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1 – 10 of 178Shamsuddin Ahmed and Rayan Hamza Alsisi
A new triage method, MBCE (Medical Bio Social Ethics), is presented with social justice, bio, and medical ethics for critical resource distribution during a pandemic. Ethical…
Abstract
Purpose
A new triage method, MBCE (Medical Bio Social Ethics), is presented with social justice, bio, and medical ethics for critical resource distribution during a pandemic. Ethical triage is a complex and challenging process that requires careful consideration of medical, social, cultural, and ethical factors to guide the decision-making process and ensure fair and transparent allocation of resources. When assigning priorities to patients, a clinician would evaluate each patient’s medical condition, age, comorbidities, and prognosis, as well as their cultural and social background and ethical factors.
Design/methodology/approach
A statistical analysis shows no interactions among the ethical triage factors. It implies the ethical components have no moderation effect; hence, each is independent. The result also points out that medical and bioethics may have an affinity for interactions. In such cases, there seem to be some ethical factors related to bio and medical ethics that are correlated. Therefore, the triage team should be careful in evaluating patient cases. The algorithm is explained with case histories of the selected patient. A group of triage nurses and general medical practitioners assists with the triage.
Findings
The MBCE triage algorithm aims to allocate scarce resources fairly and equitably. Another ethical principle in this triage algorithm is the principle of utility. In a pandemic, the principle of utility may require prioritizing patients with a higher likelihood of survival or requiring less medical care. The research presents a sensitivity analysis of a patient’s triage score to show the algorithm’s robustness. A weighted score of ethical factors combined with an assessment of triage factors combines multiple objectives to assign a fair triage score. These distinctive features of the algorithm are reasonably easy to implement and a new direction for the unbiased triage principle.
Originality/value
The idea is to make decisions about distributing and using scarce medical resources. Triage algorithms raise ethical issues, such as discrimination and justice, guiding medical ethics in treating patients with terminal diseases or comorbidity. One of the main ethical principles in triage algorithms is the principle of distributive justice.
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Somtochukwu Emmanuel Dike, Zachary Davis, Alan Abrahams, Ali Anjomshoae and Peter Ractham
Variations in customer expectations pose a challenge to service quality improvement in the airline industry. Understanding airline customers' expectations and satisfaction help…
Abstract
Purpose
Variations in customer expectations pose a challenge to service quality improvement in the airline industry. Understanding airline customers' expectations and satisfaction help service providers improve their offerings. The extant literature examines airline passengers' expectations in isolation, neglecting the overall impact of online reviews on service quality improvement. This paper systematically evaluates the airline industry's passengers' expectations and satisfaction using expectation confirmation theory (ECT) and the SERVQUAL framework. The paper analyzes online reviews to examine the relationship between airline service quality attributes and passengers' satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The SERVQUAL framework was employed to examine the effects of customer culture, the reason for traveling, and seat type on customer's expectations and satisfaction across a large sample of airline customers.
Findings
A total of 17,726 observations were gathered from the Skytrax review website. The lowest satisfaction ratings were from passengers from the USA, Canada and India. Factors that affect perceived service performance include customer service, delays and baggage management. Empathy and reliability have the biggest impact on the perceived satisfaction of passengers.
Research limitations/implications
This research increases understanding of the consumer expectations through analysis of passengers' online reviews. Results are limited to a small sample of airline industries.
Practical implications
This study provides airlines with valuable information to improve customer service by analyzing online reviews.
Social implications
This study provides the opportunity for airline customers to gain better services when airline companies utilize the findings.
Originality/value
This paper offers insights into passengers' expectations and their perceived value for money in relation to seat types. Previous studies have not investigated value for money as a construct for passengers' expectations and satisfaction relative to service quality dimensions. This paper addresses this need.
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Kunwar Saraf, Karthik Bajar, Aaditya Jain and Akhilesh Barve
This study aims to determine the barriers hindering the incorporation of blockchain technology (BCT) in two key service industries – hotel and health care – as well as to assess…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine the barriers hindering the incorporation of blockchain technology (BCT) in two key service industries – hotel and health care – as well as to assess their readiness for implementing BCT after overcoming the barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
The barriers of this study are determined through two phases: a review of prior literature and obtaining expert opinions, which are then analyzed to identify specific barriers that are impeding the incorporation of BCT. Moreover, to generate a blockchain implementation reluctance index (BIRI), this study presents an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS) that uses graph theory and matrix approach (GTMA). The permanent function in the GTMA approach is computed using the PERMAN algorithm. Finally, to compare the readiness of the hotel and health-care industries to adopt BCT, the BIRI values are plotted and evaluated.
