The importance of relationship marketing in healthcare: differences and similarities in the physician-patient relationship in the Romanian private and public healthcare sectors
The importance of relationship marketing in healthcare: differences and similarities in the physician-patient relationship in the Romanian private and public healthcare sectors

Summary/Abstract: Introduction This article describes how relationship marketing is defined and generally perceived, how important it is for business and how it applies to the healthcare system. There are three major categories of relationship marketing strategies that successful healthcare units practice: attracting new patients, patient retention and patient loyalty. A study was conducted in order to observe if there are any differences between the physician-patient relationship in the private and public healthcare sectors in Bucharest, Romania. Methods A qualitative research was performed using the questionnaire method. Data from 41 physicians (21 from the private healthcare sector and 20 from the public healthcare sector) was obtained by answering the same questions regarding the physician-patient relationship, patient retention and loyalty. The statistical analysis was performed using Pearson’s Chi-squared test. Results The general characteristics of the two groups were balanced in terms of gender distribution and experience in healthcare, but a significant difference was identified concerning the type of diseases that the respondents generally worked with. Practitioners from the public sector reported that they more often worked with patients with acute and chronic diseases alike, while healthcare practitioners from the private sector stated that they worked mostly with chronic diseases. In terms of the physician-patient relationship, the two study groups responded similarly to the questions regarding patient satisfaction and retention, feedback, social statute importance and general communication with patients. However, differences were identified concerning patient loyalty strategies and benefits offered to patients, which were considerably more important in the private sector, and also the average duration of consultation was higher in the private healthcare sector (21-30 minutes) than in the public healthcare sector (11-20 minutes). Conclusions Practitioners from the private and public healthcare sectors alike are aware of the importance of the physician-patient relationship. The private healthcare sector has a greater emphasis on patient loyalty strategies by offering various benefits to make the patients return.

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