Brand image to loyalty through perceived service quality and patient satisfaction: A conceptual framework.

Brand image (BI) is a relatively new concept in the healthcare sector and its value is important for healthcare organizations to survive in this competitive era. Extant research in academics shows the diversity in determinants of patient satisfaction (PS), perceived service quality (PSQ), loyalty and brand image (BI) in the healthcare sector. The large numbers of existing studies mainly emphasize constructs such as PS, PSQ or the relationship between these two, taking into consideration other factors like cost and loyalty.

e-Healthcare in India: critical success factors for sustainable health systems.

As healthcare enterprises seek to move towards an integrated, sustainable healthcare delivery model an IT-enabled or e-Healthcare strategy is being increasingly adopted. In this study we identified the critical success factors influencing the effectiveness of an e-Healthcare strategy in India. The performance assessment criteria used to measure effectiveness were increasing reach and reducing cost of healthcare delivery.

Kangaroo Mother Care in very low birth weight infants.

Objective: This study was conducted (i) to study through a randomized control trial the effect of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) on breast feeding rates, weight gain and length of hospitalization of very low birth neonates and (ii) to assess the acceptability of Kangaroo Mother Care by nurses and mothers.

Methods: Babies whose birth weight was less than 1500 Grams were included in the study once they were stable. The effect of Kangaroo Mother Care on breast feeding rates, weight gain and length of hospitalization of very low birth weight neonates was studied through a randomized control trial in 28 neonates.

Manual and pump methods of expression of breast milk.

This study was designed to compare two methods of breast milk expression, namely, the manual and the pumping method using a hand-held cylindric pump. The parameters evaluated were (i) the output of breast milk during milk expression sessions of 15 minutes' duration, and, (ii) the subjective preference of the method by the mothers. In the first phase, 22 mothers whose infants were on gavage feeding in the nursery, had 3 sittings each by the two methods on 4th and 5th postnatal days (66 expression).