Study on the Influence of Service Quality towards Patient Satisfaction of Private Hospitals in Western Province of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare has become one of the most important and rapidly expanding service sector industries in Sri Lanka, comprising private and public sector healthcare service providers. The attention given to qualitative studies on understanding how patient satisfaction is influenced by service quality is very rare, especially in the Sri Lankan healthcare sector. According to the Private Health Services Regulatory Council (PHSRC) directed under the Ministry of Health (MOH), there are fifty (50) hospitals identified and related to the private sector located in the Western province of Sri Lanka (MOH, 2022). The study focuses on the adoption of SERVQUAL (reliability, tangibility, assurance empathy, and responsiveness) to assess how service quality influences patient satisfaction. Enhanced service quality will help retain existing customers as well as attract potential customers, improve the business image of the business, create positive word-of-mouth recommendations, and will lead to improved profits. Researchers have utilized the following SERVQUAL model factors which affect service quality (Duggirala, Rajendran, and Anantharaman, 2008; Aynul Sowmiya Badhurudheen, 2018; Team, 2022). Reliability refers to the organization's ability to perform the services to satisfy their customer needs and maintain customer satisfaction consistently. It involves all the instances from customer interaction to the delivery of final products, grievance handling, and competitive pricing. An organization’s success will depend on its capability to meet customer expectations of reliability. Tangibility means the company’s ability portrays service quality through tangible quality. Maintaining the physical facilities, employee appearance, and organization of the facility is important. Empathy is an organization’s ability to deliver Extended Abstracts 15 services by being empathetic towards the customers. When the customers trust the organization as a party that is empathetic and truly cares about their demands and desires, they tend to be more loyal to the organization. Responsiveness means the company’s ability and willingness to help its customers promptly. Responsiveness can be stated as the quick and consistent response to customer requests, feedback, questions, and issues as it shows how the organization values its customers. Assurance refers to the organization's ability to create confidence and trust among customers. Gaining the trust of the customers is important for a company when retaining customers.