Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011 Abstract

CRM is unquestionably one of the most discussed topics in approximately all existing industries in the world and there are strong indications that will dominate the way of conducting business from now on. Especially in the healthcare industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether CRM is applied in the Greek private healthcare industry and if not how can it be applied. Firstly , CRM will be discussed as a topic and how practitioners and academics feel of CRM applied in the healthcare industry. Further on, the methodology of this research is discussed in terms of what steps will be taken. Once the methodology is established and chosen, the limitations will be presented, that may occur by choosing the certain methodology. Expected outcomes are presented, as well as timetable of future steps. By analyzing the findings, the research should provide the current situation of CRM application in Greek private health care sector. The results should not be taken for granted .

Filipescu Anka Eirini1

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

Table of contents

1. Introduction..p. 3 2. Literature review..p. 4 CRM potentials and its application in private healthcare sector: A case study in Greece 3. Research objectives..p. 7 4. Methodologyp. 7 5. Data Collection.p. 8

6. Sample..p. 8 7. Ethical Issues.p. 9 8. Limitations..p. 9

9. Expected outcomes.p. 10 10. Action planp. 11

11. References..p. 13
Filipescu Anka Eirini2

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

1. Introduction

There are few industries that are so important to the lives of all consumers and one of them is the healthcare industry. Healthcare is the only industry where the described relationships between customers and providers are literally described as a matter of life and death, and consumers nowadays are no longer willing to tolerate the levels of services provided which once seemed acceptable(Datamonitor, 2005) . Healthcare industry is widely accepted as being one of the most customer-centric industries and healthcare providers and private practices measure their success into keeping the customers/patients well and alive above all (Lager, 2006). Hospitals and private practices across the globe are facing increased pressure to increase the levels of operations to a higher standard from multiple directions. Although countries around the world differ in adapted approaches and health are systems , they all have a common goal: to operate in the best way possible, both from an efficient and effective point of view . Moreover, there is another common ground that every hospital and healthcare industry faces, and that are the challenges and the trends that exist, such as aging population, financial crisis, legal requirements and most important an ever-increasing need to be service-oriented. To maintain their competitive advantage , the healthcare industry and especially the private healthcare sector must organize better their services, while at the same time incorporate a more customer/patient centric strategy as CRM is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of achieving the highest possible positive reaction from the patients (Tapscott, 2008). Moreover , the healthcare sector will need to raise the level of customer service as more consumers have becomed empowered to choose plans and financial options. Additionally they have wider access to information about healthcare options and an annual opportunity to shop for health plans. In order to reamin however competitive and retain customers, healthcare providers must deliver value over and above prive and they must apply marketing directly to customers (Sell, 2002).

Filipescu Anka Eirini3

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

To add to, as Shamman (2002) has said, compared to previous generations, todays patients are more sophisticated about assessing the quality, cost and value of healthcare goods and services. As the experiences of any number of industries have shown, stiffer competition and evolving markets are inspiring more-customer-centric business models. Since this is the current state of the industry, healthcare providers have to work harder and connect to todays and tomorrows patients to give those customers a choice about how and when they want to interact , to ensure that every interaction offers a comprehensive and accessible profile of the customer and the information he or she desires, develop the capability to satisfy customers requests for insights and information at first contact and finally to treat customers as valued individuals by learning about their preferences, interests, concerns and desires (Shaman,2002)

2. Literature review
CRM potentials and its application in private healthcare sector: the case of Greece

As Paddison (2004) states, when CRM came on the health scene, few years agom some viewed it with skepticism and they saw it rather as a way to refine marketing and not to innovate and reinvent. However after the years passed by, it was proven that CRM is no longer a way to refine marketing but rather to reinvent it. The mergence of new healthcare trends and technology as mentioned above, has forced organizations to change the way they recruited and retained patients. Even the most well organized and best organization can fail from developing strong relationships with its customers , when the healthcare system is full with errors and inconsistencies. For this reason and to prevent such problems, Customer Relationship Management and Marketing (CRM) is the perfect solution. Although CRM for the healthcare seems simple enough, since it the healthcare industry is a customer-centric one, it may not be so
Filipescu Anka Eirini4

