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Critical Factors Affecting Medical Treatment Loyalty Based on Taiwan’s Framework of Age-Friendly Hospitals: A Regional Hospital Case Study of Taiwan

  • Research Papers
  • Published:
Journal of Service Science Research

Abstract

This study uses eight dimensions based on Taiwan’s Framework of Age-Friendly Hospitals along with two questions regarding medical treatment loyalty to develop the final questionnaire and to survey the elderly people aged 65 years old and above and/or their companions in a hospital of Taiwan. The results show that physical environment is the most critical variable to influence medical treatment loyalty. Relentlessly creating a good and friendly physical environment helps the case hospital continue to gain loyalty of elderly patients. Hospital image is the second important variable to influence the willingness to continue the medical treatment in this hospital. Physician-patient relationship is the second important variable to affect the willingness to recommend relatives and friends to this hospital. Finally, companions tend to have negative impacts on medical treatment loyalty than patients. Hospital management needs to seek medical supports and increase satisfaction from patients’ companions to strengthen medical treatment loyalty.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of President, Show Chwan Health Care System, Changhua County, Taiwan

    Yin-Ju Shih

  2. Center for Quality Management, Chang Hua Hospital, Changhua County, Taiwan

    Kuan-Kai Huang

  3. Department of Business Administration, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua County, Taiwan

    Hsin-Hung Wu

  4. Department of M-Commerce and Multimedia Applications, Asia University, Taichung City, Taiwan

    Hsin-Hung Wu

Authors
  1. Yin-Ju Shih
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  2. Kuan-Kai Huang
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  3. Hsin-Hung Wu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hsin-Hung Wu.

Additional information

Yin-Ju Shih graduated in Global Executive Master of Business Administration Program, Department of Business Administration, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua County, Taiwan. She is a Secretary in Office of President, Show Chwan Health Care System, Changhua County, Taiwan. Her research interests are the improvement of service quality and the transformation of management processes.

Kuan-Kai Huang graduated in Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Asia University, Taichung City, Taiwan. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Information Engineering from Asia University, Taiwan. His major research interest is service quality. He is a Supervisor in Center for Quality Management, Chang Hua Hospital, Department of Health and Welfare, Changhua County, Taiwan.

Hsin-Hung Wu is a University Distinguished Professor at National Changhua University of Education (NCUE), Changhua, Taiwan since August 2014. He is with the Department of Business Administration at NCUE since August 2004. In addition, he is an adjunct Chair Professor at Asia University, Taichung City, Taiwan since February 2017. He was elected as a Fellow of International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology in March 2018. Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Engineering Management at University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, USA in May 1998. His research interests include service quality, patient safety, decision analysis, data mining, and applied statistics. He has published 170 journal papers and 260 conference papers.

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Shih, YJ., Huang, KK. & Wu, HH. Critical Factors Affecting Medical Treatment Loyalty Based on Taiwan’s Framework of Age-Friendly Hospitals: A Regional Hospital Case Study of Taiwan. J Serv Sci Res 10, 233–247 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12927-018-0008-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12927-018-0008-8

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