How do you feel today? Managing patient emotions during health care experiences to enhance well-being

Janet R. McColl-Kennedy, Tracey S. Danaher, Andrew S. Gallan, Chiara Orsingher, Line Lervik-Olsen, Rohit Verma

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

79 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Health care customers (patients) experience heightened emotions due to high stakes from risks to life, health, and well-being. Understanding and managing emotions during service experiences is an important area of inquiry because emotions influence customer perceptions, future intentions and behaviors. Yet despite its significance, research focusing on the impact of emotions on customer experiences remains fragmented, lacking a theoretically based conceptual framework. The authors attempt to fill this gap by addressing two important research questions contextualized in health care: (1) How can health care organizations better understand patient and family emotions during health care experiences? and (2) How should health care organizations use this understanding to design and better manage patient experiences to enhance patient well-being? The authors propose a new theoretically based framework on emotional responses following triggering events to enhance outcomes. Recommendations designed to enhance health care customer well-being are provided, as are directions to guide future work.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)247-259
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Business Research
Volume79
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2017

Keywords

  • Customer experience
  • Customer journey
  • Emotions
  • Health care
  • Patient experiences
  • Well-being

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