Remedios Calero

In Which Type of Healthcare Do Patients Show Greater Loyalty? (Public Sector Management vs. Public-Private Partnership)

Introduction: The present study analyses the patients behavior in a setting with different management types: public sector management and public-private partnership. More specifically, the objective is to establish in which healthcare type (hospitalization, ambulatory surgery, emergencies, outpatients consultation) do the patients show a stronger loyal behavior when they are in different management scenarios. Material and methods: A descriptive analysis based on secondary data collected from an internal database of the Conselleria de Sanidad of the Valencian Community in Spain, a scenario with two different healthcare management types (public sector management and public-private partnership) was conducted. Results: Higher patient flows in two healthcare types (emergency and outpatient consultation); disparate growth of the patients’ net basis; partnership favors maintaining the relationship with the patient thus preventing dropout; specialization of the public-private partnership in an assistance type: ambulatory 1 Hellín Hospital, Hellín, Spain. * Corresponding author: remedios.calero@mail.ucv.es 2 Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Rev. Cienc. Salud. Bogotá, Colombia, vol.16 (3): 492-509, septiembre-diciembre de 2018 ARTÍCULOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN CLÍNICA O EXPERIMENTAL

Perceptions of Healthcare Service End Users A Cross-cultural Comparison between Spain and Italy

The main objective of this study was to compare users’ perception and evaluation of both public and private healthcare services, distinguishing between primary and specialty care, with a cross-cultural approach in two Mediterranean countries: Italy and Spain. Within an exploratory approach and following a descriptive aim, we have conducted a quantitative methodology: after a literature review about health marketing and health management, we have developed a questionnaire and collected end users’ perceptions in both countries. Results highlight different aspects shaping the multidimensional healthcare service, such as the waiting lists, their experienced sensations, word-of-mouth (WOM) relevance and their behavioural intentions in the future Out of the results, implications for scholars interested in the marketing of public services are proposed in terms of the idiosyncrasy of health consumer behaviour: satisfaction with and willingness to recommend a service provider (public or private) according to comparative service provision (primary or specialized care service) and geographical context (Italy and Spain). Implications for health managers highlight the relevance of time management, experiential marketing in health service provision, WOM relevance and behavioural intentions.