Providing a Marketing Model of Hospitals based on the Sharing Economy and Local Conditions of Iran (Case Study of Hospital Services Industry)

Health care systems worldwide have been influenced by the globally growing trend toward a sharing economy and will likely advance with these trends in the near future. The aim of present study is to provide a model for marketing of sharing economy based on local conditions of Iran, a case study of hospital service industry.

The present study is an applied study of quantitative and qualitative in terms of method and mixed-exploratory in terms of approach. The statistical population in the qualitative section was composed of experts in sharing economy familiar with the concepts of sharing economy and business models. The research model was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis approach in Amos software. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with open-ended questions. Qualitative data analysis was performed using open, axial and selective coding. The statistical population of study in the quantitative section included all employees working in a company providing hospital service. In this section, the sample size was calculated to be 380 people based on Cochran's formula. Data collection tools in the quantitative section included a researcher-made questionnaire based on the concepts expressed in the research literature along with the results of qualitative data analysis. To check the validity of the research tool, two methods of participant feedback and receiving the opinions of coworkers were used.

Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the whole questionnaire was calculated at 0.763, which is greater than 0.7, so the questions of the questionnaire have a good and desirable reliability. Based on the results, knowledge and technology management component with a coefficient of 0.047, structural and system process component with a coefficient of 0.67, human resources quality with a coefficient of 0.55, marketing management with a coefficient of 0.208, economic factors with a coefficient of 0.102 and socio-cultural factors with a coefficient of 0.18 had a positive and significant effect on marketing of the sharing economy.

The proposed methodology is a useful tool for managers of the hospitals, as well as researchers, who seek to evaluate alternative performance in various studies related to sharing economy in health centers. Sharing Economy will reduce costs and improve healthcare, particularly its accessibility. Our goal should be to help accelerate these changes first by identifying them and driving awareness, and also giving them a context and framework so that new models can be developed more rapidly.