Findings
The barriers identified by this study are listed under five major headings, namely, financial, operational, behavioral, technical and legal. This study revealed that the operational and technical barriers of BCT are critically hindering its widespread integration in hotel and health-care industries. Furthermore, on comparing the BIRI values of both industries, the result suggested that the hotel industry needs to work more on these barriers to effectively incorporate BCT. Besides the comparison, the BIRI values clearly indicate that both industries have to put a lot of effort into the mitigation of the barriers found by this study to successfully integrate BCT.
Research limitations/implications
The experts’ opinions are used to evaluate the identified barriers, which raises the chance that the opinions are prejudiced based on the experts’ perspectives and ideologies. The sensitivity of decision-maker loads toward preference outcomes is not analyzed in this manuscript. Therefore, any recent sensitivity analysis may be considered a prospective field for future research. This study applies a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach, IVIFS–GTMA, which limits the evaluation of the influence caused by individual barriers on the integration of BCT in the hotel and health-care industries. Henceforth, in future investigations, alternative MCDM methods may be used to analyze individual barriers.
Practical implications
According to the findings, if the hotel or health-care industry aims to incorporate BCT in its supply chain operations, it is recommended to emphasize more on the operational barriers along with the technical and behavioral barriers. The barriers mentioned in this manuscript can be used as guidance for developers in their development activities, such as scalability concerns, establishment costs, the 51% attack and the inefficient nature of BCT. Furthermore, they may address the potential users’ negative perceptions about security, privacy, trust and risk avoidance through creatively developed blockchain solutions to promote BCT implementation.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that identifies barriers toward BCT incorporation in the major service industries, i.e. hotel and health care. Moreover, this is the first study that compares the preparedness of the hotel and health-care industries to determine the industry that requires more work to implement BCT.
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Sarthak Dhingra, Rakesh Raut, Angappa Gunasekaran, B. Koteswara Rao Naik and Venkateshwarlu Masuna
This paper aims to discover and analyze the challenges hampering blockchain technology’s (BT’s) implementation in the Indian health-care sector. A total of 18 challenges have been…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discover and analyze the challenges hampering blockchain technology’s (BT’s) implementation in the Indian health-care sector. A total of 18 challenges have been prioritized and modeled based on an extensive literature search and professional views.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach has been used in two phases. Best worst method (BWM) is used in the first phase to prioritize the challenges with sensitivity analysis to validate the findings and eliminate a few challenges. In the second phase, interpretive structural modeling is applied to the remaining 15 challenges to obtain relative relationships among them with cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification analysis for their categorization.
Findings
The study’s results reveal that limited knowledge and expertise, cost and risk involved, technical issues, lack of clear regulations, resistance to change and lack of top management support are the top-ranked or high-intensity challenges according to the BWM. Interpretive structural modelling findings suggest that the lack of government initiatives has been driving other challenges with the highest driving power.
Research limitations/implications
This work has been conducted in the Indian context, so careful generalization of the results is needed.
Practical implications
This work will give health-care stakeholders a better perspective regarding blockchain’s adoption. It will help health-care stakeholders, service providers, researchers and policymakers get a glimpse of the strategies for eradicating mentioned challenges. The analysis will help reduce the challenges’ impact on blockchain’s adoption in the Indian health-care sector.
Originality/value
The adoption of BT is a novel concept, especially in developing countries such as India. This is one of the few works addressing the challenges to BT adoption in the Indian health-care sector.
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Ioanna Xenophontes and Neil Springham
This paper aims to evaluate the quality of co-production between lived experience practitioners (LXPs) and professionals in an interactive National Health Service webinar series…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the quality of co-production between lived experience practitioners (LXPs) and professionals in an interactive National Health Service webinar series aimed at supporting people who were diagnosed or identified with borderline personality disorder.
Design/methodology/approach
Transcripts from the webinars were subjected to mixed-method examination combining Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) and content analysis (CA).
