Image of healthcare institutions in the perception of regional public

Introduction: current socio-economic conditions make the issue of formation of positive image of healthcare institution topical. Identifying its main characteristics with the help of sociological methods has become a priority for medical organizations seeking to take into account the consumer preferences and to adjust the substance of their activities. Materials and Methods: conclusions and recommendations contained in the article are based on the results of the authors' sociological research held in Volgograd in March 2017 using the methods of questionnaires (representative route and quota sampling method) and in-depth interviews. With the direct participation of the authors, 300 Volgograd residents were surveyed, 20 in-depth interviews were conducted. Results: analysis of the obtained sociological data showed that the majority of Volgograd residents have a positive or rather positive attitudes about the image of private clinics, while the image characteristics of public medical institutions were highly appreciated by only slightly more than a third of the survey participants. In the perception of the public, the problems in the public sector of healthcare are related to the poor material and technical base, the lack of medicines supplies, the lack of funding, the loss of preventative focus in the work of these institutions and the significant wear of equipment and medical vehicles. The in-depth interviews indicate that public health institutions do not pay enough attention to the use of such a tool of forming a positive image as a promotional event. Discussion and Conclusions: in the opinion of the Volgograd residents, to improve their image, public medical institutions should improve the quality of services provided to the population, lower prices for the paid services, employ highly qualified specialists, improve the technical base and intensify promotional activities. Private clinics need to improve the technical base, the level of services provided to the consumers of medical services, to implement more deliberate pricing policy associated with a reduction in treatment charges.