Patient satisfaction and loyalty to the healthcare organization

Abstract

Purpose

Customer satisfaction is a tool for measuring providers’ service quality and may be evaluated based on measurement of perceived quality and customer expectations with respect to several aspects of service. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between various factors in the integrated model, including patient expectation (PE), total quality management (TQM), perceived service quality (PSQ), patient satisfaction (PS), patient complaint (PC) and patient loyalty (PL).

Design/methodology/approach

A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to inpatients who were treated in April 2018 at a tertiary-level hospital in Vietnam. The data set was analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 25.0 for descriptive statistics and AMOS 25.0 for structural equation modeling.

Findings

All hypotheses were supported by the results. TQM and PE positively influence PSQ; PE influences TQM; PE, PSQ and TQM influence PS; PC and PS influence PL; and PS influences PC.

Practical implications

These findings have implications for management, highlighting the importance of considering these factors in strategic planning aimed at improving customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

An integrated model was used to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. The analyses indicate that TQM, PE and PSQ are the main factors that directly influence PS.

Citation

Nguyen, T.L.H. and Nagase, K. (2021), "Patient satisfaction and loyalty to the healthcare organization", International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 496-515. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-02-2020-0011