Findings
FDA identified nine discursive objects: diagnosis beyond its medical context, diagnosis as a total explanation, being the other, universality, compassion, hope, faking it, mentalisation and co-production. CA demonstrated those nine discursive objects each corresponded with equalised airtime appropriated by professionals and lived experience practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was limited and if applied to other mental health settings might reveal different findings. More needs to be understood about the attitudes of professionals and LXPs that support discourse sharing. Although this study has offered evidence of the quality of co-production, it can say very little about whether the co-productive approach offers superior outcomes to other forms of treatment.
Practical implications
Further research could employ FDA and CA to further explore how co-production is being enacted in other situations, with different models, where comparable interventions are delivered. Future research could compare outcomes between co-productive and professional-only interventions.
Originality/value
This study examined naturalistic practice to build new theory in an under-researched area for a substantial mental health population.
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Darshan Pandya, Gopal Kumar and Shalabh Singh
It is crucial for the Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to implement a few of the most important Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and reap maximum benefits of…
Abstract
Purpose
It is crucial for the Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to implement a few of the most important Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and reap maximum benefits of sustainability. This paper aims to prioritize I4.0 technologies that can help achieve the sustainable operations and sustainable industrial marketing performance of Indian manufacturing MSMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
I4.0-based sustainability model was developed. The model was analyzed using data collected from MSMEs by deploying analytic hierarchy process and utility-function-based goal programming. To have a better understanding, interviews were conducted.
Findings
Predictive analytics, machine learning and real-time computing were found to be the most important I4.0 technologies for sustainable performance. Sensitivity analysis further confirmed the robustness of the results. Business-to-business sustainable marketing is prioritized as per the sustainability need of operations of industrial MSME buyers.
Originality/value
This study uniquely integrates literature and practitioners’ insights to explore I4.0’s role in MSMEs sustainability in emerging economies. It fills a research gap by aligning sustainability goals of industrial buyers with suppliers’ marketing strategies. Additionally, it offers practical recommendations for implementing technologies in MSMEs, contributing to both academia and industry practices.
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Veronica Ungaro, Laura Di Pietro, Roberta Guglielmetti Mugion and Maria Francesca Renzi
The paper aims to investigate the practices facilitating the transformation of healthcare services, understanding the resulting outcomes in terms of well-being and uplifting…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to investigate the practices facilitating the transformation of healthcare services, understanding the resulting outcomes in terms of well-being and uplifting changes. a systematic literature review (SLR) focusing on analyzing the healthcare sector under the transformative service research (TSR) theoretical domain is conducted to achieve this goal.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a structured SLR developed based on the PRISMA protocol (Pickering and Byrne, 2014; Pickering et al., 2015) and using Scopus and WoS databases, the study identifies and analyzes 49 papers published between 2021 and 2022. Content analysis is used to classify and analyze the papers.
Findings
The SLR reveals four transformative practices (how) within the healthcare sector under the TSR domain, each linked to specific well-being outcomes (what). The analysis shows that both practices and outcomes are mainly patient-related. An integrative framework for transformative healthcare service is presented and critically examined to identify research gaps and define the trajectory for the future development of TSR in healthcare. In addition, managerial implications are provided to guide practitioners.
Originality/value
This research is among the first to analyze TSR literature in the context of healthcare. The study critically examines the TSR’s impact on the sector’s transformation, providing insights for future research and offering a roadmap for healthcare practitioners to facilitate uplifting changes.
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Jackson Lord and Rachel Sabin-Farrell
The transtheoretical model (TTM) has been applied to varying areas of physical health, e.g. diabetes. However, research into its applicability to psychotherapy is mixed. The TTM…
Abstract
Purpose
The transtheoretical model (TTM) has been applied to varying areas of physical health, e.g. diabetes. However, research into its applicability to psychotherapy is mixed. The TTM is applied through the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA). Investigating the utility of the URICA is needed to improve patient care and outcomes. This study aims to assess whether the URICA scores relate to patient outcomes; patient attendance; practitioner ratings of patient readiness, appropriateness, insight, motivation and potential for improvement; and to explore practitioner’s perspectives on the URICA.
Design/methodology/approach
Correlational methods were used to assess the relationship between the URICA and therapeutic outcome, attendance and practitioner-rated areas. Content analysis was used to analyse practitioner qualitative data.
