PATIENTS’ DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AND HEALTHCARE DELIVERY IN PRIVATE HOSPITALS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Increased competition among the private health care providers has shifted more attention on marketing strategies. Segmentation strategies are now found as appropriate tools to gain competitive advantage in the healthcare industry. Literature around the world established demographic segmentation as the most common method of marketing segmentation but there seem to be limited empirical evidences on the relationship of the demographic variables and healthcare delivery. In order to broaden the intellectual horizon of the smaller hospitals who are interested in adopting demographic strategies, the paper was set to investigate the influence of patients’ demographic factors on healthcare delivery in Oyo State private hospitals. Out of the population of 337 private hospitals under secondary healthcare, Questionnaires were administered randomly among medical doctors, pharmacists/nurses and hospital administrators of 30 private hospitals in Oyo State, 10 hospitals from each from the three senatorial districts that make up the State. Analysing the data using multiple regression, with healthcare delivery as dependent variable against the selected independent demographic variables,the results revealed that the significant positive coefficient value of demographic segmentation based on income indicates that an additional unit of it increases healthcare delivery of private hospitals by 1.236 units and vice versa. Similarly, the significant positive coefficient value of demographic segmentation based on occupation indicates that an additional effort to segment the patients based on occupation leads to improvement in healthcare delivery of private hospitals by 1.319 units and vice versa. By implication, even though all other demographic factors show positive effect on healthcare delivery of private hospitals, each of their effects are not significantly felt. Only the positive influence of demographic segmentation based on income and occupation are significantly felt on healthcare delivery of private hospitals. The study concluded that the adoption of demographic segmentations based on income and occupation are critical to the healthcare delivery. It was therefore recommended that hospitals should make effort to analyse and understand demographic differences especially in areas of income and occupational profiles of their patients for efficient and need-based services.