THE HEALTHCARE CONSUMER: SATISFIED OR HAPPY – A REVIEW

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Customer satisfaction is an important aspect for any organisation.Satisfied customers,ensure loyalty to the organisation.Building customer loyalty has an advantage (Bansal and Gupta,2001).Much academic research has taken place in this field (Stenbery, 1997).The concept of Happiness has been around for centuries. Early philosophers and great thinkers,date back to Aristotle,Plato and Socrates,in the western world and,closer to home we have Buddha, with his Middle Path; Confucius and the Dalai Lama. Satisfaction denotes less stress, which can lead to health, whereas happiness indicates not just health but exceeding customers' expectation too. OBJECTIVE:The review was done mainly through published articles to gain an insight in the areas of happiness and satisfaction and their measurements. METHODOLOGY: The review used descriptive cross-sectional research design using secondary sources related to satisfaction and happiness. Very few studies have focused on the patient in terms of both satisfaction as well as happiness.The review mainly identified concepts of satisfaction and happiness, for services in industry and was then related to the healthcare industry. RESULTS:A lot of efforts went into the concept of Satisfaction;however,Happiness was the new trend. CONCLUSION: The healthcare industry is unique, and management and delivery of customer experience service excellence is the ultimate goal.