Measuring Service Quality at Hospitals affiliated to Iran Medical Sciences University

The issues surrounding the measurement and provision of service quality in health care settings are becoming increasingly important to health care managers. This research aims to investigate patients’ perceptions and expectations of service provided by hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) by using a generic, internationally used market research instrument called SERVQUAL which assesses the service quality in five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Methods : This study involved adapting the SERVQUAL instrument (translated into Persian), with additional items on patient potential loyalty or PPL( consists of overall satisfaction , intent to return and recommend hospital to others) and asking a sample of inpatients (n=620) in IUMS hospitals to complete it . Patient expectations of service were obtained on first day of patients’ attendance in hospital and their perceptions of service were obtained in the time of discharge. Then perceptions and expectations were compared to identify where the largest service quality gaps exist. Results: Statistics analysis revealed that there was an overall service quality gap between patients’ expectations and perceptions ( p< 0/001) in IUMS hospitals ,and also the service quality gap or expectations minus perceptions in two dimensions : tangibles and responsiveness were almost high. All service quality dimensions were significantly positively associated with PPL, and of the five dimensions, reliability was the most important predictor of PPL( r =0/77 ) . Conclusion: Although the study has a limited sample size, it does appear that the SERVQUAL instrument has a useful diagnostic role to play in assessing and monitoring service quality in hospitals . The study provides evidence of where specific service improvements are needed from the patients’ perspective, hence the findings may help hospital mangers seeking to assess and improve service quality in managerial decisions making and resources allocation. The study has raised a number of issues which would form the basis for useful further research.

Keywords:

Health Services , Quality Measurement , SERVQUAL ,