FACTORS AFFECTING PRIVATE HOSPITAL CHOICE

Abstract

Hospitals have an important role on providing healthcare services. Many factors, such as increase in social awareness about health, changing expectations, increased income level, and new regulations applied by the government, have made individuals more selective and careful about their hospital choice. Healthcare sector, where the competition is intense, in order to increase attractiveness of hospitals, it is important to determine the factors that are important for individuals’ hospital choice. In this study, it is aimed to examine the importance level of factors influencing the choice of private hospitals. The research performed for this purpose was conducted in October 2018 – November 2018 in Istanbul. People living in Istanbul and at least 18 years old are included in the study population. In order to collect the data, online survey method was used, and 388 valid questionnaires were included in the study. According to the analyses, top three factors affecting the private hospital choice are; cleanliness of the hospital, having the results in a short time, and starting to the treatment as soon as possible. On the other hand, the three factors with the lowest impact in the selection of private hospitals are recommendations of previous patients, recognition of doctors, and gender of the physician and health personnel. According to these results, it is recommended that private hospitals should focus on activities related to cleanliness, examination and treatment time in order to be preferred.