Findings
The URICA did not correlate with either therapeutic outcome or attendance. A significant negative correlation was found between the URICA and practitioner-rated appropriateness of the referral. This means practitioners perceived individuals with lower URICA scores to be a more appropriate referral, despite the score indicating a reduced readiness to change. Qualitative categories included positive views, negative views, ambivalence and changes to measure and process. To conclude, the URICA does not explain a patient’s outcome or attendance. The URICA may not be appropriate to use in its current format in mental health services; therefore, assessing the TTM verbally may be more helpful.
Originality/value
This study provides research into suitability of using the URICA to assess the TTM and its applicability to attendance and outcome in psychological therapies.
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Anna Leditschke, Julie Nichols, Karl Farrow and Quenten Agius
The increased use of, and reliance upon, technology and digitalisation, especially in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums [GLAM] sector, has motivated innovative…
Abstract
The increased use of, and reliance upon, technology and digitalisation, especially in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums [GLAM] sector, has motivated innovative approaches to the curation of cultural material. These changes are especially evident when collaborating with Indigenous partners. Indigenous Data Governance [IDG] and Indigenous Data Sovereignty [IDS], with an emphasis on self-determination of Indigenous peoples, have called for an emerging focus on ethical and culturally sensitive approaches to data collection and management across a range of disciplines and sectors.
This chapter reports on broader discussions, specifically with mid-North South Australia, Indigenous community members around the appropriate and ethical collection, representation and curation of cultural material on Country applying digital formats. It investigates ways to create a ‘future identity’ through built form as well as providing a ‘safe’ place for preservation of their oral histories.
It highlights the many questions raised around the ethically and culturally sensitive aspects of the collection, curation and archiving of Indigenous cultural material. It documents the preliminary outcomes of these conversations in the context of current research on IDS best practices in the field. The non-Aboriginal authors acknowledge our supporting position in the realisation of effective IDS and self-determination of our Aboriginal partners.
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Siva Shaangari Seathu Raman, Anthony McDonnell and Matthias Beck
Society is critically dependent on an adequate supply of hospital doctors to ensure optimal health care. Voluntary turnover amongst hospital doctors is, however, an increasing…
Abstract
Purpose
Society is critically dependent on an adequate supply of hospital doctors to ensure optimal health care. Voluntary turnover amongst hospital doctors is, however, an increasing problem for hospitals. The aim of this study was to systematically review the extant academic literature to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the current knowledge base on hospital doctor turnover and retention. In addition to this, we synthesise the most common methodological approaches used before then offering an agenda to guide future research.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting the PRISMA methodology, we conducted a systematic literature search of four databases, namely CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science.
Findings
We identified 51 papers that empirically examined hospital doctor turnover and retention. Most of these papers were quantitative, cross-sectional studies focussed on meso-level predictors of doctor turnover.
Research limitations/implications
Selection criteria concentrated on doctors who worked in hospitals, which limited knowledge of one area of the healthcare environment. The review could disregard relevant articles, such as those that discuss the turnover and retention of doctors in other specialities, including general practitioners. Additionally, being limited to peer-reviewed published journals eliminates grey literature such as dissertations, reports and case studies, which may bring impactful results.
Practical implications
Globally, hospital doctor turnover is a prevalent issue that is influenced by a variety of factors. However, a lack of focus on doctors who remain in their job hinders a comprehensive understanding of the issue. Conducting “stay interviews” with doctors could provide valuable insight into what motivates them to remain and what could be done to enhance their work conditions. In addition, hospital management and recruiters should consider aspects of job embeddedness that occur outside of the workplace, such as facilitating connections outside of work. By resolving these concerns, hospitals can retain physicians more effectively and enhance their overall retention efforts.
Social implications
Focussing on the reasons why employees remain with an organisation can have significant social repercussions. When organisations invest in gaining an understanding of what motivates their employees to stay in the job, they are better able to establish a positive work environment that likely to promote employee well-being and job satisfaction. This can result in enhanced job performance, increased productivity and higher employee retention rates, all of which are advantageous to the organisation and its employees.
Originality/value
The review concludes that there has been little consideration of the retention, as opposed to the turnover, of hospital doctors. We argue that more expansive methodological approaches would be useful, with more qualitative approaches likely to be particularly useful. We also call on future researchers to consider focussing further on why doctors remain in posts when so many are leaving.
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