Experiential marketing in Healthcare: key elements of a “delightful patient experience”

Objective: the aim of research: (a) provide an analysis of the key items of patient experience, (b) adopt an experiential marketing perspective in the healthcare sector, (c) measure the impacts of different patient experience items on the overall satisfaction. Design and setting: four hospital key value drivers (Patient Empowerment, Privacy & Dignity, Atmosphere & Comfort and Technology) and their experience items were identified through literature review. A survey was then conducted in private and public hospitals across Italy. Questions were aimed to provide evidence of patients’ experiential items and their satisfaction. Additional information about improvement opportunities were also collected. Participants: a sample of 259 autonomous and collaborative in-patients selected by the staff of the hospitals. Main outcome measures: descriptive statistics, univariate and bivariate analysis were carried out. Beta coefficients were calculated to evaluate the relevance of each value driver. Results: results show the impact that each value driver has on the overall level of satisfaction. Findings demonstrate that Atmosphere & Comfort and Privacy & Dignity are the most impacting in shaping the experience and affecting satisfaction. They are followed by Patient Empowerment and Technology.