title: [Expectations and patient satisfaction in hospitals: construction and application of an expectation-based experience typology and its use in the management of quality and expectations].
abstract: Patient satisfaction (PS) surveys are frequently used evaluation methods to show performance from the customer's view. This approach has some fundamental deficits, especially with respect to theory, methodology and usage. Because of the significant theoretical value of the expectation confirmation/disconfirmation concept in the development of PS, an expectation-based experience typology has been developed and tested to check whether this approach could be a theoretical and practical alternative to the survey of PS. Due to the mainly cognitive-rational process of comparison between expectations and expectation fulfilment, it is easier to make changes in this stage of the process than in the subsequent stage of the development of PS that is mainly based on emotional-affective processes. The paper contains a literature review of the common concept of PS and its causal and influencing factors. Based on the theoretical part of this study, an expectation-based experience typology was developed. In the next step, the typology was subjected to exploratory testing, based on two patient surveys. In some parts of the tested typology explorative differences could be found between hospitals. Despite this rather more complex and unusual approach to expectation-based experience typology, this concept offers the chance to change conditions not only retrospectively (based on data), but also in a prospective way in terms of a "management of expectations".
authors.affiliation: Berner Fachhochschule (BFH), Kompetenzzentrum Qualitätsmanagement. Electronic address: christoph.gehrlach@bfh.ch.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gehrlach
authors.affiliation: Private Universität für Gesundheitswissenschaften, medizinische Informatik und Technik (UMIT), Institut für Management und Ökonomie im Gesundheitswesen.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Güntert
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: Confirmation/Disconfirmation Paradigma; Erwartung; Erwartungsbasierte Erfahrungstypologie; Evaluation; Patient satisfaction; Patientenorientierung; Patientenzufriedenheit; Qualitätsmessung; confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm; evaluation; expectation-based experience typology; expectations; patient orientation; quality measurement