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

simple in actual practice. As Schumacher (2001) commented, one might think that the concept of CRM is implicit in the practice of healthcare. Moreover he said, that the relationship between a patient and his or her healthcare provider is one of the few most important relationships, since, when patients choose providers, they choose the ones that will provide them with the most accurate and complete information about their health. Because of these relationships, the healthcare industry is in a desperate need of a patient service overhaul to help them manage those relationships. In addition, governments and patients nowadays are more demanding that hospitals both in public and private sector to create or to improve already existing internal systems in order to provide better services, to minimize error and to improve clinical outcomes (Schumacher, 2001). According to Shaman (2002), these demands above represent the conceptual framework of CRM, which is more accurately a management discipline geared to help companies and eventually industries to become more effective marketers and better service providers. All CRM initiatives , regardless of industry or business mission begin with the acknowledgment that customer relationship management is a business strategy that seeks to align people, processes and technology within a goal-focused framework. In effect, its a different way of doing business of cultivating, interacting with and relating to the customers. Moreover, entities that do not think that rethinking their business strategies until now is crucial are intended to fail but because it concurrently works to optimize revenue, support profitable customer relationships and improve the efficiency of customer- facing processes, CRM may be one of the most straightforward and important actions that many healthcare organizations can take (Shaman, 2002). Moreover CRM applied in the healthcare private sector intends to improve the relationship between the patient and the medic, by increasing loyalty, to retain and nurture the existing relationships between the health provider and to improve the brand image and recognition by improving one-to-one services. However reaching this ideal will be a challenge as Sell (2002) argues, since the healthcare remains largely a transaction-based industry. To complete with, Compton (2004) argues that in order to complete this challenge, healthcare providers need information that is both deep in the sense of medical treatments and broad in the sense of products over time, and that only if the whole organizational culture adapts widely CRM
Filipescu Anka Eirini5

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

this will happen. Wright and Taylor (2005) have argued that even though it is clear that relationship marketing research has been focused predominantly on the private sector and has been grounded in the language of customers, customer retention, competitors, value and corporate strategy. However, in public services such as healthcare, marketing is a dangerous language for the public service to begin to speak . . . the language of commercialism fits ill with that of service; of course this does not apply in the private healthcare sector as well. Of course CRM fits more perfect in a private institution, and in this case it fits perfectly because first of al, private healthcare sector is private and because healthcare is considered, as mentioned above, to already be a customer-centric one. Finally, the healthcare industry has realized the importance of the quality of service provided by applying CRM into their systems. CRM industry leaders now offer customer relationship management solutions to help healthcare organizations deal with customer service issues while delivering excellent health services. CRM for the health care sector caters to largest health organization's sales, marketing, and customer service demands and of course CRM provides the organization with the chance to acquire and retain customer relationships (Anon, 2010). Although still many healthcare providers choose the transaction marketing approach to offer their services to the patients and often result in failing to deliver the best possible quality, there many believers that have adapted CRM into their organizational structure and culture and that give hope to both providers and customers of a better service and yet a better life. In Greece however, there are still many problems both concerning the public and private healthcare sectors. The public sector is recognized to be one f the most problematic that exist, but however the private one seem to rise at the expectations of a global organization standards. Meaning that the private healthcare sector in Greece is recently trying to adapt a more customercentric approach and a more friendly to the patient strategy in order to deliver the services promised. CRM could be applied perfectly into this industry since, the number of patients is small compared to other countries, and the number of patients that attend private hospitals is even smaller, and that could make it easier for nurturing a relationship and retain it at the same time. In other words, even thought the idea of CRM in the private practices exist it is still in an introductory stage.
Filipescu Anka Eirini6

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

3. Research objectives

Identify the structure of the private healthcare industry in Greece Identify existing and occurring needs of patients in the private healthcare sector in Greece Identify the demand and need of change of the existing healthcare structure Reveal at what extent CRM is being practiced Reveal at what extend the organizational performance and customer satisfaction is in the private hospitals Research how organizations and patients interact Reveal potential gaps in applying CRM Search for possible solutions and consequences of applying CRM in the Greek private healthcare industry Gather information and research and synthesize a complete business proposition of how to apply CRM in the most profitable way both for organizations and patients

4. Methodology

The research design is considered to be a significant part of a thesis. First of all, the topic of the research is selected and after the most appropriate methodology is selected in order to fulfill in the best way the research. The primary objective of this study is to what extent is CRM applied in the Greek private healthcare sector and how it can be improved. The results bared by this research however may not represent all the organizations in the private healthcare sector in Greece, thus reliability and results differ from organizational culture, structure , size and
Filipescu Anka Eirini7

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

untenable environmental factors. To continue with, the way that this research will be conducted will be by qualitative research. The qualitative research is chosen in this case, because this study has explanatory approaches and aims to search certain areas for gaps and solutions by investigating and observing carefully organizational behavior towards patients as well as the behavior of patients to the existing services provided by private hospitals. However, the main objective of research design is to provide in depth analysis as well as to examine methodologies which will be employed in order to explore research questions. Since, the qualitative research method is chosen for the purposes of this study, there are various research strategies such as multiple case study approach, which in this case will be very useful. Therefore, the technique chosen for this purpose in face-to-face interviews with patients , doctors and supervisors-managers of private hospitals and practices. A company that will serve to identify what the research asks for will be Euromedica S.A., which is a group of private hospitals and clinics throughout Greece. For this studys purposes the interviews will be conducted mainly in Thessalonikis headquarters hospital of the Euromedica group. To continue with, interviews will have a duration of 2 hours with patients, in the first hour they will be asked about general ideas (how they find the layout, size and other of the hospital) and in the second hour patients will be asked to answer more specific questions about their demands, the services provided, what needs to be changed and other. The interviews for the upper managers and doctors will be of one hour duration , and during that hour, they will be asked to answer questions concerning the services provided , the quality, the strategies involved. The interviews will take place in the premises of the hospital selected after being granted access to interview the patients. Of course patients, doctors and managers will be fully informed of the purpose if the interviews. By completing and conducting these interviews, hopefully a more insightful view of the existing situation will be displayed.

