THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF E-COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE HEALTH SERVICES OF THE HOSPITALS

Abstract

Aim: Due to the recent technological advancement, patients have the opportunity to share their negative experiences about the services of the hospitals over the internet. The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze the e-complaints of patients in the health industry. Method: In this study, the information is gathered from the health sector by analyzing the e-complaints recorded by the patients to the e-complaint site www.sikayetvar.com through content analysis. The sample consists of 500 e-complaints about the health services of five private hospitals in total. Findings: Findings reveal important perspectives of the patients for the health services of the hospitals. The patients emphasize the high cost, money-focused organization, lack of interest, disobedience of the hospital to appointment times, and lack of hospitals’ communication. The categorized e-complaints are the prices, staff behavior, communication, waiting time, trustworthiness, service quality, and the doctor’s empathy. Results: The majority of the patients are very sensitive towards the occurrence of an extra cost in the delivery of health services, the organizations that are very interested in earning more money, and their lack of interest after the payments are made to the hospitals. The hospitals should reevaluate their service quality and business strategies for providing excellent health services. Otherwise, the continuation of the patients’ concerns will lead to losing the reputation of the hospitals, and lots of potential patients. The research enlightens the patients’ perspectives for e-complaints in the health industry for researchers and practitioners.

Keywords

• e-complaint
• health industry
• hospital
• corporate reputation
• e-complaint
• health industry
• hospital
• corporate reputation