INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH CARE QUALITY ASSURANCE最新文献

Purpose: This study examines how leaders could use spiritual values to influence the adaptive performance of health workers to deliver quality care to patients through the mediation and moderation effects of optimism and trust, respectively.

Design/methodology/approach: We employed a quantitative approach to collect data from 356 health workers and used the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS -SEM) technique to test the hypotheses in the study.

Findings: The study found that health leaders' application of spiritual values positively influenced the adaptive performance of health workers in delivering quality patient care. Moreover, health workers' optimism was identified as a mediating variable in the relationship between spiritual leadership and adaptive performance, indicating that optimistic attitudes partially explain how spiritual leadership translates into improved adaptability. While trust among health workers was positively associated with their adaptive performance, it did not moderate the relationship between spiritual leadership and adaptive performance. This suggests that although trust is important for performance, it does not strengthen the influence of spiritual leadership on adaptability.

Originality/value: This study offers new insights into the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which health leaders can leverage spirituality to enhance health workers' performance in delivering quality healthcare. By examining the sequential roles of optimism (as a mediator) and trust (as a moderator), the study integrates elements of positive psychology into the framework of spiritual leadership theory. This approach deepens our understanding of how intervening personality traits can shape the relationship between leadership styles and employee performance, thereby highlighting the psychological pathways that support improved outcomes in healthcare settings.

Purpose: This research examines the relationship across the five dimensions of SERVQUAL (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) with satisfaction and loyalty of patients at public university hospitals in Thailand and the moderating effects of age and visit frequency in these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey method was used to gather data from three major public university hospitals in Thailand. A total of 390 questionnaires were analyzed using the structural equation model.

Findings: The results demonstrate that patient satisfaction is positively impacted by each of the five service quality dimensions. Patient loyalty and service quality are mediated by patient satisfaction. The impact of each dimension of service quality on patient satisfaction and loyalty varies depending on patients' age group and their frequent visits.

Originality/value: This study demonstrates that visit frequency is a better predictor for moderating effect as it can explain how frequent-and infrequent-visit patients differ in their service quality preferences, which affects patient satisfaction and patient loyalty.

Purpose: The factors that influence citizen loyalty toward Union Health and Family Welfare Centers are examined in this study, with particular attention paid to the connections among service quality, public trust, satisfaction and loyalty in the provision of primary healthcare.

Design/methodology/approach: Using a structured survey and a quantitative approach, this study collected data from 439 respondents. The study uses structural equation modeling to identify both direct and indirect effects among the constructs, providing important new information on the factors determining citizen loyalty.

Findings: The results show that in public healthcare, service quality affects citizen loyalty indirectly through public trust (PT) and satisfaction (SA), rather than directly. Public trust emerged as the strongest driver of long-term engagement, while satisfaction served as a key mediator. These findings challenge traditional SQ-loyalty models and highlight the need to include mediating constructs in public health research to better capture loyalty dynamics.

Research limitations/implications: The theoretical ramifications call for a rethinking of loyalty models to take nonlinear and contextual linkages into consideration.

Practical implications: The practical implication offers strategic recommendations for healthcare policymakers and administrators, advocating for a focus on enhancing public trust and satisfaction as core elements in citizen loyalty initiatives.

Originality/value: This study is original and new, having a substantial contribution to the primary healthcare scholarship by providing a model that can inform policy interventions aimed at fostering sustainable, citizen-centered healthcare services.

Purpose: The right to privacy is an important value in medical ethics. This study was aimed at determining privacy-related attitudes and awareness of inpatients receiving health services in health institutions and revealing the affecting factors.

Design/methodology/approach: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 194 patients hospitalized in the general surgery department of a university hospital were included. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire. In the first part of the questionnaire, questions on the participant's descriptive characteristics and their knowledge about the subject were included. The second part included the "Patient Privacy Awareness and Attitude Scale."

Findings: The mean age of the participants was 47.60 ± 16.47 years. Of them, 60.8% were women, 83.0% were knowledgeable about patient privacy and 90.2% had heard of the concept of patient rights. A significant relationship was determined between the participants' awareness of patient privacy, and variables such as age, education level, financial status and knowledge about privacy.

Research limitations/implications: In this study, the majority of the participants were knowledgeable of patient privacy. Almost all of them thought that healthcare personnel were careful about patient privacy. While medical interventions were implemented, it was observed that the participants' body privacy-related awareness levels were high.

Practical implications: Patients' awareness of privacy is extremely important. Informational privacy is as important as physical privacy. Patients' awareness of privacy is extremely important. Informational privacy is as crucial as physical privacy. Patients' awareness of patient rights and privacy is crucial during the healthcare process.

Social implications: Patient rights are the embodiment of fundamental human rights within the context of the right to health. A heightened patient awareness of their rights is effective in increasing satisfaction with healthcare services. This study is believed to be effective in raising patient awareness of privacy.

Originality/value: This study aimed to determine the privacy attitudes and influencing factors of patients in a surgical clinic. Privacy is an important value in medical practice.

