Measuring service quality in a private hospital

MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014The South African health industry can be divided into public and private health institutions. The public health institutions are subsidised by the South African government, whereas the private institutions generate income from medical aids and out-of-pocket payments. Three major groups currently control the private health sector and include Medi-Clinic, Life Healthcare and Netcare. Due to the competitiveness of the private health sector with limited role players, institutions need to differentiate themselves on the service quality provided by these institutions. The purpose of the study was to measure service quality in a private hospital. This was done by setting the following objectives: Determining the importance of service quality, determining the current standard of service quality, determining the gap between the importance and satisfaction of service quality dimensions as well as the influence of gender on the perception of service quality. The literature consisted of two topics, which included the private healthcare sector and the standards of service quality. The private health care sector lightens the load on the current overburdened public sector, but in doing so utilises the majority of qualified personnel as well as half of the financial resources available. Medical schemes are the main contributor the private institutions and are only available to the individuals privileged enough to afford these schemes. Service quality pertains to the ability of the service provider to meet or exceed the expectations of the customer. Thus, the importance of such ability lies in the fact that institutions can use this to differentiate them from other role players in this highly competitive market. Several models exist to evaluate service quality, but the SERVQUAL model has been utilised in various health institutions. Furthermore, gender could also have an effect on the manner in which customers perceive service quality. The study made use of the SERVQUAL model, with a 38-item survey questionnaire forming the basis of the data collecting technique. The 38 items were divided into seven sections, which included premises/employees, doctors‟ medical services, diagnostics, nursing medical services, admissions, meals and wards. A response rate of 71% was obtained. The demographic profile of the study resembled the current demographic of the town and 35.85% of the respondents were male with 64.15% being female. The validity and the reliability of the study were confirmed by means of an exploratory factor analysis and Chronbach alpha coefficients. The analysis of the difference in means of the various factors indicated that tangibles 2 and responsiveness 1 required attention from management to improve customer satisfaction. The analysis of data pertaining to gender indicated that no difference in satisfaction levels was evident. In conclusion, management needs to focus on the factors highlighted during the study, with proper maintenance and improvement of the appearance of the facility and providing training to staff to promote patient relationships. Furthermore, the recommendations include that the model is used in all institutions to evaluate service quality levels to highlight possible shortfalls, thus providing management with ability to address these shortfalls, in an effort to improve the level of service quality across the whole health sector.Master