Assessing service quality and customer behavioral responses in hospital outpatient services

Abstract

Purpose In contrast to the reflective approach of service quality measurement, this paper aims to propose and validate a parsimonious multidimensional second-order formatively measured model of service quality for primary health-care services provided by hospital outpatient departments. The index’s empirical validity is examined by investigating the strength of its relationship with certain behavioral responses such as patient satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a stratified random sampling from eight hospital outpatient departments in Greece. Covariance-based structural equation modeling techniques were used to validate the proposed service quality index and further investigate its effect on patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. Findings The data analysis indicated that the proposed formative index is fully functional with medical care being the factor and mostly contributes to service quality perception, followed by administrative service and staff performance, and facilities condition and nursing care. It, further, confirmed the partial mediating role of satisfaction, as it enhances the high impact of service quality on behavioral intentions. Research limitations/implications The relationships among hospital outpatient departments service quality, patient satisfaction and behavioral intentions were validated with data from one country and a health-care system which is state driven and funded. Practical implications An understanding of hospital primary health-care service quality formation is important to health-care decision makers because it offers them the opportunity to consider patients’ needs and wants, and takes the appropriate actions for improving the relevant underling procedures in a more efficient manner to achieve favorable behavioral responses. Originality/value The paper manages to propose and empirically evaluate a formatively measured approach of service quality and investigate the effects of the proposed index on patient satisfaction and behavioral intention, especially in the hospital outpatient services context in Greece.

Treatment Interest of Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (Social Security Organizing Agency) Patients in Balowerti Public Health Center Kediri City

“…Although all these factors have a direct influence on the intention to continue the use of the hospital's services, patient satisfaction is an additional intermediate factor (George & Sahadevan, 2019). The strength of the influence of satisfaction on behavioral intentions was confirmed by Giovanis et al (2018), who also identified medical care as the component of the quality perception. Environment and communication with hospital staff make a great contribution to the pleasure of patients.…”

Applying flexible fuzzy numbers for evaluating service features in healthcare – patients and employees in the focus

“…Quality of care is also often categorised into technical (referring to what is delivered) and functional (focusing on how care is delivered) quality. When it comes to evaluating perceived service quality, functional quality comes to the forefront rather than the technical (Grönroos, 1984;Giovanis, Pierrakos, Rizomyliotis, & Binioris, 2018). However, technical and functional quality interrelate as healthcare processes are provided by healthcare workers and the results are obtained by the condition of the patient after treatments.…”

“…Several studies (e.g. Berwick, 2009;Miranda, Chamorro, Murillo, & Vega, 2012;Turan & Bozaykut-Bük, 2016;Giovanis et al, 2018) have argued that the feedback of patients serve as an information resource for measuring, evaluating and developing the quality of healthcare service delivery and therefore, contributes significantly and directly to healthcare improvements.…”

The Influential Factors of Health Care Customer Loyalty: Evidence from Serbia

“…Research on service quality in health care settings indicates that high quality service leads to patient satisfaction and willingness to use services of the same health care provider in the future (Ozturkcan et al, 2009;Kondasani & Panda, 2015;Boakye et al, 2017;Taqdees et al, 2018;Mahmoud et al, 2019). Provision of high quality service by a health care institution has also been recognized as a means of successful differ-entiation among competitors and a source of sustainable competitive advantage leading to improved efficiency, long-term success and organizational sustainability (Ramsaran-Fowdar, 2008; Peer & Mpinganjira, 2011; Boakye et al, 2017; Giovanis et al, 2018;Taqdees et al, 2018). On the other hand, the delivery of poor health care services leads to patient dissatisfaction, which negatively affects sustainability of health care services (Altuntas et al, 2018).…”