Do Patient Experiences Have Mediating Roles on Patient Loyalty?

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Experience Research
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Patient loyalty is a critical metric for healthcare providers.
• Understanding the factors influencing patient loyalty is essential for service improvement.
• Previous research has explored various drivers of patient satisfaction and loyalty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mediating role of patient experiences on patient loyalty.
• To analyze the direct and indirect effects of specific hospital operational factors on patient loyalty.
• To quantify the impact of nursing care, physician interactions, and waiting times on patient loyalty.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 5732 patients from outpatient clinics.
• Data collection via electronic questionnaires assessing patient experiences and loyalty.
• Patient loyalty measured using the Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• Mediation analyses to evaluate direct and indirect causal pathways.

Main Results:

• Nursing care experiences significantly mediated patient loyalty (Net Promoter Score) in both models.
• Surgical Medical Science and Day Shift demonstrated a direct mediating effect on patient loyalty.
• Positive nursing care experiences were strongly associated with higher patient loyalty.

Conclusions:

• Nursing care quality is a crucial mediator of patient loyalty in healthcare settings.
• Operational factors such as surgical services and shift timings also directly impact patient loyalty.
• Healthcare organizations should prioritize enhancing nursing care experiences to foster patient loyalty.