Patients' satisfaction of service quality in Saudi hospitals: a SERVQUAL analysis
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 4 January 2013
Abstract
Purpose
Saudi Arabian hospital performance, vis‐à‐vis patient satisfaction with service provision, has emerged as a key policy and planning concern. Keeping in view public and private hospital service quality, this article seeks to provide guidelines to the on‐going Saudi Arabian health service reorganization, which emphasizes decentralization, bed‐capacity expansion, research‐based policymaking and initiatives in the health insurance sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The article outlines an empirical study that compares patient satisfaction with service quality in Saudi Arabian public and private sector hospitals. The authors employ a stratified random sample (1,000 inpatients) from five Saudi Arabian public and five private hospitals. Data were collected through questionnaire using the SERVQUAL scale. For reducing the language bias the questionnaire was translated into Arabic. The response rate was 74.9 percent. Data were analyzed using SPSS and appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical techniques.
Findings
Cronbach's alpha for five service‐quality dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, safety and empathy) were high and the SERVQUAL instrument proved to be reliable, valid and appropriate. The results showed that sex, education, income and occupation were statistically significant in influencing inpatients' satisfaction, and all the null hypotheses were rejected. Only inpatient age was not significant.
Practical implications
The study highlights service quality influence in the design of broader healthcare strategies for Saudi Arabian public and private hospitals. It demands that management researchers and analysts must identify regional service quality consistencies and related inpatient demographic indicators.
Originality/value
The study offers some insights into, and guidance for, hospital quality assurance in Saudi Arabia in general and the urban hospital setting in the Middle‐East in particular.
Keywords
Citation
Al‐Borie, H.M. and Sheikh Damanhouri, A.M. (2013), "Patients' satisfaction of service quality in Saudi hospitals: a SERVQUAL analysis", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 20-30. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526861311288613
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited