EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND PATIENT EXPERIENCE AS PREDICTORS OF HOSPITAL REPUTATION: INTEGRATING HRM AND MARKETING IN SAUDI HEALTHCARE

This paper draws on research findings related to human resource management (HRM) and marketing to examine the potential impacts of engagement and patient experience on hospital reputation in Saudi Arabia. An integrative literature review of peer-reviewed research on constructs of engagement, quality of care, patient experience, and reputation, together with Saudi policies and literature specific to the country's health sector was conducted. This was not a meta-analytic study but a theoretical one. Results: The review suggests that organisational resources, which are generally defined via HRM, correlate with engagement; engagement correlates with safety and quality of services measures; and relational and functional indicators of patient experience are credible markers of quality and trustworthiness of hospitals. Empathy, responsiveness, communication capability and cultural congruency are among significant factors identified by Saudi literature. There is a paucity of direct causal evidence in Saudi Arabia about correlations between the above three constructs. Conclusions: Based on the findings, a multilevel framework is suggested where patient experience mediates the effect of employee engagement on hospital reputation, and where the conditions are set by service culture and cultural-communication capability.