinical health. In the service setting, customers generate ideas that may improve the user value of the service and enhance the customer experience. Customer creativity is influenced by the role the customer adopts in a specific place. In the customer setting customers were more likely to develop ideas involving active customer roles. Interestingly, while health-care customers provided ideas in both settings, contrary to expectation, ideas scored higher on user value in the service setting than in the customer setting. Research limitations/implications This study shows that customer creativity differs in terms of originality, user value and clinical value depending on the place (service setting or customer setting), albeit in one country in a standardized care process. Practical implications The present research puts customer creativity in relation to health-care practices building on an active patient role, suggesting that patients can contribute to the further development of health-care services. Originality/value As the first field study to test the influence of place on customer creativity, this research makes a novel contribution to the growing body of work in customer creativity, showing that different places are more/less favorable for different dimensions of creativity. It also relates customer creativity to health-care practices and highlights that patients are an untapped source of creativity with first-hand knowledge and insights, importantly demonstrating how customers can contribute to the further development of health-care services.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibraheem Khaled Abu Siam ◽  
María Rubio Gómez

Purpose Access to health-care services for refugees are always impacted by many factors and strongly associated with population profile, nature of crisis and capacities of hosing countries. Throughout refugee’s crisis, the Jordanian Government has adopted several healthcare access policies to meet the health needs of Syrian refugees while maintaining the stability of the health-care system. The adopted health-care provision policies ranged from enabling to restricting and from affordable to unaffordable. The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of restricted level of access to essential health services among Syrian refugees in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach This paper used findings of a cross-sectional surveys conducted over urban Syrian refugees in Jordan in 2017 and 2018 over two different health-care access policies. The first were inclusive and affordable, whereas the other considered very restricting policy owing to high inflation in health-care cost. Access indicators from four main thematic areas were selected including maternal health, family planning, child health and monthly access of household. A comparison between both years’ access indicators was conducted to understand access barriers and its impact. Findings The comparison between findings of both surveys shows a sudden shift in health-care access and utilization behaviors with increased barriers level thus increased health vulnerabilities. Additionally, the finding during implementation of restricted access policy proves the tendency among some refugees groups to adopt negative adaptation strategies to reduce health-care cost. The participants shifted to use a fragmented health-care, reduced or delayed care seeking and use drugs irrationally weather by self-medication or reduce drug intake. Originality/value Understanding access barriers to health services and its negative short-term and long-term impact on refugees’ health status as well as the extended risks to the host communities will help states that hosting refugees building rational access policy to protect whole community and save public health gains during and post crisis. Additionally, it will support donors to better mobilize resources according to the needs while the humanitarian actors and service providers will better contribute to the public health stability during refugee’s crisis.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunju Suh ◽  
Mahdi Alhaery

PurposeWhile United States is among countries with the world’s highest coronavirus infections, its approaches and policies to reopen the economy vary by state. A lack of objective criteria and monitoring toward satisfying the criteria can lead to another COVID-19 outbreak and business closures. Considering the pressing need to return to normalcy without a rebound of COVID-19 infections and deaths, an index that provides a data-driven and objective insight is urgently needed. Hence, a method was devised to assess the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the degree of progress any state has made in containing the spread of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachUsing measures such as the weekly averages of daily new deaths, ICU bed occupancy rates, positive cases and test positivity rates, two indexes were developed: COVID-19 reopening readiness and severity.FindingsA clear difference in the pandemic severity trends can be observed between states, which is possibly due to the disparity in the state’s response to coronavirus. A sharp upward trend in index values requires caution prior to moving to the next phase of reopening.Originality/valueThe composite indexes advanced in this study will provide a universal, standardized and unbiased view of each state’s readiness to reopen and allow comparisons between states. This in turn can help governments and health-care agencies take counter measures if needed as to the anticipated demand for future health-care services and minimize adverse consequences of opening.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Hihnala ◽  
Lilja Kettunen ◽  
Marjo Suhonen ◽  
Hanna Tiirinki

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss health services managers’ experiences of management in a special health-care unit and development efforts from the point of view of the Lean method. Additionally, the aim is to deepen the knowledge of the managers’ work and nature of the Lean method development processes in the workplace. The research focuses on those aspects and results of Lean method that are currently being used in health-care environments. Design/methodology/approach These data were collected through a number of thematic interviews. The participants were nurse managers (n = 7) and medical managers (n = 7) who applied Lean management in their work at the University Hospital in the Northern Ostrobothnia Health Care District. The data were analysed with a qualitative content analysis. Findings A common set of values in specialized health-care services, development of activities and challenges for management in the use of the Lean manager development model to improve personal management skills. Practical implications Managers in specialized health-care services can develop and systematically manage with the help of the Lean method. This emphasizes assumptions, from the point of view of management, about systems development when the organization uses the Lean method. The research outcomes originate from specialized health-care settings in Finland in which the Lean method and its associated management principles have been implemented and applied to the delivery of health care. Originality/value The study shows that the research results and in-depth knowledge on Lean method principles can be applied to health-care management and development processes. The research also describes health services managers’ experiences of using the Lean method. In the future, these results can be used to improve Lean management skills, identify personal professional competencies and develop skills required in development processes. Also, the research findings can be used in the training of health services managers in the health-care industry worldwide and to help them survive the pressure to change repeatedly.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-380
Author(s):  
Riitta Forsten-Astikainen ◽  
Pia Heilmann

