The 'Customer' as a 'Case'? - Patient Dignity and Service Quality in a Tertiary Hospital | Services Marketing Case Studies

Details

Case Code : CLSM046
Publication date : 2009
Subject : Services Marketing
Industry : Healthcare
Length : 04 Pages
Price : Rs. 100

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Key words:

Patient dignity, Medical and paramedical personnel, Service delivery, Service quality, Services marketing, Tertiary care hospital, Conflict resolution, Corporate communications, Crisis management, Control systems, Training, Human resource management policies, Disciplinary action, Corporate culture, Consumer Protection Act, Medical Director, Hospital administration, Chain of corporate hospitals

Note

1: This caselet is intended for use only in class discussions.
2: More comprehensive case studies are priced at Rs.200 to Rs.700 (US $5 to US $16) per copy.

Abstract:

Protecting the dignity of the patient is a must for any hospital, both for compliance with the laws of the land and for preventing bad word-of-the-mouth. This fictitious case (based on generalized experience) discusses a crisis situation that emerges out of the violation of a patient's dignity due to the action/inaction of paramedical/medical personnel in a tertiary care hospital that was well-known for providing service with a humane touch, and the role of the management systems and the Medical Director in crisis prevention and crisis management.

Issues:

  » Dignity of the customer (patient) and the Consumer Protection Act.
  » Role of training, corporate culture, reward systems, and disciplinary action in ensuring service quality from medical and paramedical personnel
  » Role of corporate communications (internal and external) in crisis prevention as well as crisis management

Introduction

It was the fifth successful year of operations for CareServ Hospitals, India's leading chain of corporate hospitals. Its flagship hospital in New Delhi had, by then, established itself as the premier provider of choice for tertiary care...

Questions for Discussion:

1. The 'incident' involving the 'violation of a customer's dignity' can be viewed as a failure to maintain the high levels of service quality that CareServ Hospitals was known for. Do you agree with Dr. Srivastava’s proposed course of disciplinary action? If yes, why? If not, suggest a suitable alternative and provide the rationale for your decision.

2. How can CareServ Hospitals prevent such incidents in the future, either in the same location or in other locations?

3. In the context of a chain of corporate hospitals, discuss the role of corporate communications (both internal and external) for crisis prevention as well as for crisis management.