Implementation of Customer Relationship Management System (CRMS) In Healthcare: An Actor-Network Theory (ANT) Perception

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the customer relationship management system (CRMS) implementation using actor-network theory (ANT) in the medical field. Many studies have suggested that the development of CRM can be very beneficial for hospitals, medical professionals and patients. At the same time, other studies have indicated that CRM is a successful notion of improving healthcare business, service quality and overall satisfaction. This study aims to explore the implementation CRM in the Malaysian healthcare sector, and in order to achieve this aim a qualitative approach will be applied. A number of private hospitals located in the state of Perak have been interviewed, but currently on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions. The findings from several IT executives and medical professionals indicated that no hospital has fully implemented the CRM yet and there is a lack of knowledge on what does CRM really means. However, further investigations will be taking place in various states and hospitals once restrictions were eased to find out more about the current status of CRM implementation. We believe that ANT can be very valuable in evaluating the CRMS implementation in healthcare, as it can help in exploring how certain technologies would form human’s interaction.