Evaluating the relationships between perceived patient value, patient satisfaction and loyalty by inpatients at a tertiary public hospital in China

Abstract

Recent literature on patient satisfaction demands tertiary public hospitals to evaluate their performance of healthcare service delivery. With the rapid rise in admission rates in tertiary hospitals in China, Patient value is receiving increasing attention in addressing current challenges on the healthcare market and to retain patient satisfaction and loyalty. The objective of this study is to identify patient value definition and its dimensions in healthcare and to examine their relationships with patient satisfaction and loyalty. This research will shed new light on healthcare management in inpatient settings. A survey was undertaken to gather data, wherein a total of 740 questionnaires were collected from inpatients at the tertiary public hospital located in Shenzhen, China. Four dimensions of patient value are identified: interacting value, shared decision-making value, health-outcome value, and economic value. The quantitative study employs structural equation modelling to examine the relationships between patient value, patient satisfaction and loyalty and explores the results based on profiling variables. The results indicate that: (1) interacting value positively affects shared decision-making and health-outcome value; (2) shared decision-making value has a strong impact on health-outcome and economic value; (3) health-outcome value improves economic value and satisfaction; (4) economic value enhances patient satisfaction; (5) patient value is a precursor to patient satisfaction; and (6) patient satisfaction is an antecedent of loyalty. The findings provide healthcare personnel and hospital managers with managerial insights, such as strengthening effective communication, building privacy-protected environments, constructing collaborative decision-making, recruiting highly skilled medical personnel, and providing access to medical insurance, in particular taking measures to improve patient value, in order to maximise patient satisfaction and loyalty.