摘要
Healthcareconsumersnolongerwanttobepassivereceiversoftreatmentandcare,theywanttobetohealthinformation,thankslargelytotheInternet,andactivehealthconsumerorganizationshaveprovidedconsumerswithenablingindependenthealthinformation.Individualconsumersarealsomorewillingtoenterintoadialogue,participateandinfluencedecisionsconcerningtheirowncare.Atthesametimetheconsumerrolebecomesmorediverse.Populationsinmanycountriestodayareculturally,socially,anddemographicallydiverse.Understandingconsumerdiversityisoneofthegreatestchallengesfacinghealthcareproviders.Thereisariskthatthequalityofhealthcareprovidedtoconsumerscanvarydependingontheskillsoftheprofessionalstoruneintothevaluesandpreferencesoftheindividualconsumer.Healthcareprovidersneedtolistentoandincorporateconsumers'experiencesintotheirhealthserviceofferingsinnewandcreativeways.Theyneedtoengageinadialoguewithvariousconsumergroupsusingmultiplechannels.Thereisaneedforanewbusinesslogic,whichwouldstructurallyhelptheproviders,onanindividualbasistodealwithmoresophisticatedhealthcareconsumers.Thisisareviewpaperandprovidesaframeworkandasetofstrategiesfordealingwithhealthconsumerdiversity.Wedrawonthreeinterrelatedtheories-opensystemstheory,servicemanagementresearchandtheconceptofconsumersegmentationtounderstandhealthcareconsumers'attitudesandbehaviour,andtheirexpectations.
出版日期
2006年01月11日（中国期刊网平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）
