Abstract:

The aim of this research is to reveal the factors that affect the private hospital preference of patients who are health care consumers. The data of the research were obtained from the questionnaires made with 504 people who received health care at least once from private hospitals located in the city center of Samsun province. In the research, six factors influencing hospital preference were determined: Physician, service quality, advertisement-promotion, physical factors, social responsibility, and satisfaction. Based on the results of the research, for choosing a private hospital; physician and service quality are more important for women according to men, and satisfaction and physical factors are more critical for the married according to singles. Another result obtained from the research, people who go to a private hospital when they need medical treatment to choose the physician factor but on the other hand those who apply to the hospital once per six months into account the advertising-promotion factor more. In accordance with the results of the research, it can be said that hospitals must fulfill the expected improvements in order to stand out among their many competitors in the sector.

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