Mapping customers: A case study of a university hospital in Indonesia

Hospitals as health providers seek to understand the customers’ needs concerning the healthcare services. The success of the hospital management depends on how the hospitals meet the customer's needs by understanding the situation and conditions of the customers, including knowing where the customer lives. This study aimed to obtain a geographical map of the hospital's customer's residencesbased on the sub-districts in Surabaya city. A formal survey method was employed by using the secondary data obtained from the Medical Record Unit of Airlangga University Hospital. The sample size of the data was 10% of the number of patients from each year;2015, 2016, and 2017. Simple random sampling technique was employed by usingcomputer-generated selection. The data was entered into GIS mapping software. The results were shown in the form of a geographical map to observe the customer's distribution. The use of customer mapping is useful to support the leaders of the hospital management in making a business plan, including the expansion of the healthcare services offered and increasing the number of customers from other potential areas of residence.