Leading the Middle East market by improving customer focused healthcare

A group of Canadian researchers studying patient perceptions at Foothills Hospital in Alberta recently reached a simple conclusion: according to their one-year study of thirteen hundred discharged patients, being treated as an individual is by far more important to their satisfaction than getting better.

The study also revealed that patients consider that having timely and adequate information about their condition is more vital than the newness of facilities and the flexibility of hospital rules.

With the increasing population, mainly composed of expatriates, in GCC countries, there is a booming demand in the healthcare industry, resulting in a growing competition and new challenges in the private sector, especially customer focused healthcare.

Private hospitals which capitalize first on that challenge will definitely lead the market by providing the most satisfactory service.

"Besides having state of the art facility and advanced technology, the individual success of private hospitals will depend on better customer focused healthcare. Patients visiting those hospitals are well educated and internet savvy, hence the hospital providing superior customer focused healthcare can provide the right treatment and satisfy its patients. Treating patient illness and ensuring the wellness of the patient and its family are also considered important factors to the success of the hospital,"

explained Dr. N. Nallasivam, the Medical Director of Medcare Hospital at the first day of the third annual Healthcare Expansion Congress Mid-East yesterday.

Dr. N. Nallasivam also stated that there are various parameters to improve the customer satisfactory within the health organizations.

Moving towards the accreditation by the Joint Commission International, getting regular external quality control, carefully analysing customer feedbacks, conducting in-depth customer interviews, identifying areas of improvement and ensuring the right follow-up are the basics for building up a customer oriented service system.

"The Healthcare demand is surging; healthcare organizations need to find new solutions year after year due to the aging and significant growth of population and affluent diseases. Decision makers in the industry realize that the main challenges faced by the healthcare industry in the Middle East is the lack of customer focused healthcare and patient safety & care. Hence the third annual Healthcare Expansion Congress Mid-East is focusing on unveiling those areas of high concern in the region and helping organization to get inspired and learn effective strategies they can implement to further improve their organizations," explained Elena Bykova, the event producer of the Healthcare Expansion Congress Mid-East.

The third annual edition of the Healthcare Expansion Congress Mid-East kicked off yesterday morning and is closing today evening.

The congress is designed for 150 healthcare professionals who are looking into investing in developing and advancing their services and facilities.

The congress provides deep insights into the most relevant issues affecting the medical community today.

In addition participants have the opportunity to source the newest solutions for their current and upcoming projects while meeting leading global solution providers, such as HITACHI, EMC, Accenture, Blackberry, Drager Medical, HKS Inc and Philips.