The Impact of Loyalty Programs on Albanian Healthcare Service Quality and Public Health Awareness

The purpose of this study is to analyze the current Albanian situation related with the attitudes of Albanian society toward loyalty programs, healthcare loyalty cards usage in healthcare sector, and public health awareness of the society derived by attitudes changes under the impact of loyalty programs. The study aims also measuring the effects of loyalty programs on the service quality in Albanian healthcare industry. The methodology is quantitative with a descriptive design, aiming to develop a better understanding of the effect of loyalty cards on the healthcare service quality and public health awareness. Findings indicate that loyalty programs have a positive effect on healthcare service quality. Moreover, loyalty cards usage appears to play an important role in increasing the association between loyalty programs and healthcare service quality. Their role is extended also in attracting more clients for knowing, trying, and benefiting from healthcare services. In this context, loyalty cards serve to increase the awareness about personal health by becoming more careful in terms of diseases prevention, and consequently of public health. The loyalty programs reduce also the information asymmetry that often exits between healthcare service providers and beneficiaries. Results confirm the varying importance of some socio-demographic variables on the effect of loyalty cards on Albanian healthcare service quality. It has also been found that private hospitals have higher overall loyalty care than public hospitals. Study indicates that loyalty programs implementation is used overall in private hospitals but useless in public ones.