The corporate image perceived in health institutions: An example of public hospital

A powerful and positive image in the current competitive environment is classified as an added value for corporations. Efforts in establishing an image in terms of corporate sustainability have become more of a necessity than preference. Conducting these corporate image making efforts in a conscious and systematic manner is extremely important for corporations that want to establish a positive image within the society. This study aims to determine the image perception of patients and relatives of patients that received healthcare services in the An Example of Public Hospital. Patients that received healthcare services in the Hospital clinics, wards and emergency departments were determined as examples for this study. The Corporate Image Questionnaire Form prepared by scanning literature reached 384 patients that received healthcare services using the face to face survey method. SPSS and AMOS programs were used to analyze the data collected between February-July 2020. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, analysis of variance and the structural equality model were implemented for the data acquired. In accordance with the analysis and evaluations conducted, it was determined that the perception of a corporate image in health centers can be approached from 4 dimensions including communication, physical, quality and social responsibility. As a result of this research, it was determined that among the corporate image factors, participants mainly perceived the dimensions of quality and communication were more important, and the perception of physical and social responsibility was significantly lower. There was no significant difference established between the gender, age, marital status, total monthly income, social security; frequency of hospital visits, departments/clinics where the patients received services or reasons for hospital visits of the participants. On the other hand, it was established that among the corporate image factors, participants of a lower education level and retired participants considered the physical dimension more significant. Again, we see that compared with participants residing in Düzce, those living outside the province considered the physical dimension more positive. In conclusion, generally it can be said that patients that received health care and participated in the questionnaire were happy with the hospital services and believed improving the physical and social responsibility could promote the corporate image of the hospital positively. According to results obtained from this survey, establishments that offer healthcare services are expected to contribute to corporate image efforts.