Service experiences and dyadic value co-creation in healthcare service delivery: a CIT approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate value co-creation processes from the focal dyad of the patient and the physician and how their experiences in the consulting room affect the value that is created. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews incorporating the critical incident technique (CIT) were conducted with 8 doctors and 24 outpatients in selected hospitals in Ghana, exploring their experiences during their encounter in the service delivery impacting on the value creating healthcare opportunities. An abductive and thematic analytical approach was used to identify 76 useable critical incidents that had clear consequences on both the outcome of the service and the service experiences of the patient. Findings – The study reveals three critical areas needed to support the value co-creation process and respective elements or activities to be considered during the service encounter. The critical areas comprise of the social context, beliefs and perceptions, and partnership between the focal dyad. The findings also suggests that patients do not consider “getting well” as the only value that they seek, but also the total experiences they go through in the consulting room. Also some physicians find it difficult to accept the recent changes in the patients’ behaviour and attitudes, resulting in knowledge conflict that adversely affects actors’ experiences in the consulting room. Research limitations/implications – The study considered only one of the many professionals in the healthcare delivery, which may affect the true value perceptions of the patient. Practical implications – The study provides service providers understanding of the processes that influence the patients’ experiences and value creation and the changing trends in the patient’s attitudes. The findings suggest a need for providers to take a holistic view of the service delivery and consider the critical areas, which could impact on the overall service outcomes. Originality/value – This study extends the research on CIT to exploring the value co-creating processes in the healthcare setting. This also provides clarity in understanding the interdependence of the two actors and how this is managed as a resource in the value co-creation process at the micro level.