Viewpoint: cost-effective health care developments and research opportunities in China, India and Singapore
ISSN: 0887-6045
Article publication date: 14 February 2022
Issue publication date: 7 June 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to show how major service developments in China, India and Singapore offer different perspectives on how cost-effective service excellence (CESE) can be achieved in health care. Resulting research opportunities are highlighted.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the authors’ in-depth experience in these three countries.
Findings
Digital platforms and related technologies seem more advanced in China than in most western economies in terms of their application, user acceptance and market penetration. The resulting digital ecosystem enabled innovation that provides CESE in digital health care. Second, India benefitted from a large health care market without excessive regulation, litigation risks and interlocking stakeholders. These allowed a number of organizations to achieve CESE through new business models and frugal innovation. Likewise, Singapore is a global leader in health outcomes while it also has one of the lowest health care cost per capita. This is achieved through focus on costs and productivity, standardization and digitization while being intensely focused on health outcomes and the patient experience.
Research limitations/implications
The three countries stand out in the ways they achieved CESE in health care and offer interesting research opportunities. China has fully integrated digital platforms with rapid innovation capabilities, India has extremely high volumes that met focused service factory and frugal service innovation approaches, and Singapore is a tightly controlled health care market with high levels of discipline, both facilitated by its culture and small size. These markets invite research to explore their successes in more depth and deduct lessons for CESE in health care elsewhere.
Originality/value
Together, the author team has decades of managerial, executive teaching and research experience related to service in Asia. The observations and reflections in this study originate from this unique perspective.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for their valuable feedback to earlier drafts of this view point (in alphabetical order): Linda Alkire (Assistant Professor at Texas State University), Leonard L. Berry (University Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Texas A&M University), Dipu KV (President – Head Operations and Customer Service at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance), Dr. Amit Varma (Managing Partner, Quadria Capital) and Leon Wang (Executive Vice President, International and China President at AstraZeneca).
Citation
Wirtz, J., Lin, C. and Das, G. (2022), "Viewpoint: cost-effective health care developments and research opportunities in China, India and Singapore", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 461-466. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-07-2021-0242
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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