The excellence of patient-centered healthcare: Investigating the links between empowerment, co-creation and satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, international healthcare agendas are focused on patient centeredness. Policies are aimed at improving patient’s satisfaction by enhancing patient empowerment and value co-creation. However, a comprehensive model addressing the relationships between these constructs has not so far been developed. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model which explains the effects of patient empowerment and value co-creation on patients’ satisfaction with the quality of the services they experience.

Design/methodology/approach

The links between patient satisfaction, empowerment and value co-creation are theoretically outlined via an in-depth literature review. The resulting model is tested through a survey administered to 186 chronically ill patients. The results are analyzed through covariance-based structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that patient empowerment positively influences value co-creation which, in turn, is positively related to patient satisfaction. In addition, the analysis reveals that patient empowerment has no direct effects on satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

Although the cross-sectional design made it possible to clearly estimate the relationships among variables, it overlooked the longitudinal dimensions of co-creation processes.

Practical implications

The study provides practitioners with suggestions to design patient-centered healthcare services by leveraging on patient knowledge, participation, responsibility in care and involvement in the value-creation process.

Originality/value

Over the last decade, healthcare management literature has shifted its focus from healthcare organizations to patients. The number of contributions about patient satisfaction, empowerment and value co-creation exponentially increased. However, these dimensions are often studied separately. This work advances available knowledge by clarifying and testing the relationships between these three constructs.

Citation

Moretta Tartaglione, A., Cavacece, Y., Cassia, F. and Russo, G. (2018), "The excellence of patient-centered healthcare: Investigating the links between empowerment, co-creation and satisfaction", The TQM Journal, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 153-167. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-11-2017-0138