Quality Management in Healthcare System in Nigeria: a Case Study of Isalu Hospitals Limited, Ogba, Lagos

INTRODUCTION
In this age, hospital services have gone beyond the conventional way of doctors sitting in their clinics, reading newspapers or engaging in other vain discussions hoping that patients would patronise their healthcare services. Various private hospitals have carved out a niche for themselves using relationship management, customer relations and hospital marketing techniques to expand their business. Although the prime aim of hospital/healthcare establishments is to save lives, the truth is that private healthcare services are profit-driven as owners have to cater for various expenses and overheads to keep the business moving.
Those who run healthcare business grapple with regular payment of staff salary, procurement of new medical equipment, maintenance of computers and buildings, payment of electricity bills, procurement and fuelling of power generators, maintenance of official vehicles, communication expenses, staff seminars and printing of receipts, appointment cards and medical report sheets.
Just like a good product, a good hospital service sells itself. This comes mostly through testimonials from people who have practically experienced the service(s).But a good product or service cannot, by itself, propagate its services to the users. Certain machinery should be put in place to achieve this end. Although medical bodies such as Nigeria Medical Association strictly prohibits hospital advertising, the dynamic nature of medical business, not only in Nigeria but globally, has made it mandatory for Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) to place their advertisements on the pages of newspapers, over the radio/television and on the Internet under the guise of health insurance, since insurance does not forbid advertising its services to various target groups.
Good customer care/ relationship management matters in healthcare business because keeping the existing clients—that is, the patients—seems easier than getting the new ones, as satisfied... [continues]

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