The impact of doctor-patient interaction on patient loyalty in eye healthcare delivery at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. The mediating role of service quality.

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August, 2016
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Abstract
Since the introduction of the National Health Insurance Act, Act 650 (2003), the financial barrier which prevented many from accessing certain healthcare institutions was removed, enabling patients to now have a wider range of accessible healthcare facilities to choose from. This has resulted in competition, with some healthcare institutions, whose only advantage was affordability, now losing patients, and therefore revenue. Many healthcare institutions are now having to find other ways of maintaining and building the loyalty of their patients. This study seeks to investigate the effect of doctor-patient interaction on patient loyalty in the KATH Eye Center, and the mediating role of service quality in this relationship. 450 patients at the KATH Eye Centre were sampled using accidental sampling method, out of which 419 responses were received, representing a 93.1% response rate. Data was gathered via questionnaires and analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel v.2013. Reliability testing using Cronbach Alpha was done on the data, after which descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed to help describe an accurate profile of persons and situations and to help determine the associations existing amongst the variables under study. Hierarchical regression analysis was also done to establish mediation. The findings of this study show that there is a statistically significant and positive relationship between doctor-patient interaction and patient loyalty. It also reveals that service quality has a partial mediation effect on this relationship. It further shows that doctor-patient interaction shares a significant and positive relationship with service quality, and that service quality also has a significant and positive relationship with patient loyalty. These findings imply that efforts being made to increase patient loyalty at the KATH Eye Centre must be aimed towards improving the doctor-patient interaction and service quality at the KATH Eye Centre.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Business Department of Marketing and Corporate Strategy in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management and Consulting Option) Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology College of Art and Social Sciences School of Business.
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