Research Problem and Purpose
The purpose of this quantitative, retroactive, correlational research was to determine the association that existed between “rural allied health care mean customer satisfaction scores and allied health care departments’ generation of revenue for hospital” (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 1).
It has been observed that allied health care practitioners were important in enhancing the quality of life while the departments increased revenue generation for hospitals. Therefore, customer satisfaction was imperative in this context.
Literature Review
A sufficient number of past studies was used in this study to provide background information about the use of health care facilities and customer satisfaction. Literature review shows that patients will continue to influence the success of rural health care facilities because of reimbursement under the Medicare program. In this regard, patient satisfaction will be a significant factor for reimbursement.
Patient satisfaction is now a quality mandate for care providers.
Study Framework
While no evident study framework was developed for the study, from the literature provided, one can deduce that the study framework focused on allied rural health care providers, customer satisfaction, and Medicare program reimbursement.
Research Objectives, Questions, or Hypothesis
The research objective was to determine to mean customer satisfaction and allied rural hospital generation of revenues.
The question for this study embedded user satisfaction, management, and associated health care providers’ instruction (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2).
The study question looked at the possible relationships between various health care providers’ customer service expertise and total revenues generated for the hospital (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2).
The following hypotheses were developed for the study after considering the customer satisfaction and profitability relationship.
Hypotheses
The null hypothesis indicated that there was no association between various hospital-related units’ revenue generation and different measures of linked health care patient satisfaction between April 2008 to April 2010” (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2).
The hypothesis for the study noted that there was a relationship between hospital different departments’ revenue generations and other different indicators of related hospital patient satisfaction between April 2008 to April 2010 (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2).
Study Variables
The study had two variables, which aimed to show the relationship between them. They included “customer service skills of allied health care practitioners and hospital’s financial success” (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2).
Assumptions
While no clear assumptions were provided for the study, it was imperative to assume that the two variables could interact to offer health care providers a model that captured patient service satisfaction. Besides, it would show revenue generation trends and hospital growth to ensure that health care services were accessible and affordable for rural folks (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011).
Limitations
The researcher did not explicitly state the research limitations. However, it was noted that the quantitative study did not identify any vital relationship between “allied health care practitioner customer service skills and the hospital’s gross revenue in the inpatient setting” (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 4).
Research Design
The study design was quantitative, ex post facto, correlational research (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011). The design was meant to demonstrate the correlations between hospital gross revenues and customer service satisfaction. These variables were believed to be important in determining Medicare reimbursement and the success of allied rural health care facilities (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011).
Population and Sample
Data for the study were obtained from a rural hospital in northeastern Oklahoma.
Methods of Measurement
No existing measures or standards were adopted for the study. Instead, the researcher obtained records of “revenues and various data with satisfaction scores for the Emergency Department and Inpatient units collected every month” (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2). These data were used to assess the hypothesis, and possible associations were drawn based on a statistical value obtained from the results.
Data Collection
Data were collected for the past 25 months on historical records containing revenue reports and patient satisfaction survey mean scores.
Data Analysis
Data for analysis were obtained from revenue reports and patient satisfaction survey results. Data analysis involved Pearson correlations. The study variables were evaluated based on time measures while Pearson correlations were applied to indicate the relationship between the variables of the study (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011).
Pearson correlations were analyzed between data collected every month for revenues and results for patient satisfaction surveys collected from the emergency unit while data from Inpatient departments were also analyzed differently to evaluate the hypothesis of the research (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2). The researcher was interested in significant associations.
Research Outcomes
For the Emergency Department, the study results showed that the null hypothesis was rejected, but it was accepted for the Inpatient areas. While many significant relationships for linked hospital patient satisfaction results and facility accumulated revenues were noted, they were not statistically significant (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 4).
Rural hospitals that did poorly about patient satisfaction could be shut down because of diminishing reimbursement. For the inpatient departments, there was no significant correlation between allied health care practitioner customer service skills and the hospital’s gross revenue (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 4).
Other trends that could have impacted patient satisfaction and revenue were also identified as seasonal factors such as flu season, holidays and physician vacations, and referral for diagnostic testing revenues.
References
Ellis-Jacobs, K. (2011). A Quantitative Correlational Study on the Impact of Patient Satisfaction on a Rural Hospital. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 9(4), 1-6.