Issue 12 (Summer 2011) - Cardiff Business School - Cardiff University

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CBS_Synergy Research Marketing messages fail to resonate with mothers Recent research by Professor Lindgreen reveals that patient care is a priority for mothers when choosing a healthcare provider Mothers do not trust marketing, advertising and recommendations from healthcare service staff, instead relying upon word-of-mouth recommendations, according to a new study. Research by Cardiff Business School’s Professor Adam Lindgreen and RMIT University’s Dr Angela Dobeloe found that mothers felt more confident in their choice of healthcare provider when using recommendations from other parents. Professor Lindgreen says: “Choosing healthcare providers for your child is a big responsibility. There is an information imbalance, where the healthcare provider has a lot more knowledge and information than the patient or their parents. It is difficult to judge the quality of the service that you receive and your child, the patient, is completely reliant upon the medical professional to determine a suitable treatment.” The study has significant implications for healthcare marketing. Professor Lindgreen explains: “For many organisations it is a common practice to try to ‘add value’ to your existing products. Our study shows that tactics like this are unlikely to work within the healthcare industry. “Mothers do not trust commercial marketing messages from healthcare providers – trying to sway their opinions with ‘cheaper’ product-bundling strategies, for example, is likely to create concern or confusion.” The survey suggests that the healthcare industry needs to concentrate less on selling strategies and more on reinforcing the ‘service value’ that a patient receives. Medical staff are judged on characteristics such as their bedside manner and their skills in handling children. The politeness of receptionists and other support staff is also very important. “Organisations ultimately need to focus on their commitment to patient care in order to win the recommendations of other parents which, in turn, will create more business,” adds Professor Lindgreen. Mothers do not trust commercial marketing messages from healthcare providers Professor Lindgreen A structural problem National measures to reduce hospital-acquired infections and unnecessary deaths could be affected by local management of hospital services. Professor Martin Kitchener is investigating the claims Experts in organisational management from Cardiff Business School will embark on a three-year study to establish why measures to improve patient safety work better in some parts of the country than others. “It’s estimated that one in ten NHS hospital patients are harmed during their care,” says Professor Martin Kitchener from Cardiff Business School, an expert in the organisation of healthcare. “Along with the human costs, safety incidents are a drain on NHS resources, costing an estimated £3.5bn a year in additional bed days and negligence claims. We already know that, as a result of increased public awareness, patient safety is top of the public and political agenda and, as a consequence, we’ve seen a series of improvement programmes introduced to improve patient safety. “However, we also know that outcomes are patchy as a result of the ways hospitals are structured, their 12 www.cf.ac.uk/carbs culture and differing managerial priorities. “This study will help establish, for the first time, the evidence we need to understand why we have differing outcomes for patients in different parts of Wales and help take action to address them.” The research team from Cardiff Business School has been awarded a £330,000 grant by the National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery and Organisation Programme. The study will examine features of organisation and management associated with the successful local implementation of a national hospital patient safety programme. Professor Kitchener explains: “Recent studies have found that many safety interventions fail to deliver the expected improvements because of ‘unanticipated’ organisational features such as inappropriate structures and competing priorities. Outcomes of NHS patient safety innovations vary across hospitals, demonstrating that the organisational context of implementation matters.” The study will combine insights from organisational theory with realist analysis to examine relationships between aspects of organisational context and health outcomes in the Welsh national 1000 Lives Plus patient safety programme. Outcomes of NHS patient safety innovations vary across hospitals, demonstrating that the organisational context of implementation matters Professor Kitchener
Research Leaning the NHS The NHS has adopted Lean philosophy to transform wasteful, unproductive and unsafe working practices. However, Professor Radnor believes there is still some way to go to improve processes Specifically, the study will combine existing health outcome data with new primary data on context to examine the introduction of three safety interventions: improving leadership, reducing infection rates and implementing surgical checklists. The primary goal will be to identify which contextual factors matter and explain how and why they matter in order to improve the processes and outcomes. During the first year the study will interview programme leaders, clinicians, nurses and managers at nine case hospital sites, including hospitals that exhibit variation in organisational features. In year two, four main sites will be selected for detailed study. The primary goal will be to develop a better understanding of local relations between context and performance concerning the focal interventions. Professor Kitchener, who will lead the study, alongside experts from the University of Nottingham and Auckland University, adds: “The study will help us develop an evidence base to improve the efforts of policy makers and managers. We aim to develop a model which could act as a diagnostic tool for new patient safety interventions in future. Crucially, we hope our findings will help NHS services across the country to develop improvement interventions that are more likely to ‘work’ in their local, contingent circumstances.” The study is set to begin in October and is expected to be completed in 2014. Lean’s core philosophy is to continually improve a process by removing non-value added steps or ‘waste’. Developed by Toyota, the application of Lean principles in healthcare, particularly in hospitals, should remove duplicate processes and unnecessary procedures. Not surprisingly, the NHS is keen to use Lean to better meet customers’ demands and improve its management processes. However, Professor Zoe Radnor’s study of four NHS hospitals has found that, although Lean has been used to good effect to enable simple changes and quick wins, more permanent cross-departmental streamlining has not been enacted. Professor Radnor explains: “Reduced waiting times, improved services for the patient, removal of duplicate processes and a better understanding of the roles and relationship with other departments are common. “However, while staff are enthused by simple changes, these have not necessarily delivered a smoother service to patients. Staff are beginning to recognise the problems and issues, and what changes were needed, but they are not always given the opportunity to The NHS is keen to use Lean to better meet customers’ demands and improve its management processes implement change.” One of the difficulties facing the NHS organisations is determining customer value. Professor Radnor notes: “There are few examples of hospitals working to understand what the patient, as the customer, requires, expects or desires in terms of value. The definitions of the customer rarely take a system-wide ‘patient pathway’ view that ranges from entry into the hospital until discharge, and so activities undertaken in one department or stage of the care pathway are not necessarily aligned to those undertaken in others or the delivery of value at a broader system-wide level.” Professor Radnor adds: “In order for Lean to bring successes the NHS needs to realise that its implementation is a long-term programme and not a short-term fix. The current context for the NHS, particularly the Nicholson Challenge (to save £20bn by 2014), means there is little doubt that there is a burning need for implementing Lean with the pressure to reduce the cost base and become more efficient. It must be seen as an approach which could turn the crisis into an opportunity, supporting the ways in which healthcare services are to be delivered. The financial challenge for the NHS is coming: what Lean can do, and is doing, for the health sector, is allow the challenge to be met systematically and effectively.” www.cf.ac.uk/carbs 13
Page 1 and 2: Synergy Cardiff Business School www
Page 3 and 4: Contents The greening of supply cha
Page 5 and 6: Max Clifford shares secrets at laun
Page 7 and 8: A day in the life of... The Centre
Page 9 and 10: Feature Cardiff has much to offer b
Page 11: triumphs of Leaders went to uncommo
Page 15 and 16: Research Villains or victims... ban
Page 17 and 18: Feature The European Monetary Union
Page 19 and 20: The importance of internet analytic

Issue 12 (Summer 2011) - Cardiff Business School - Cardiff University

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