THE HEALTHCARE CONSUMER: SATISFIED OR HAPPY – A REVIEW

INTRODUCTION:Customer satisfaction is an important aspect for any organisation.Satisfied customers,ensure loyalty to the organisation.Building customer loyalty has an advantage (Bansal and Gupta,2001).Much academic research has taken place in this field (Stenbery, 1997).The concept of Happiness has been around for centuries. Early philosophers and great thinkers,date back to Aristotle,Plato and Socrates,in the western world and,closer to home we have Buddha, with his Middle Path; Confucius and the Dalai Lama. Satisfaction denotes less stress, which can lead to health, whereas happiness indicates not just health but exceeding customers' expectation too. OBJECTIVE:The review was done mainly through published articles to gain an insight in the areas of happiness and satisfaction and their measurements. METHODOLOGY: The review used descriptive cross-sectional research design using secondary sources related to satisfaction and happiness. Very few studies have focused on the patient in terms of both satisfaction as well as happiness.The review mainly identified concepts of satisfaction and happiness, for services in industry and was then related to the healthcare industry. RESULTS:A lot of efforts went into the concept of Satisfaction;however,Happiness was the new trend. CONCLUSION: The healthcare industry is unique, and management and delivery of customer experience service excellence is the ultimate goal.

Financial Structure: A Comparative Study between European Listed and Unlisted Companies

This paper aims to ascertain whether differences exist in the composition of the financial sources in listed and unlisted companies. In detail, we conduct a differential analysis of the financial structure, measured as debt to equity ratio (D/E), comparing European listed companies to unlisted peers. Analysis cover the period 2015-2017. The main samples of listed and unlisted companies were grouped in nine sub samples representative of as many economic sectors: Healthcare, Consumer cyclical, Consumer non-cyclical, Energy, Industrials, Basic materials, Technology, Telecommunications and Utilities. We compared the average value of debt to equity ratio for listed and unlisted companies, for different sectors in order to verify if in listed companies the incidence of debt is lower than that for unlisted ones as stated from the majority literature. Then, we calculated the differences between means as “means of D/E for listed companies-means of D/E for unlisted companies” and we used the t-test to observe the statistical significance. Results showed that differences between means were significant at 1% level: so, averages D/E ratio were comparable and they appeared almost always greater for unlisted companies. This confirms that unlisted companies make greater use of debt capital.

Practical reflections on a collaboration with healthcare consumers on the development of a simulation

BackgroundHealthcare simulations generate moments of ‘cultural compression’ through which we transmit core values about our professional identities and the families we care for. The engagement of healthcare consumers in this process is useful to evaluate the values we transmit and ensure authenticity in the narratives we share.MethodsA simulation package on febrile neutropenia and port access was written by healthcare staff in consultation with the parent of a child with leukaemia. Healthcare consumer review was focused on the representation of the simulated parent within the simulation scripts. The child and his mother assisted in the development of supportive video resources on family perspectives on port access and demonstration of the procedure.ResultsThe involvement of healthcare consumers in the development of the scenario had positive impact on the design and the supportive resources, both of which created opportunities for patient advocacy and reinforced the centrality of healthcare consumers within the healthcare team.ConclusionsHealthcare consumer collaboration in scenario design was achievable and impactful without significant increased cost. We hope to promote the benefits of healthcare consumer consultation in simulation design to improve the pursuit of educational and cultural learning objectives.

Workforce Readiness and Digital Health Integration

The benefits that digital health may offer include clinical, administrative, research, and educational. Research shows that if used in the right circumstances, digital health may increase access to healthcare services, improve clinical outcomes, safety, and quality of care. Digital health also has the potential to improve organisational efficiencies by reducing duplication and unnecessary diagnostic testing. From a healthcare consumer perspective, there is an expectation that healthcare services need to be provided in a more flexible and cost-effective way as in other spheres such as banking, commerce, and media. This is another important driver for consideration to integrate digital health in healthcare services. As digital health continues to be used in routine healthcare services, practitioners may require new knowledge, skills, and competencies to make the best use of this innovative method. Education and training relating to digital health have been recognised as a priority for developing the future healthcare workforce.

Assessing Sustainability-Related Systematic Reputational Risk through Voting Results in Corporate Meetings: A Cross-Industry Analysis

This research uses Sharpe’s single-index model to analyze voting results in corporate meetings, thus assessing whether voting results at the corporate level are influenced by aggregated voting results at the industry level. We use a sample of votes regarding managerial proposals concerning executive election and compensation. The companies involved are included in the five most represented industries in NASDAQ, and the analysis focuses on the 2003–2017 period. The votes were disclosed by institutional investors who are especially concerned with corporate governance and sustainability issues, so we consider that they reflect sustainability-driven decisions. Based on previous research linking voting results to reputational consequences, we assess the systematic component of sustainability-related reputational risk within these five industries, finding significant differences among them. Thus, although the systematic component of sustainability-related reputational risk appears to be strong for financial and technological companies, it is weak for healthcare, consumer services, and capital goods companies. Implications for researchers and practitioners are reported.