Organizing Business Research Papers(13)

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Business Research

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Setting of research (): ?
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Research objective ()
Methodology to achieve objective
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Medical and healthcare expenditures have accounted
for an increasing share of household consumption in Taiwan in
recent years. In line with this trend, the establishment of local
pharmacies has risen.
While conventional forecast methods rely on large
quantities of data to predict the number of and demographics
involving new pharmacies in coming years, accumulating such
data is extremely difficult.
According to Department of Health statistics,
local pharmacies in Taiwan increased from 6,394 to 6,990 units
during the period 1999 to 2002.
The inability to accurately forecast the number
of and demographics involving local pharmacies to be
established makes it nearly impossible for managers to analyze
market competition precisely and develop effective strategies.
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Based on the above, we should develop a feasible forecasting
method to estimate the growth of medical and health care expenditures
as well as pharmaceutical units in Taiwan.
To do so, medical and health care expenditure-related
data during the period 1999 to 2002 can be obtained from the Central
Region Office of the Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan.
Data on pharmaceutical units can then be obtained from the 2003
Annual Report of the Department of Health. Based on data from those
sources, GM (1, N) model of the Grey theory can be used for forecasting
purposes.
As anticipated, the proposed forecasting method can
precisely estimate medical and health care expenditures as well as the
number of pharmacies from 2003 to 2005.
Results of this study can provide a valuable reference for
both governmental authorities in formulating policies and pharmaceutical
managers in developing competitive marketing strategies.
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Taiwans medical market sector has become
intensively competitive, largely spurred by the increasing
popularity of Internet commerce. Hospitals must thus effectively
exploit the use of the Internet to attract new patients.
However, the relatively few approaches that have
addressed marketing practices in the medical sector have not
focused on the Internets impact.
Online purchases increased by $US
1,900,000,000 from 1997 to 1998, reflecting the need for the
medical sector to focus on the consumer purchasing power in
terms of e-commerce.
The inability of hospitals to effectively exploit
the use of the Internet not only makes it impossible to lower
overhead costs, but also severely limits an organizations
competitiveness.
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Based on the above, we should develop a novel prediction model to
identify the turnover rate of customers in the medical sector and determine how
to retain them.
To do so, a database containing pertinent hospital patient data
can be utilized through use of a data mining method to identify the factors
associated with customer turnover rate. Pertinent literature can be reviewed to
confirm the reliability of variables in the database. Next, questionnaires can be
sent to hospital administrators regarding the level of customer satisfaction, with
those results subsequently analyzed.
As anticipated, the proposed prediction model can be adopted to
design and implement precautionary measures towards customer turnover
rates in related fields. In addition to identifying the major factors underlying
customer turnover rate, the proposed model can offer feasible strategies to
cope with this dilemma and achieve management goals.
Moreover, the proposed model can contribute to efforts to maintain
customers in the highly competitive medical market sector as well as provide a
valuable reference for healthcare managers in enhancing customer relations.
Further details can be found at
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