1. Goals of the course
In this course we will look at some important elements:
- Positioning = What do you want your stakeholders to believe your service is?
(service concept) à Abstract/strategies
- Processes = Her we make the ‘positioning’ less abstract. How will services be
delivered?
- Operational Performance
For these 3 we also have to take in account: the people (workers), the place (environment
where you work), Innovation (we have to rethink/redesign our processes)
5P’s and I
2. Towards service excellence in healthcare
2.1 The importance of service
Service plays a key role in many organisations, such as restaurants, hotels, supermarkets,
governments, banks, real estate, education, healthcare,..
Yet manufacturing organisations (which focus on the production of good) also recognise the
importance of service:
- After-sale service = Service plays a role when a sold good has defects
- Many manufacturing organisations provide integrated packages of goods and
services. Example ‘service in the mining industry’ à The CEO of the company wants
to buy machines, but the company who sells them also does the maintaining,
repairing and monitoring of the machines (read pg.11)
2.2 Key characteristics of service
As not only organisations in the service sector, but also organisations in the manufacturing
sector can provide services, we cannot define services as the actions, processes of
performance delivered by organisations in the service sector.
Service = ‘The application of specialised competences (knowledge and skills), through
deeds, processes, and performance for the benefit of another entity or the entity itself’.
This definition highlights 3 key characteristics of service:
- Services involves the application of knowledge or skills = When a physician, for
instance, makes a diagnosis, he or she applies specialised knowledge and skills. Not
only people, however, can provide service. The example of washing linen is
residential care centres show that washing machines can also act as service
providers (pg. 11)
1
, - Service is a process that is shaped by deeds and performance = Services
involve a series of actions (deeds) with specific outcomes (performances) that
culminate the process. If a patient visits a general practitioner (GP), they may get a
referall letter for a dermatologist à means that a service happens through a series of
actions rather than by giving a physical product. It’s about doing something for
someone. For example, when a patient visits a general practitioner, the doctor listens,
examines, gives advice, and maybe writes a referral letter. All these actions together
make up the service — they are the steps that create the final result for the patient.
- The ultimate goals is to create value = The main purpose of any service is to
provide something useful or beneficial for the customer or the organization itself. In
other words, every service aims to make things better — for example, improving a
patient’s health, saving time, or increasing comfort. Creating value means that the
service makes a real, positive difference for the person receiving it
Value in use means that the value of a service is created when it is actually
used or experienced, not when it is produced or delivered
SERVICE ECOSYSTEM
A service ecosystem is a network of different people, organizations, technologies, and
resources that work together to create and deliver value. It shows how services are
connected and how value is co-created through interactions between all participants.
- For example, in healthcare, the service ecosystem includes hospitals, general
practitioners, specialists, insurance companies, government agencies, technology
providers, and patients themselves. Each plays a role and depends on the others —
together they form a system that makes healthcare services possible and effective.
2.3 From service to excellent service
The Experience economy (1999, book) = Describes how the activities that are at the heart
of the value creation processes have shifted over time from producing goods to providing
services to creating experience. Their model teaches us two important lessons:
Lesson 1: Main focus value creation processes is subject to commoditisation = means that
over time, products or services can become ordinary and widely available, so they lose their
uniqueness. In other words, what was once special or valuable can turn into a common
“commodity” that anyone can offer, making it harder to stand out.
- To circumvent the commoditisation trap, many organisations invested in the delivery
of the service (not always easy tho) à Service is no longer enough to differentiate
organisations from one another. Pine and Gilmore (1999) proposed that service
organisations can only differentiate themselves from their competitors by creating
experiences.
Lesson 2: Value creation processes are cumulative = If you product is not good, the
services won’t be good and the experience also won’t be good
2
,WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE PROGRSSION OF ECONOMIC VALUE FOR
HEALTHCARE
Healthcare is mostly part of the service sector. But they also want to provide a good
experience, but then the question is, what is a good experience ? (We will come back at this
later)
2.4 Service vs experience
2.4.1 Service
A service is about helping someone or doing something useful for them — it’s practical and
focused on meeting needs or solving problems. For example, a taxi driver provides a service
by bringing you from A to B.
Examples : you don’t have place to parc your car
When we talk about service we need to take somethings into account:
- Intangibility of service = means something you can’t touch or hold à Sometimes its
really difficult to measure or define your output when it’s a service. So this means its
also difficult to evaluate the service (when your output is a product, you can for
example count how much cars you produced, what the quality etc. is)
Example: When you go to a doctor, you cannot “hold” the service — you can
only judge it based on how you felt, the doctor’s advice, and the outcome.
