Teerling, TheresaTheresaTeerling2023-04-132023-04-132021-09-20https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/109960Referral management has become increasingly important in recent years. This was triggered above all by the introduction of the DRG system and the associated performance-related remuneration. From now on, hospitals found themselves in an increasingly competitive environment and the topic of customer orientation gained in importance. Referring physicians are regarded as one of the most im-portant customer groups, which is why hospitals are making greater efforts to manage referrer relationships in a targeted manner. The so-called referral management is still in its infancy, both in practice and in theory. Some hospitals already use a professional referral management system, others a less professional one. In science, there are individual reports on referral management, but at the same time, it is rarely considered holistically. The research question of this study is therefore: How can hospitals successfully implement referral management and thus attract and retain referring physicians in the long term? In order to answer this question, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is used as a theoretical basis to create a basic framework. Based on this, a series of expert interviews will be conducted and four case studies will be analysed to answer three subordinate questions: Which design options are available for referral management, how do different hospitals implement referral management in its entirety and what are the success factors of referral management? The design elements of referral management can be divided into six elements: Organizational embedding and responsibility, strategy development, operational measures, CRM technologies and avoidance of barriers. Looking at the case studies according to how a holistic referral management is implemented, it can be concluded that hospitals focus on three different aspects (CRM technologies and analyses, information dissemination, network building). Very few hospitals have already professionalized their referral management in all areas. In the end, ten success factors were identified: support of the hospital management, clearly defined areas of responsibility, definition of goals and measures and processes adapted to them, trustworthy communication, if necessary also via a field service, consideration of the referral needs in integration measures, a customer-oriented corporate culture, continuity and the interaction of these nine factors.deKundenmanagementZuweisermarketingEDIS-5154Customer Relationship ManagementZuweisermanagementKundenbeziehungsmanagementZuweisermarketingReferral ManagementCRMHealthcare Marketingdoctoral thesis