Purpose This study examines in detail how a new occupational group in a field creates and defines its professional competences. The background of the study refers to a new way of organizing social and health care services that requires new type of expertise. The authors examine the professionals of this new sector – service agents and the competences – they need in a multi-professional networking organization. The goal of this organizational pilot project is to gather both experience and practical knowledge of how the “gatekeeper” model can work between the customer and the service provider. The purpose of this paper is to learn the service agents’ perspective on their own work, namely, how they create their work, what their visions of the future are, and what can be learned from the new organizing model. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data collection and small-scale exploratory study of a new profession: eight service agents and their two supervisors were interviewed to raise awareness of what professional competences these new job contents require, how service agents can influence the content of their work, and what competence needs will emerge in the future. Findings The key findings indicate that service agents lack the courage to modify their own mission. When a new profession is created, they are uncertain about how to create self-content on their own terms. They assume they need a certain degree and to know something more than they already know. They do not dare define their own new professional territory, but rather wait for that definition to come from their organization or society. However, the results also show that some service agents have a hidden willingness to be creative even when there is a lack of courage. There is a need to take more initiative and for agents to think freely outside the box in this new situation. Research limitations/implications The number of interviewees is small and the context specific. However, the study gives an indication of the factors that need to be taken into account when the dissemination of the model starts. Originality/value The paper describes the results of the pilot project of a new profession and a customer-oriented model in the social and health care sector.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rimantas Stašys ◽  
Gintautas Virketis ◽  
Daiva Labanauskaitė

Purpose The purpose of this study/paper is to identify the importance of the partnership between the public and private health-care institutions to improve interhospital patient transfers. Scientific research and statistical data show the increased number of interhospital transportation services; therefore, timely and qualified patient transportation between different health-care institutions must be considered, the activity that directly and significantly impacts the patient’s health status and overall quality of the health-care services. The successful patient transportation from the smaller hospitals to the health-care institutions with advanced intensive care or urgent care units can be enhanced through the partnership between private and public health-care institutions. Design/methodology/approach The methodology included quantitative method, statistical data analysis and theoretical data generalization. Both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed during the research. Expert quantification was performed using the survey research method. The survey was conducted in Lithuania. The respondents were selected to be the general managers of the health-care and urgent care institutions, the chief doctors of the reanimation and intensive care department also the chief doctors of the emergency department. Findings Because of the centralization and regionalization of health-care services, the number of patients transferred between hospitals by the emergency medical services (EMS) and personal health-care institutions has increased. University hospitals are not sufficiently prepared to accept an increasing flow of patients in accordance with the Ministry of Health orders. Not all regional or district hospitals have the right to provide such assistance, which increases transportation time and costs as well as requires additional human resources. The five EMS categories could be used to improve the patient transfer between different levels of health-care institutions. To increase partnership between private and public health-care organizations, incentives should be provided for the development of private health-care organizations, as well as encouraging actions should be taken to increase the demand for private health-care services by Lithuanian patients. Practical implications Five EMS categories identified in this paper could be used to ensure a smooth mechanism for the patient transfer between different levels of the personal health-care institutions. The proposed categories should also be used in the pre-stationary emergency phase (for reducing the interhospital patient transportation amount). Social implications Properly organized secondary and tertiary interhospital patient transfers influence the availability and quality of the EMS and reduce inequalities in the provided services and social exclusion. Originality/value This paper presents the classification of the interhospital transfer issues, determines the main reasons for the patient interhospital transfer, creates the model for the EMS patient process flows and defines five EMS categories for the assessment of patient conditions. Therefore, the research conducted and the results obtained have both theoretical and social-practical value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry J. Boyle ◽  
Kieran Mervyn

