Hospital service quality: a managerial challenge
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 1 May 2004
Abstract
While much is known generally about predictions of customer‐perceived service quality, their application to health services is rarer. No attempt has been made to examine the impact of social support and patient education on overall service quality perception. Together with six quality dimensions identified from the literature, this study seeks to provide a more holistic comprehension of hospital service quality prediction. Although 79 percent of variation is explained, other than technical quality the impact of the remaining factors on quality perception is far from constant, and socio‐economic variables further complicate unpredictability. Contrary to established beliefs, the cost factor was found to be insignificant. Hence, to manage service quality effectively, the test lies in how well healthcare providers know the customers they serve. It is not only crucial in a globalized environment, where trans‐national patient mobility is increasingly the norm, but also within homogeneous societies that appear to converge culturally.
Keywords
Citation
Che Rose, R., Uli, J., Abdul, M. and Looi Ng, K. (2004), "Hospital service quality: a managerial challenge", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 146-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526860410532784
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited