José Antonio Martínez

Forum: Building better causal models to measure the relationship between attitudes and customer loyalty

Market research is inherently concerned with customers attitudes towards product/services/brand/companies because these subjective evaluations are indicators of company performance and a key determinant of the customers future repurchase behaviour. Perceived quality, satisfaction and brand/corporate image/reputation are probably the most widely used variables in investigating these attitudes, and several models have been proposed for analysing the relationships between these variables and customer loyalty (See Figure 1). The focus of all these models is similar: to study the causal mechanism that relates customers evaluations with their future expected behaviour, using the structural equation modelling methodology.

Aspectos metodológicos de los procesos asistenciales integrados (PAI)

An Integrated Healthcare Pathway (PAI) is a tool which has as its aim to increase the effectiveness of clinical performance through greater coordination and to ensure continuity of care. PAI places the patient as the central focus of the organisation of health services. It is defined as the set of activities carried out by the health care providers in order to increase the level of health and satisfaction of the population receiving services. The development of a PAI requires the analysis of the flow of activities, the inter-relationships between professionals and care teams, and patient expectations. The methodology for the development of a PAI is presented and discussed in this article, as well as the success factors for its definition and its effective implementation. It also explains, as an example, the recent PAI for Hypoglycaemia in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus developed by a multidisciplinary team and supported by several scientific societies.