Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose ofthis study is to empirically assess the relationship between healthcare service
quality dimensions like physical environment, customer friendly environment, communication,
privacy and safety, responsiveness, reliability and patient satisfaction within the context of
private hospitals in Karachi.
Methodology & Design
This research is quantitative in nature and involved primary data that was collected by means of
a self-administered cross- sectional survey. Final sample size of 384 which consisted of
respondents having experience of private hospitals situated in Karachi was used for data analysis.
SPSS 22 was used to run Cronbach’s Alpha reliability, Pearson’s Co-relation and Multiple
Linear Regression tests in order to assess the internal consistency ofscale, relationship amongst
variables and the impact ofindividual independent variables on the dependent variable
respectively.
Findings
Findings indicate that the proposed model is significant in explaining the impact ofhealthcare
service quality dimensions on patient satisfaction. Moreover, communication and customer
friendly environment depicting interpersonal quality, emerged as the two strongest predictors of
patient satisfaction, indicating that patients of private hospitals in Karachi have higher
psychological needs. Reliability and physical environment were the other quality dimensions
found to have a significant impact on patient satisfaction, whereas responsiveness and privacy
and safety were found to be insignificant.
Practical implications
Findings from this study will help managers ofKarachi’s private hospitals to formulate effective
strategies targeting key areas offocus in order to satisfy patients and inculcate further
improvements to ensure superior quality ofservices that will ultimately enable them to
competitive and profitable.Recommendations
Based on the findings, managers of private hospitals in Karachi are recommended to employ a
Total Quality Management approach incorporating preferences and feedback of both patients and
employees. They should focus on enhancing soft skills of all personnel, improve communication,
maintain and update facilities, upgrade skills and improve processes to elevate technical caliber
and ensure error free services to patients respectively.
Limitations
This research is purely quantitative in nature and might not have captured patient’s complex set
of beliefs and accurately evaluate patient satisfaction which is very subjective in nature.
