Improving Hospital Patient Loyalty by Exploring the Concept of Customer Relationship Management
Improving Hospital Patient Loyalty by Exploring the Concept of Customer Relationship Management

Summary/Abstract: Research on the influence of customer relationship management (CRM) on patient satisfaction and loyalty is essential because CRM plays a pivotal role in building long-term relationships between patients and healthcare providers. Besides, the moderating role of electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) is relevant, as patients' digitally shared opinions and experiences can either enhance or diminish the impact of CRM on patient satisfaction and loyalty. This study aims to identify the influence of CRM on patient satisfaction and loyalty, as well as the moderating effect of e-WOM in this context. The methodology employs a qualitative approach, utilizing a survey of 213 hospital patients, with responses measured on a 1 to 5 Likert scale. The study was also designed to examine the economic contribution of the CRM strategy to hospital profits through linear trend analysis.   Quantitatively, the financial performance was measured using return on investment (ROI) and operating margin. Two different periods were compared: 2011–2017 (before CRM implementation) and 2018–2024 (after CRM implementation). The results of hypothesis testing indicate that CRM has a significant positive impact on patient satisfaction, which, in turn, positively influences patient loyalty through patient satisfaction. Nonetheless, patient satisfaction does not have a significant direct effect on patient loyalty. Other empirical findings confirm that patient satisfaction can indirectly foster patient loyalty through the positive impact of CRM. The other result found that e-WOM plays a significant moderating role by strengthening the causality between CRM and patient loyalty, enhancing the positive effect of CRM on loyalty. There is a concrete distinction between the CRM strategy implemented by hospital management and the operational margin. First, without CRM, it is known that ROI increases the hospital's operational margin by 89.93%. Second, the hospital's operational margin improves further when ROI utilizes CRM, with an increase of 94.45%. These findings imply that hospitals should prioritize improving the quality of CRM in terms of medical services, communication, and information technology. Furthermore, adopting e-WOM as a tool for building reputation and patient loyalty is crucial. This research offers valuable insights for hospital managers to design more effective strategies for creating patient satisfaction and loyalty through enhanced relationship management and leveraging social media.

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