Patient Satisfaction with the Healthcare Service Quality: An Empirical Investigation at Malaysian Public Hospitals by Utilizing SERVQUAL-Gap Analysis

Abstract

The healthcare industry is among the most rapidly growing service industries in the world economy. In recent years, the government of Malaysia has taken various initiative to increase funding for the healthcare sector to improve the quality of life amongst citizens. However, the continuing complaints regarding patients’ dissatisfaction towards the quality of healthcare services lead to a huge challenge to the service providers. Thus, the main objective of this research is to measure patient satisfaction with healthcare service quality. The selected Malaysian public hospitals were involved in this research. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument distributed to the patient's experienced service delivery at Malaysian public hospitals. The convenience sampling technique was employed to gather the data. Data collected were analyzed using SERVQUAL-gap analysis. The descriptive results revealed that the patients were only moderately satisfied with healthcare service quality rendered byMalaysian public hospitals. Based on the SERVQUAL-gap analysis results, the empathy dimension showed the lowest mean value. This indicates that service quality offered by Malaysian public hospitals still needs improvement in terms of the level of caring and needs as well as individualized attention that the hospital needs to provide to their patients. This research benefits the managerial in the healthcare industry to deliver excellent service experience to the patients by considering the relevant indicators of service evaluation.