CRM Systems in German Hospitals: Illustrations of Issues & Trends

German public hospitals face governmental and regulatory pressures to implement efficiency and effectiveness metrics, such as the classification of a Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) system, by the year 2005. The current average patient stay of nine days in German hospitals is relatively high compared to France with 5.5 days and USA with 6.2 days. CRM will help increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Multiple case studies, including one German hospital compared to two Dutch hospitals, as well as interviews with the management of two additional German hospitals, reveal that no hospital currently has an integrated CRM system. Rather, separate organizational functions collect and store quantitative and qualitative patient data. Furthermore, the challenges of data sharing and data security are significant barriers for technological changes in hospitals. This study focuses on CRM in a modern German hospital as it realigns its processes and strategies in order to focus on efficiency and customer satisfaction in a very competitive market.