A quality function deployment–based resource allocation approach for elderly care service: Perspective of government procurement of public service

Abstract

In response to the rapidly growing demand for elderly care service in China, rational allocation of limited resources and improvement of public satisfaction have become one of the urgent problems to be solved in government procurement of elderly care services. With the aid of quality function deployment, a programming model is established to allocate resource with maximizing customer satisfaction. Taking home care service as an example, on the basis of identifying the elderly’s requirements, designing attributes, optimal allocation of limited resource is conducted based on the proposed approach. Results show that staff in the home care service center should pay more attention to improve their service attitude and service quality. Meanwhile, more resources should also be allocated to improve the specialization of the franchise center, and to increase the provision of professional medical personnel and purchase of common medicines for emergencies as well as facilities for rehabilitation. This study expands the field of elderly care service by introducing a more efficient resource-allocation approach, thus helping governments in decision-making.