Middleton Hospital Case

Introduction and Case background: The case has to be summarized giving a brief background of
some situational issues faced by the management.

Management Decision Problem: Alfred Robson, superintendent of Middleton Hospital, in order

to maintain its reputation as one of city’s best hospital wanted to know patients’ perception of
its services compared to that of its competitors.

Management research problem: Perception/ satisfaction survey of patients on hospital

characteristics and quality of services provided by Middleton Hospital with respect to he
competition.

Subproblem/research questions:

Sub-problem 1: To determine image of Middleton Hospital on quality of services and hospital

characteristics.

Research question 1: What are the various hospital characteristics, areas of patient care that
may be a cause of patients’ dissatisfaction.

Sub-problem 2: To make a competitive analysis with other city hospitals.

Research Question 2: Where does the Middleton hospital stands in comparison to other city
hospitals on the various hospital characteristics and service parameters.

Research Methodology:

Part 1: Sources of Data.

Secondary source:

1) Report of consumer survey on public opinion towards hospitals.

2) Some minutes of meeting with hospital staff identifying areas of patient
dissatisfaction.

Primary Data source:

1) For exploratory phase, the internal staff members of the hospital who will be
identifying all parameters of hospital services and characteristics which go into
building up reputation or image or perception of the hospital in the minds of the
patients.
2) For descriptive phase, recent patients of Middleton and other city hospital and
general public residing in nearby areas.
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 Part 2: Research Design.

As the parameters of hospital services and characteristics are not clearly identifiable
even after getting inputs in a meeting with the hospital staff, so it is advised to take
another round of interviews with the internal staff during the first phase of research to
complete the list of parameters which goes into building patients’ perception about the
hospitals.

Hence it is proposed to have a two phase research process.

Phase 1: Exploratory research: Initial research to be conducted with the internal

staff/management of the hospital and few recent patients in order to completely
identify the list of variables which build up the patients’ perception on hospital
services/characteristics. We can develop a conceptual framework in the form of a single
construct called “Service Quality” covering all concepts and corresponding variables
related to the above construct. For eg. Transaction/operation time, Behavior of the
hospital staff, Ambience of the rooms, attitude of the staff, assistance of volunteers,
food and library services etc.

The data collection/research methods used in exploratory phase can be in depth

interviews or focus group interviews with Middleton hospital staff to get an insight into
the parameters which determine hospital “Service Quality”.

Phase 2: Descriptive research: The second phase is a quantitative and is proposed to be

descriptive research phase where the structured questionnaire is prepared to measure
the factors of service quality on appropriate scale.

Data collection method should include survey from recent patients of Middleton and
other city hospitals along with some public in general. The respondents will be asked to
rate the variables of service quality as per their perceptions as well as the importance
they attach to each of these variables. The final scores which are calculated can be used
for data analysis.

Part 3: Sampling Design.

For Exploratory Phase

 Target population: Internal staff, management and recent patients of Middleton and
other city hospitals.
 Sampling Framework: Database of employees and patients.
 Sampling method: Non-probability method (Judgement Sampling) taking a sample from
all departments and wards of the hospitals.

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  Sample Size: Small sample < 30 (a mix of all respondents mentioned above.

For Descriptive Phase

 Target population: Recent patients from Middleton and other city hospitals and some
city public (who are residents of nearby area with suitable demographics)
 Sampling Framework: List of patients recently admitted in the hospital and the
telephone or a household directory for city residents.
 Sampling method: Probability sampling especially simple random method.
 Sample Size: Large sample ≥ 30

Part 4: Data Analysis.

When the conceptual framework is ready following the exploratory phase of research and the
construct of service quality is ready with all identifiable variables, the following hypothesis can
be formulated as per research Question 1 and 2 which can be further tested through data
collected via descriptive phase of the research.

Ha1: Middleton hospital has a positive perception of “service quality”.

H0: µ ≤ 3

Ha1: µ > 3

Ha2: Middleton hospital has a better perception of “service quality” than other city hospitals.

H0: D = 0

Ha1: D > 0

Where is the mean difference in the rating of Middleton hospital with other city hospitals.

Part 5: Results and findings.

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The results of hypotheses tested can be inferred and used as the basis of recommendation to
Mr. Robson.