5. Data Collection

Filipescu Anka Eirini8

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

Regarding data collection, primary data will be gathered from interviews by which will be tested participants answers on specific issue. The interviews are going to be designed in way to be understandable by all interviewees and to cover all the areas of this study later to be analysed correctly. The interviews will be conducted in the hospital premises, as mentioned before, and the interviews will be parted in patients, doctors, and high-position managers. Moreover the interviews will be designed at a rational, appropriate and reasonable length in order to avoid other unrelated topics that could arise. Additionally, in order to increase validity and credibility, the relationship among interviewees will remain neutral. Also,secondary data will be collected from existing literature, various academic articles, and journals as well as company records, if they wish to release. In this way, more data will be collected.

6. Sample

The target group of this research are as previously stated patients doctors and managers of the specific organization. The sample will be randomly picked, but however it will not surpass the number of 30 people each category. The sample will consist of 30 patients, 20 doctors, and if possible 20 managers in order to have a more precise research.

Filipescu Anka Eirini9

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011 7. Ethical Issues

Ethical procedure specified by the university will be strictly followed. People involved in the research must not feel pressured to reveal any unwanted information which concerns their organizations. During the interviews, personal privacy as well as discretion will be guaranteed.. In advance, the participants will be properly informed about the intentions of the research. In addition, their names will not be disclosed to any third party. Collected data will be confidential and be used for the purposes of this specific study only.

8. Limitations

Due to the nature of this research, which is qualitative by conducting interviews minor errors and limitations in the data validity are expected. Moreover the time required for collecting and analyzing data as well as receiving appropriate feedback should be regarded as a kind of drawback to the overall research. Finally the language used could be considered as a limitation, since the interviews will be conducted in Greek.

9. Expected Outcomes
Due to the research so far, and to existing findings on the related topic that this study is about, it seems that both academics and practitioners agree that CRM is here to stay and more specifically has begun to play an important life in the healthcare industry. However, the topic is relatively new and still under investigation and the results that have been retrieved so far are still
Filipescu Anka Eirini10

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

debatable. Not much of the existing literature is dedicated specifically to the strategic side of CRM and how it can be applicable although there is notable literature that stresses out the importance of applying CRM in the healthcare industry. The results from this particular research will analyze the presence of CRM in the Greek private healthcare industry. The data collected however from interviews, will try to analyse deeper the applicability of CRM and further actions to be taken. Since this is an explanatory study in its nature, the possible outcomes are difficult to predict. The study however it is expected to analyze the application of CRM from different point of views and provide solutions to existing problems. Never the less, the expected findings should not be taken for granted.

10.

Action plan

February-March 2011 Formulating the dissertation topic Brief overview of related literature Consultation with the supervisor about work process April-May 2011 Preparation of the research proposal Gathering related literature for the research proposal Designing the structure of the proposal and the steps of the methodology Submitting the research proposal June-July 2011 Further research of literature analysis Preparation of the interview structure
Filipescu Anka Eirini11

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

Advising session with the supervisor Approval from the supervisor concerning the interview structure Conducting the interviews to the random sample selected Receiving feedback from the interviewed parties Checking of the data collected August-September 2011 Finalizing literature review Interpretation of data collected Discussing with supervisor about future processes Preparing a draft related to findings and sources Final comments from supervisor October 2011 Appointment with supervisor for last minute corrections Submission of the official version of the Dissertation

Filipescu Anka Eirini12

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

11.

References

Anon (2010) Health Care Industry Opts for CRM [online]. Available from : http://www.criminfoline.com/crm-articles/crm-health-care.htm [Accessed on 13th April 2011]

Compton, Jason (2004) Healthcare Organizations Turn to CRM to Cure their Ailing Customer Strategies. Customer Relationship Management, p. 20

Datamonitor (2005) Enterprise CRM: healthcare to grow three times faster than other verticals. Marketwatch:Global round-up, p. 170

Lager, Marshal (2006) CRM says Ahhh. Customer Relationship Management, p. 12-13

Paddison, Nancy (2004) CRM Grows Up. Health Management Technology, p. 50-53

Sell, Dave (2002) Managed Care and CRM. Health Management Technology, p.44-45

Schumacher, Scott (2001) Identity Management-At the heart of CRM. Health Management Technology, p. 26-29

Shaman, Hindy (2002) Customer Relationship Management in Healthcare: Building the Customer Centric HDO. CRM layout, p.1-23 Filipescu Anka Eirini13

Research Proposal-CRM in Greek private healthcare sector 2011

Tapscott, Don(2008) Business Intelligence for the Health Care Industry: Actionable Insights for Business Decision Makers. New Paradigm Learning Corporation, p.1-6

Wright, Gillian and Taylor, Andrew (2005) Strategic Partnerships and Relationship Marketing in Healthcare. Public Management Review, 7(2), p. 203-244

Filipescu Anka Eirini14