An evaluation of the pricing of health care services in Hospitals run by protestant churches in Kenya

Abstract

The protestant Churches in Kenya provide health care services through clinics, Dispensaries, Health Centers and Hospitals. They currently operate 21 hospitals which are located in various parts of the country. These hospitals are experiencing financial difficulties. They cannot raise enough revenue to meet the operational costs and they are not sure if they are charging the right price for the services they render. The hospitals administrators are not capable of convincing patients on the justification of set prices though they think patients are not paying for the full costs of what they receive from these hospitals. Patients on the other hand are complaining of high prices on these services. The objective of this study therefore was determine whether hospitals run by protestant Churches in Kenya are pricing their services while considering all costs, competition, demand for services and patient's perception of value of services. The study adopted a descriptive research design involving the entire population of 21 hospitals and to meet this objective, both the primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was obtained from field by using two questionnaires targeted to Finance Manager and Hospital Administrator in each hospital. The questionnaire covered pricing, costs, competition, demand for services and patient's perception on value of services. Secondary data was obtained from records available with Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK) The data obtained were analyzed and presented in tables and charts while the descriptive statistics was used to explore, analyze and describe the factors involved and provide conclusions. The study concludes that hospitals run by protestant churches take into considerations some costs, competitions, demand of services and patients' perception of value of services while pricing their health care services.