Service Quality and Patient satisfaction in Lean hospitals, Malaysia during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Patient satisfaction and healthcare service quality are tied together. During Covid-19 pandemic, Lean hospitals have experienced numerous of issues, resulting in drop in service quality and severe impact on patient satisfaction. To understand the patient expectation during the pandemic, service quality of Lean hospitals are further evaluate with employing the SERVQUAL model. 467 questionnaires were collected from the outpatient in the 52 Lean hospitals using non-probability quota sampling method. From the Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) findings shows that all service quality aspects, reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness has significant relationship with patient satisfaction. Particularly, patients view empathy as the most significant factor in service quality during the pandemic, whereas the healthcare reliability is discovered to have less influence in explaining the patient satisfaction. A success healthcare system's primary purpose is to ensure all people receive high service quality, respectful treatment and satisfaction to protect their health and well-being. Therefore, the findings provide valuable insights on the perception and expectation of patient towards the healthcare service quality measurement for future improvement. To safeguard the patient satisfaction, Lean hospitals must ensure that (1) sufficient care and attention given to patient to serve patient’s best interests, (2) be responsive to assist and provide prompt services, (3) regularly monitor and ensure the equipment condition and the healthcare environment are clean and appealing, (4) provide professional service throughout interactions to reassure patient with skills and knowledge, and (5) provide timely service with a high accuracy and consistency of medical information.