Purpose Many nations are focussing on health care’s Triple Aim (quality, overall community health and reduced cost) with only moderate success. Traditional leadership learning programmes have been based on a taught curriculum, but the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate more modern approaches through procedures and tools. Design/methodology/approach This study evolved from grounded and activity theory foundations (using semi-structured interviews with ten senior healthcare executives and qualitative analysis) which describe obstructions to progress. The study began with the premise that quality and affordable health care are dependent upon collaborative innovation. The growth of new leaders goes from skills to procedures and tools, and from training to development. Findings This paper makes “frugal innovation” recommendations which while not costly in a financial sense, do have practical and social implications relating to the Triple Aim. The research also revealed largely externally driven health care systems under duress suffering from leadership shortages. Research limitations/implications The study centred primarily on one Canadian community health care services’ organisation. Since healthcare provision is place-based (contextual), the findings may not be universally applicable, maybe not even to an adjacent community. Practical implications The paper dismisses outdated views of the synonymity of leadership and management, while encouraging clinicians to assume leadership roles. Originality/value This paper demonstrates how health care leadership can be developed and sustained.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-558
Author(s):  
Kim Piew Lai ◽  
Yuen Yee Yen ◽  
Chong Siong Choy

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of service quality and perceived price (monetary and behavioural price) on the revisit intention of patients to hospitals, as well as the mediating role of perceived price on the relationship between service quality and revisit intention. Design/methodology/approach This paper distributes questionnaires to outpatients in three major cities in Malaysia, namely, Penang, Melaka and Johor. Patients who were in the foyer, dispensary area and waiting area were intercepted where their responses were sought. The responses obtained from 400 patients were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. Besides analysing the path coefficients, this study has examined the common method variance, bias and indirect effects of the relationships. Findings The results suggest that patients pay more attention to certain values in their search for the best health-care service and subsequently move on to new values. Pricing is an effective strategy to promote favourable behavioural intentions amongst patients. Better service quality is reflected in the reasonableness of monetary costs incurred by patients in acquiring health-care services. Patients who received poor services will be more likely to compare such services to the medical costs incurred to ascertain the worthiness of the amount paid. In addition, service quality also influences how patients perceive spending their time and efforts (waiting for nurses and physicians, as well as queueing in hospitals) as worthy and vice-versa. Their revisit intention will also be affected by the extent of which they invest their time, energy and efforts to search for relevant information. Practical implications The hospitals which desire to charge additional fees should enhance their service quality to reflect price equity. This is imperative in view of the pricing structure which can be relatively complex in subsequent follow-up treatments that may affect the decision of patients on the sources of health-care services. Originality/value Given the inevitable increase in medical fees, the perceived price can be a key determinant to the overall judgement patients had in terms of the health-care services received and the time and efforts sacrificed. However, the importance of monetary price and the behavioural price is still relatively unstudied, particularly their influence on revisit intention in the health-care setting.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Lindsay Straiton ◽  
Anne Reneflot ◽  
Esperanza Diaz

Purpose – High socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with better health and lower use of health care services in the general population. Among immigrants, the relationship appears less consistent. The purpose of this paper is to determine if the relationship between income level (a proxy for SES) and use of primary health care services for mental health problems differs for natives and five immigrant groups in Norway. It also explores the moderating effect of length of stay (LoS) among immigrants. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from two registers with national-level coverage, logistic regression analyses with interactions were carried out to determine the association between income level and having used primary health care services for mental health problems. Findings – For Norwegian men and women there was a clear negative relationship between income and service use. Interaction analyses suggested that the relationship differed for all immigrant groups compared with Norwegians. When stratifying by LoS, income was not associated with service use among recently arrived immigrants but was negatively associated among immigrants staying more than two years (with the exception of Pakistani and Iraqi women). Research limitations/implications – Country of origin and LoS should be considered when applying measures of SES in immigrant health research. Social implications – There may be an initial transition period for recently arrived immigrants where competing factors mask the association between SES and service use. Originality/value – This study benefits from nationwide coverage, eliminating self-selection biases. It demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between SES and health care use.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Frith

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to advance a conceptual understanding of the role of social enterprises in health care by developing the concept of ethical capital. Social enterprises have been an important part of both the coalition and the previous government’s vision for improving health-care delivery. One of the central arguments for increasing the role of social enterprises in health care is they can provide the benefits of a public service ethos with the efficiencies and innovatory strategies of a business. Social enterprises are well placed to promote the type of values that should underpin health care delivery. Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores the conceptual issues raised by using social enterprises to provide health-care services that were previously provided by the National Health Service (NHS) from an ethical perspective. Findings – It will be argued that conceptualising social enterprises as organisations that can and should produce ethical capital could be a useful way of developing the debate over social enterprises in health care. Practical implications – The paper provides suggestions on how ethical capital might be produced and monitored in social enterprises. Originality/value – This paper advances the debate over the use of the concept of ethical capital in social enterprises and explores the relationship between ethical and social capital – both under researched areas. It also contributes to the emerging discussions of social enterprises in current health policy and their role in the radically reformed English NHS.


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