The U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) has used the interstitial building system (IBS) as a design component for some of the hospitals in its healthcare infrastructure portfolio. Department of Defense (DoD) leadership is aware of increases in healthcare costs and understands the importance of safely reducing costs, which may be possible through design initiatives. An analysis was performed on facility maintenance metrics for ten different U.S. Army hospitals, including IBS design and conventional / non-interstitial building system (NIBS) design. Statistical analysis indicated a significant difference in cost and time data between IBS and NIBS for most of the building systems considered (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and interior). Scheduled maintenance for the plumbing building system was not found to have a significant difference in costs; scheduled maintenance for the HVAC and plumbing building system was not found to have a significant difference in time expended. The data in this study showed that facility maintenance cost and time were generally lower for IBS than NIBS. Time spent (and associated cost) for scheduled maintenance of the electrical and plumbing building systems were slightly higher in IBS, though not significantly higher for plumbing. It may be easier to reach the plumbing and electrical building systems due to the greater accessibility afforded by IBS design. While a cost premium is estimated for integrating IBS design, the savings provided by life cycle facility maintenance is estimated to be up to three and a half times the initial cost premium.

No description available.

The service sector of many developing countries is playing an increasingly significant role in terms of its contribution to both revenue and labour employment. As for Thailand, it contributed to approximately 53 per cent of GDP in 2003 and is growing every year. The performance of service firms is, therefore, of much interest to both executives and academics. While most empirical research in service firms in Thailand has focused mostly on service quality or customer satisfaction, other aspects of the important factors for the firms' success such as the relationships of customer satisfaction/loyalty and employee satisfaction/loyalty to the firm, performance have not received adequate academic attention. / Most of the research work on the relationships between key stakeholders of service firms has been conducted in developed countries, particularly the USA and the UK. The three key stakeholders of firms normally include customers, employees, and shareholders. Quite surprisingly, relatively little empirical research to study the links between those stakeholders has been carried out in Asia and Thailand in particular. This research is probably the first academic attempt in Thailand to address this gap by empirically examining the three constructs, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and firm preference that have been found in past research to have positive associations. The private hospitals which are located in Bangkok and listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) were the sample population. Four hospitals agreed to take part in this study. / This study used secondary data that were already available from the four hospitals. The data include patient satisfaction surveys they regularly conduct and financial performance measures, such as revenue, profit, and return on assets, which are publicly available in their annual reports and the SET's online database. The data were processed and examined using correlation analysis method. The three variables studied were processed and examined using correlation analysis method. The three variables studied were patient satisfaction, patient loyalty, and hospital performance. The data on patient surveys and other relevant data were given with written consent from the four hospitals. The data on patient satisfaction and loyalty were derived from scores in the patient surveys. As for the hospital performance measures, they were derived from the financial data in the annual reports from the four-year period of 2001-2004. The data of the four hospitals was studied by two methods. The first method was processing all data of the four hospitals as a whole and then analysing them in one aggregate. A major limitation of this study is that the data of the four hospitals on patient loyalty was not complete. / Based on correlation analyses, the results from both methods reveal that some of the hypotheses were supported. Specifically, the results from the first method show that patient satisfaction was positively associated with the two measures of patient loyalty, referrals and repeat visits. However, significant relationships between patient satisfaction and hospital performance and between patient loyalty and hospital performance were not found. As for the second method, the results reveal that there were some positive relationships between variables of three hospitals. Only the results of one hospital show no significant associations between all the three variables. The findings were analysed in detail and implications for researchers and practitioners were also given. Based on the results of this exploratory research, more empirical studies with complete data in the private hospital market are warranted to be able to obtain more conclusive results. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1996. / Bibliography: leaves 283-313.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/01/30). Written for the Medical Physics Unit, Faculty of Medicine. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Nurs.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2008.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1973.

Thesis equivalent (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1970. / "HA 752-753."

Thesis (M.H.S.A.)--University of Michigan, 1980.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1969.