ABSTRACT

Most healthcare providers experience some form of aggressive behaviour by patients and their relatives (i.e. customers). Customer aggressive behaviour (CAB) is detrimental to customers and healthcare providers, as well as to the overall service quality provided by the healthcare organisation. Drawing on the Social Exchange Theory, the purpose of the study was to examine whether customers’ trust in healthcare providers decreases incidents of CAB and in turn improves the perceived service quality of the clinic. Data were collected from 45 primary care clinics of the same organisation, including three sources: Customers (N=579); healthcare providers (N=398); and data provided by the organisation. The data were aggregated and analysed at the clinic level. The results confirmed a mediation model in which customer trust in healthcare providers reduced CAB as experienced by providers, which in turn led to higher levels of clinics’ perceived service quality. As CAB in this study was examined as a mediating factor, it was possible to investigate its role within the context of the organisational dynamic. Practically, these findings suggest that healthcare organisations should proactively create and nurture a culture of trust between customers and healthcare providers in order to promote service quality through reducing CAB.

摘要

大多数医疗保健提供者都会遇到患者及其亲属（即客户）的某种形式的攻击行为。客户攻击性行为 (CAB) 对客户和医疗保健提供者以及医疗保健组织提供的整体服务质量不利。借鉴社会交换理论，该研究的目的是检查客户对医疗保健提供者的信任是否减少了 CAB 事件，进而提高了诊所的感知服务质量。数据来自同一组织的 45 个初级保健诊所，包括三个来源：客户（N=579）；医疗保健提供者（N=398）；和组织提供的数据。这些数据在诊所层面进行了汇总和分析。结果证实了一种中介模型，在这种模型中，客户对医疗保健提供者的信任降低了提供者所体验的 CAB，从而导致诊所感知服务质量的水平更高。由于本研究中的 CAB 被视为一个中介因素，因此有可能调查其在组织动态背景下的作用。实际上，这些调查结果表明，医疗保健组织应该主动在客户和医疗保健提供者之间建立和培养一种信任文化，以便通过减少 CAB 来提高服务质量。