• 한국병원경영학회지
• /
• 제15권4호
• /
• pp.143-164
• /
• 2010

Although word-of-mouth (WOM) has been regarded as one of the very important topics in consumer research, its effects on other aspects of consumer behavior have been scarcely investigated in the context of health-care service industry. The WOM literature also suggests that it is essential for medical care service organizations in fierce competition to adopt WOM communication as a competitive weapon so as to be able to stay ahead of competition. The goal of this research was set to empirically study various relationships between antecedent variables, WOM acceptance, and purchase of medical care services. Specifically, drawing on the WOM literature, eight antecedents to WOM acceptance were selected first. Based on the relevant literature, seven sets of hypotheses on the relationships among antecedents to WOM, WOM acceptance, purchase intention and purchase of medical services were developed. Data were collected via an on-line survey. A total of 571 out of 600 responses turned out to be usable. The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows: First, 6 out of 8 antecedent variables to WOM acceptance were found to be positively affect WOM acceptance. However, the effects of (1) "newness of technology" pertaining to medical care service characteristics and (2) "involvement in health", one of receiver characteristics, were found to be insignificant. Second, most moderating effects on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services were found to be insignificant with one exception. That is, elapse of time was found to be a marginally significant moderator on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services. Third, it was found that the higher the WOM acceptance, the higher the purchase intention of medical care services. Finally, the effect of WOM acceptance was found to be particularly strong when WOM contents were perceived as useful and positive. Overall, it seems essential for hospitals to actively adopt WOM communication as a competitive marketing tool if they plan to improve their business performance. In this respect, the current study may serve to improve the business performance of hospitals by way of providing theoretical and empirical evidence on the effects of WOM communication variables on WOM acceptance and medical care service purchase.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제33권4호
• /
• pp.426-435
• /
• 2000

Objectives : To determine the relationships among quality, satisfaction, value and purchase intention in health care service. Methods : The data were gathered from out-patients who had used hospital services. They were asked to assess service quality, satisfaction, service value, and purchase intention. A total of 557 usable questionnaires were gathered. The data were analyzed using SAS version 6.12. The analysis methods employed in the study were confirmatory analysis and covariance structural analysis. Results : Service quality exhibited a significant and positive relationship with satisfaction, service value, and purchase intention. Furthermore, satisfaction had a significant and positive relationship with purchase intention. And finally, service value had a significant and positive relationship with both satisfaction and purchase intention. Based on these findings, it is evident that satisfaction was a mediator between service quality and purchase intention. Also service value played a mediating role between service quality and satisfaction. Conclusions : These results suggest that service quality is an antecedent of satisfaction and sonics value, and exerts a stronger influence on purchase intentions than satisfaction and service value do. Thus, managers may need to emphasize service quality in health care.

• 한국병원경영학회지
• /
• 제17권4호
• /
• pp.32-57
• /
• 2012

This paper explored that medial consumers' trusts in both hospitals and doctors are developed by and during investigating hospital websites and that these trusts directly build the consumers' purchase intentions of the hospitals' offline medical services. 208 questionnaires based on the websites of two virtual hospitals, captured on survey brochures, were collected and analyzed. This research indicated information quality of hospital websites affected more on developing consumers' trusts than service quality.

• 한국IT서비스학회지
• /
• 제6권3호
• /
• pp.141-162
• /
• 2007

In this study, we conduct a case analysis on EZmedicom which is one of the leading companies in e-Marketplace for medical fields. By examining major business models of EZmedicom, we provide the success factors in launching the electronic commerce to the potential companies which are interested in participating in e-marketplace for medical fields. Especially, we deduct the solution, logistics field, and electronic group-purchasing as its major business model. Based on these factors, we also propose the MDvan solution which is one of the electronic purchase and supply system, Ezlogis that is the system supporting logistics parts in medical fields, VMI(vendor management inventory), standardization of item code and the linkage of SCM as its critical success factors of EZmedicom. The findings of this study suggest practical and managerial implications for e-Marketplace implementation in the medical field and further research.

• 한국응급구조학회지
• /
• 제9권2호
• /
• pp.101-110
• /
• 2005

In Korea, EMS Fund Operation seems to move the opposite direction to right way. The most initial EMS fund was consumed loan for some emergency patients without any particular results. Since 2002, the use of EMS fund also has shown a tendency to shift one side. By the results, it was 44.3% to support emergency medical centers, so called hospital EMS system and 28.4% to purchase ambulances and helicopters, and 1.6% to operate Central Medical Center, prehospital base in the EMS fund consumed in 2004. It was never supported for the environmental improvement and development of universities, colleges, and private EMS units having the primary responsibilities. The initial EMS fund using should be used for prehospital base, e.g., prehospital staffs, communications, and facilities and balanced development between public and private EMS units than any other fund using.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제50권4호
• /
• pp.217-227
• /
• 2017

In terms of years of life lost to premature mortality, cancer imposes the highest burden in Korea. In order to reduce the burden of cancer, the Korean government has implemented cancer control programs aiming to reduce cancer incidence, to increase survival rates, and to decrease cancer mortality. However, these programs may paradoxically increase the cost burden. For examples, a cancer screening program for early detection could bring about over-diagnosis and over-treatment, and supplying medical services in a paternalistic manner could lead to defensive medicine or futile care. As a practical measure to reduce the cost burden of cancer, appropriate cancer care should be established. Ensuring appropriateness requires patient-doctor communication to ensure that utility values are shared and that autonomous decisions are made regarding medical services. Thus, strategies for reducing the cost burden of cancer through ensuring appropriate patient-centered care include introducing value-based medicine, conducting cost-utility studies, and developing patient decision aids.