- Simultaneity = in services means that the service is produced and consumed at the
same time. (so the client is participation in de process; you have to go to the hospital
for the production and consummation à coproduction/co-creation)
Example: A haircut — the hairdresser is delivering the service while you are
receiving it at the very same moment.
- Heterogeneity = means that services are variable and not exactly the same every
time (every patient is different) à This makes the management again very
challenging, so we try to group patients etc.
- Perishability = means that services cannot be stored, saved, returned, or resold
once they are produced. If they are not used at the time of availability, the opportunity
is gone forever.
3
, SERVICE QUALITY
Dimensions of service quality (Dagger model):
- Interpersonal quality = Interpersonal quality reflects the relationship and the mutual
role play between the service provider and het patient. It concerns both the way in
which the service provider interacts with the patient, the way in which communication
takes place and the strength of the relationship between the service provider and the
patient.
- Professional quality = Refers to the results achieved and the professional
competences of the service provider. This dimension therefore includes elements
such as the competence, knowledge, qualifications or skills of the service providers
as well as the results of the care and treatment process.
- Environmental quality = Compasses a complex set of environmental factors that
shape the patient perceptions of service provision. This concerns both the physical
infrastructure and the more intangible background characteristics that have an impact
on the senses (what one sees, smells,..). This concerns the designs, layout and
functional layout of the buildings
- Administrative quality/organisational quality = Refers to elements that facilitate
the organisation of care. The main themes there are ‘providing care or treatment on
time’(e.g. waiting times), the functioning of the support services and the coordination,
organisation and integration of care
Its based on the servqual model = This is more general
- Interaction = How staff and customers communicate.
- Relationship = Trust and bond between customer and provider.
- Outcome = The result of the service (did it solve the problem?).
- Expertise =Staff’s knowledge and skills.
- Atmosphere = What you feel in the place (ex. Cold air)
- Tangibles = Physical things (cleanliness, equipment, design).
- Timelines = How fast and on-time the service is.
- Operations = How well processes run (smooth, organized).
- Support = Help provided when customers nee
Draw figure resource efficiency and flow efficiency (les 2, minuut 35)
4
In this course we will look at some important elements:
- Positioning = What do you want your stakeholders to believe your service is?
(service concept) à Abstract/strategies
- Processes = Her we make the ‘positioning’ less abstract. How will services be
delivered?
- Operational Performance
For these 3 we also have to take in account: the people (workers), the place (environment
where you work), Innovation (we have to rethink/redesign our processes)
5P’s and I
2. Towards service excellence in healthcare
2.1 The importance of service
Service plays a key role in many organisations, such as restaurants, hotels, supermarkets,
governments, banks, real estate, education, healthcare,..
Yet manufacturing organisations (which focus on the production of good) also recognise the
importance of service:
- After-sale service = Service plays a role when a sold good has defects
- Many manufacturing organisations provide integrated packages of goods and
services. Example ‘service in the mining industry’ à The CEO of the company wants
to buy machines, but the company who sells them also does the maintaining,
repairing and monitoring of the machines (read pg.11)
2.2 Key characteristics of service
As not only organisations in the service sector, but also organisations in the manufacturing
sector can provide services, we cannot define services as the actions, processes of
performance delivered by organisations in the service sector.
Service = ‘The application of specialised competences (knowledge and skills), through
deeds, processes, and performance for the benefit of another entity or the entity itself’.
This definition highlights 3 key characteristics of service:
- Services involves the application of knowledge or skills = When a physician, for
instance, makes a diagnosis, he or she applies specialised knowledge and skills. Not
only people, however, can provide service. The example of washing linen is
residential care centres show that washing machines can also act as service
providers (pg. 11)
1
, - Service is a process that is shaped by deeds and performance = Services
involve a series of actions (deeds) with specific outcomes (performances) that
culminate the process. If a patient visits a general practitioner (GP), they may get a
referall letter for a dermatologist à means that a service happens through a series of
actions rather than by giving a physical product. It’s about doing something for
someone. For example, when a patient visits a general practitioner, the doctor listens,
examines, gives advice, and maybe writes a referral letter. All these actions together
make up the service — they are the steps that create the final result for the patient.
