A Study on Patient Perceived Service Quality in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Health service organizations assume some responsibility for the health of the population they serve and for demonstrating performance results. Global competition in health care is forcing many organizations to improve the quality of the health care they deliver. Clients are asking for and expecting more accountability on how organizations deliver health care and at what cost. The quality of healthcare has been a major problem in many Countries for many years. Finding a definition, methods of evaluation, monitoring and improvement have been the major problems that researchers and healthcare practitioners have had to investigate over the years. A review of qualitative studies highlighted that in most studies patients defined quality as ``patient centred care`` and that quality would include having physical and emotional needs met, having individualised care as well as being involved in their care and decision making of care. The review also highlighted the importance of medical personnel who respect, listen to patients and anticipate their needs. Patients also viewed the protection of their privacy and confidentiality as important among others (Sofaer S and K. Firminger). 1 Patient-perception of health care quality is critical to the success of a healthcare organization because of their influence on patient satisfaction and hospital profitability. Patients demand more information than ever and do not hesitate to switch to other health care providers if they don‟t obtain satisfaction (Ramsaran - Fowdar R).2 There is growing evidence to suggest that perceived quality is the single most important variable influencing consumers‟ perception of value and that this, in turn, affects their intentions to purchase products or services. Service quality has also become recognized as a driver of corporate marketing and financial performance3. The organisations are supposed to measure the customer perceived service quality from time to time to provide better services to the customer. This holds true even in Health care organisations. This research focuses on the patient perceived service quality in tertiary care teaching hospital. This information can be used to improve the service quality and patient satisfaction by improving the specific areas.