title: Customer convergence: patients, physicians, and employees share in the experience and evaluation of healthcare quality.
abstract: This article explores the interrelationships between three categories of service quality in healthcare delivery organizations: patient, employee, and physician satisfaction. Using the largest and most representative national databases available, the study compares the evaluations of hospital care by more than 2 million patients, 150,000 employees, and 40,000 physicians. The results confirm the relationship connecting employees' satisfaction and loyalty to their patients' satisfaction and loyalty. Patients' satisfaction and loyalty were also strongly associated with medical staff physicians' evaluations of overall satisfaction and loyalty to the hospital. Similarly, hospital employees' satisfaction and loyalty were related to the medical staff physicians' satisfaction with and loyalty to the hospital. Based upon the strength of the interrelationships, individual measures and subscales can serve as leverage points for improving linked outcomes. Patients, physicians, and employees, the three co-creators of health, agree on the evaluation of the quality of that service experience. The results demonstrate that promoting patient-centeredness, enhancing medical staff relations, and improving the satisfaction and loyalty of employees are not necessarily three separate activities in competition for hospital resources and marketing leadership attention.
authors.affiliation: The Health Management Academy, 44 Canal Cente Plaza, Suite 304, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA. paul@hmacademy.com
authors.forename: Paul Alexander
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wolosin
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gavran
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016208:Databases, Factual; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010558:Personnel Loyalty; D010559:Personnel Management; D011594:Psychometrics; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*