- The ultimate goals is to create value = The main purpose of any service is to
provide something useful or beneficial for the customer or the organization itself. In
other words, every service aims to make things better — for example, improving a
patient’s health, saving time, or increasing comfort. Creating value means that the
service makes a real, positive difference for the person receiving it
Value in use means that the value of a service is created when it is actually
used or experienced, not when it is produced or delivered
SERVICE ECOSYSTEM
A service ecosystem is a network of different people, organizations, technologies, and
resources that work together to create and deliver value. It shows how services are
connected and how value is co-created through interactions between all participants.
- For example, in healthcare, the service ecosystem includes hospitals, general
practitioners, specialists, insurance companies, government agencies, technology
providers, and patients themselves. Each plays a role and depends on the others —
together they form a system that makes healthcare services possible and effective.
2.3 From service to excellent service
The Experience economy (1999, book) = Describes how the activities that are at the heart
of the value creation processes have shifted over time from producing goods to providing
services to creating experience. Their model teaches us two important lessons:
Lesson 1: Main focus value creation processes is subject to commoditisation = means that
over time, products or services can become ordinary and widely available, so they lose their
uniqueness. In other words, what was once special or valuable can turn into a common
“commodity” that anyone can offer, making it harder to stand out.
- To circumvent the commoditisation trap, many organisations invested in the delivery
of the service (not always easy tho) à Service is no longer enough to differentiate
organisations from one another. Pine and Gilmore (1999) proposed that service
organisations can only differentiate themselves from their competitors by creating
experiences.
Lesson 2: Value creation processes are cumulative = If you product is not good, the
services won’t be good and the experience also won’t be good
2
,WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE PROGRSSION OF ECONOMIC VALUE FOR
HEALTHCARE
Healthcare is mostly part of the service sector. But they also want to provide a good
experience, but then the question is, what is a good experience ? (We will come back at this
later)
2.4 Service vs experience
2.4.1 Service
A service is about helping someone or doing something useful for them — it’s practical and
focused on meeting needs or solving problems. For example, a taxi driver provides a service
by bringing you from A to B.
Examples : you don’t have place to parc your car
When we talk about service we need to take somethings into account:
- Intangibility of service = means something you can’t touch or hold à Sometimes its
really difficult to measure or define your output when it’s a service. So this means its
also difficult to evaluate the service (when your output is a product, you can for
example count how much cars you produced, what the quality etc. is)
Example: When you go to a doctor, you cannot “hold” the service — you can
only judge it based on how you felt, the doctor’s advice, and the outcome.
- Simultaneity = in services means that the service is produced and consumed at the
same time. (so the client is participation in de process; you have to go to the hospital
for the production and consummation à coproduction/co-creation)
Example: A haircut — the hairdresser is delivering the service while you are
receiving it at the very same moment.
- Heterogeneity = means that services are variable and not exactly the same every
time (every patient is different) à This makes the management again very
challenging, so we try to group patients etc.
- Perishability = means that services cannot be stored, saved, returned, or resold
once they are produced. If they are not used at the time of availability, the opportunity
is gone forever.
3
, SERVICE QUALITY
Dimensions of service quality (Dagger model):
- Interpersonal quality = Interpersonal quality reflects the relationship and the mutual
role play between the service provider and het patient. It concerns both the way in
which the service provider interacts with the patient, the way in which communication
takes place and the strength of the relationship between the service provider and the
patient.
- Professional quality = Refers to the results achieved and the professional
competences of the service provider. This dimension therefore includes elements
such as the competence, knowledge, qualifications or skills of the service providers
as well as the results of the care and treatment process.
- Environmental quality = Compasses a complex set of environmental factors that
shape the patient perceptions of service provision. This concerns both the physical
infrastructure and the more intangible background characteristics that have an impact
on the senses (what one sees, smells,..). This concerns the designs, layout and
functional layout of the buildings
- Administrative quality/organisational quality = Refers to elements that facilitate
the organisation of care. The main themes there are ‘providing care or treatment on
time’(e.g. waiting times), the functioning of the support services and the coordination,
organisation and integration of care
Its based on the servqual model = This is more general
- Interaction = How staff and customers communicate.
- Relationship = Trust and bond between customer and provider.
- Outcome = The result of the service (did it solve the problem?).
- Expertise =Staff’s knowledge and skills.
- Atmosphere = What you feel in the place (ex. Cold air)
- Tangibles = Physical things (cleanliness, equipment, design).
- Timelines = How fast and on-time the service is.
- Operations = How well processes run (smooth, organized).
- Support = Help provided when customers nee
Draw figure resource efficiency and flow efficiency (les 2, minuut 35)
4