Purpose: This study explores the determinants of trust in telemedicine when its use was mandated during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. It extends the health belief model by incorporating two service related constructs: service quality and perceived cost.

Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted with 288 individuals who were confirmed COVID-19 patients and required to use telemedicine services during isolation. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to examine the relationships between health beliefs including perceived severity, perceived susceptibility and self-efficacy, service perceptions such as service quality and perceived cost, trust in telemedicine and behavioral intention to use telemedicine services.

Findings: The results showed that self-efficacy, service quality and perceived cost positively influenced trust in telemedicine. In contrast, perceived severity and perceived susceptibility did not have a meaningful impact. Trust was found to be a key factor in shaping patients' intention to continue using telemedicine services. Overall, the proposed model was supported, highlighting the importance of confidence and service related perceptions in building trust under mandatory usage conditions.

Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence on trust formation under mandatory telemedicine use, a scenario rarely explored in the literature. It demonstrates that trust is primarily driven by users' self-efficacy and service perceptions rather than by health risk perceptions, offering practical guidance for enhancing remote care engagement during policy enforced use conditions.

Purpose: Patient experience is a key component of quality of care. This study assessed patient experiences of dental care in Armenia, identifying associated factors and gaps between patients' expectations and care provided.

Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 164 dental patients from seven randomly selected dental clinics in Yerevan's seven largest districts. A self-administered questionnaire assessed patient experience and Patient Experience Scores (PES, range 1-5) were calculated.

Findings: A total of 164 respondents (response rate 83%) with mean age of 42 years completed the questionnaire. Overall satisfaction with the last visit was rated "excellent" by 52% (n = 86) patients, "good" by 34% (n = 56) and "poor-fair" by 13% (n = 21). The overall mean PES was 3.92. "Respect," "Pain management" and "Safety" were scored highest, indicating that they are the most valued aspects of care. The lowest scores were observed in "General satisfaction," "Privacy" and "Quality of care." Most domains (9 of 11) were positively correlated with PES. Increasing age was associated with lower PES (OR 0.98 per year), and higher standard of living with higher PES (3.17 average, 5.64 above average as compared to below average). The single "General Satisfaction" item averaged less than 3.0 and did not track with the other PES domains, a concern since the single item is often used in place of the full scale.

Originality/value: The concept of patient experience is complex. This first study of dental patient experience in Armenia provides a foundation for further research, including benchmarking and other efforts that will drive quality improvement.

Purpose: This study explores how doctors' characteristics, including effort, listening, expertise, and credibility, influence patients' perceptions of service quality in mobile health (mHealth) applications in the post-COVID-19 era. It also investigates whether the Need-for-Touch moderates the relationship between doctor-patient rapport and perceived service quality in non-face-to-face consultations.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted among Korean college students who used mHealth applications after the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 152 valid responses were collected and structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the relationships between doctors' characteristics, rapport, service quality, and the moderating effect of Need-for-Touch.

Findings: The results show that doctors' effort, listening, expertise, and credibility significantly enhance patients' perceptions of service quality through rapport-building in mHealth contexts. However, the Need-for-Touch did not moderate the rapport-service quality relationship, indicating that physical presence is less critical in remote healthcare consultations.

Originality/value: Previous studies emphasized the importance of Need-for-Touch in face-to-face healthcare environments, highlighting how physical interaction fosters patient trust, satisfaction, and rapport. However, this study shifts the focus to digital healthcare, examining how physician characteristics can compensate for the absence of physical touch in mHealth services. The findings extend current knowledge by demonstrating that service quality can be achieved through non-physical interactions. This perspective offers valuable implications for enhancing mHealth service delivery in the post-COVID-19 era.

Purpose: The article investigates the application of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), specifically Microsoft Copilot 365, in automating the drafting of regulatory reports for a national healthcare regulator. The initiative aimed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of AI technologies in reducing manual effort, maintaining quality and accuracy of report and enhancing operational efficiency in the regulatory reporting processes.

Design/methodology/approach: A proof of concept (PoC) was conducted to evaluate Microsoft Copilot 365's capabilities in generating high-quality draft reports. Sample data were extracted and structured from a data repository to train AI prompts. Test cases were selected to simulate real-world scenarios. AI-generated documents were compared with human-authored reports. Accuracy, completeness and overall quality was compared using standardised BERTScore and ROUGE-L metrics.

Findings: AI-generated reports closely matched human-authored documents in terms of accuracy, completeness and quality. BERTScore and ROUGE-L metrics indicated high alignment, with Copilot outputs showing strong consistency across various regulations. Feedback from stakeholders highlighted the AI's performance and its potential impact on time reduction.

Practical implications: The successful implementation of this PoC underscores the transformative potential of AI technologies in regulatory environments. Automating routine tasks may allow regulators to reallocate human resources to onsite inspection activities, enhancing overall operational effectiveness. The findings support the integration of AI in regulatory reporting, paving the way for future advancements in this domain.

Originality/value: This is the first paper to our knowledge that investigates the application of GenAI, specifically Microsoft Copilot 365, in automating the drafting of regulatory reports for a healthcare regulator.