• 한국의류학회지
• /
• 제31권11호
• /
• pp.1542-1553
• /
• 2007

Recently, the growing of the aging population resulting from the medical and science development has made the elderly consumer as a new market. The purposes of this study were 1) to examine the purchase behavior of apparel products and hairdressing services of elderly consumers, 2) to investigate the purchase behavior in the apparel store and hairdressing shop on lifestyle types. Data were collected from 853 women in their 50s and 60s living in Busan. Data were analyzed by frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, factor analysis, Cronbach#s alpha, Chi-square analysis, cluster analysis, one-way ANOVA and Duncan test using SPSS WIN 12.0. The results of the study were as follows: First. when elderly consumers purchased apparel product, they were likely to use credit cards, to shop alone or with friends at a department store, and to use the store as information source. In their purchases of hairdressing services, they tended to visit the near shop for a permanent service bimonthly and to depend on their past experiences for hairdressing. Second, elderly consumers were classified by the lifestyle into the Active self-fidelitist, Economy family-oriented, and Passive-stagnant. The purchase behaviors in the apparel store and hairdressing shop were different among lifestyle types. Implications were suggested for the consumer behavior researchers and retailers of the elderly fashion market.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 제어로봇시스템학회 2002년도 ICCAS
• /
• pp.91.4-91
• /
• 2002

Today, Internal offers WWW(World Wide Web), remote control, file transfer and e-mail service. Among the services, WWW takes large portion because of convenient GUI, easy information search and unlimited information registration. WWW service gives the comfort in life such as goods purchase, information search, real-time news, internet TV and medical diagnosis. Remote Monitoring Server(RMS) Ssystem that uses internet and WWW is constructed for chip mounter. Hardware base consists of RMS, chip mounter and C/S(Customer Service) service. Software includes DBMS and various modules in server home page. Web browser provide product num her, bad product number, troubl...

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제34권1호
• /
• pp.55-60
• /
• 2001

Objectives : The SERVQUAL scale is based on gap theory, which suggests the difference between consumers' expectations and the quality of the medical service actually received. However, problems in the implementation of the SERVQUAL scale have been identified by several researchers. Some researchers have proposed a simple performance-based measure (SERVPERF) or au exportation-controlled performance-based measure(Non-Diff) as alternatives to the SERVQUAL scale. On the basis of the theoretical concerns discussed, we examined the capability of each of the three scales(SERVQUAL, Non-Diff, SERVPERF) to explain variations in consumer satisfaction. Methods : Data was gathered from a self-administered questionnaire in a 430 bed hospital. Questionnaires evaluating medical services were distributed to 180 ambulatory patients. A total of 167 usable questionnaires were gathered. The questionnaire was composed of 10 expectation, performance and expectation-controlled performance items. In addition, overall satisfaction and purchase intention were measured. Results : Compared with the SERVQUAL scale, the Non-Diff and SERVPERF scales better explained the observed variations in consumer satisfaction(SERVOQUAL, $R^2=0.29;\;Non-Diff,\;R^2=0.51;\;SERVPERF,\;R^2=0.48$) and purchase intention(SERVQUAL, $R^2=0.22;\;Non-Diff,\;R^2=0.33;\;SERVPERF,\;R^2=0.34$). Conclusion : The maier conclusion from our study is that the Non-Diff and SERVPERF scales are more efficient in assessing consumer satisfaction than the SERVQUAL scale. Therefore we suggest that consumer satisfaction he measured by the Non-Diff or SEVPERF scales.

• 보건의료산업학회지
• /
• 제5권4호
• /
• pp.177-192
• /
• 2011

The arguments exist that private health insurance(PHI) policy holders tend to use the health care services more than non-policy holders due to their little out-of-pocket spending, resulting in the adverse effects on the finances of National Health Insurance. This study aims to increase the objective understanding of the issue and to draw a direction of further research, by reviewing the articles, reports and statistics which examined the effects of purchasing PHI policies on health care utilization. Significant differences in healthcare utilization, except for the very partial increase of utilization in outpatient settings, have been not found. The similar trends of the results have existed in a few previous studies which tried to control the endogeneity of medical use and health insurance with latent variables which affect the decision on medical use and health insurance. However, we can not exclude the potential change of healthcare utilization patterns because the portion of the insured of indemnity PHI is becoming rapidly larger in the market. For further research, we should try to obtain the objective information of subjects' past medical history, health status, health related behavior, and income affecting purchase of PHI and utilization of healthcare services. And the efforts of controlling the endogeneity of medical use and health insurance with latent variables which affect the decision on medical use and health insurance, are very considerable.