THE EFFECTS OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE TO INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUSTOMER OPINIONS IN HEALTHCARE

Aim: Hospitals can determine the strengths of organization and improvement strategies by implementing business excellence models to increase customer satisfaction. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of business excellence dimensions on internal and external customer opinions. Methods: The universe of the study is public hospitals in Izmir urban area. Four hospitals included in the study and 488 healthcare workers agreed to participate to study. Survey was developed from the Malcolm Baldrige National Excellence Award Healthcare Criteria. Findings: Factor analysis revealed six business excellence dimensions: strategic planning; workforce focus; process management; customer focus; leadership; and measurement, analysis, knowledge management. Correlation analysis showed that business excellence dimensions have strong relations between each other and internal and external customer opinions. According to regression analysis, International Journal Health Management and Tourism https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ijhmt AYDIN, TÜTÜNCÜ 565 customer focus, process management and measurement, analysis, knowledge management effect to the external customer. Workforce focus, process management and leadership effect to the internal customer. Conclusion: In order to improve the internal and external customer opinions in healthcare organizations, hospital managerial teams have to focus on processes and workforce, give importance to be more patient centered and plan their strategies according to customers’ opinions. This study helps the hospitals, in which areas should be focused on primarily when developing policies and strategies; and preparing plans for future developments.