Organizational change in healthcare companies. The role of customer satisfaction

In healthcare services, patient’s satisfaction has been defined as “positive evaluations of distinctive dimensions of the health care” (Baldwin, 2003). Customer satisfaction is affected by perceived service quality, price, situational factors, personal factors (Zeithaml, Bitner, 1996). Customer satisfaction is a key concept in respect to service and product quality, and appears to be remarkably relevant for the evaluation of healthcare services. These are the reasons why, in the latest years, customer satisfaction has increasedly become a strategic element for healthcare companies to better understand expectations and perceptions of customers, to check the gap between them and the services provided and evaluate whether or not the performances reach an acceptable level of satisfaction. The aim of the research is to •verify the existence of a consistent relationship between patients’ socio-anagraphical characteristics and perceived satisfaction; •identify which criteria are the most relevant in the determination of satisfaction; •analyse how customer satisfaction has effectively transformed in an instrument of legitimacy and empowerment to the Companies’ P.R. Office and how survey’s results are being used for a concrete improvement of the service. Quantitative survey has been conducted on about 70.000 patients from four public hospitals in Milan, using a multiple choice questionnaire as according to regional legislation, the quali-quantitative inquiry has been conducted instead on hospitals staff. Consistent with the literature, no gender differences has emerged on perceived satisfaction reports, while age, nationality and education level factors determinated significant differences on responses. Relationship between patients, physicians and nurses has been defined as the most influent feature of satisfaction, which needs an investment in communication and specific training. Results from the explorative research show the strategic role that P.R.Office plays for the organization, and how it has been integrated in the process of organizational strategic planning. The research underlines how, through sharing and awareness of customer satisfaction’s evaluation itself, surveys results identify as an essential tool also to promote communicational and training initiatives addressed to the single departments and to the whole hospital staff, as a perspective to a real and rewarding improvement of the healthservice.