Better healthcare setting for better healthcare service quality: An empirical analysis of Indian consumers’ perspective
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 8 July 2019
Issue publication date: 9 October 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess and compare different private healthcare settings based on perceived service quality in Indian context using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The Indian private healthcare sector has been controlled by three categories of healthcare settings, namely, nursing clinics (NCs), non-corporate hospitals (NCHs) and corporate hospitals (CHs).
Design/methodology/approach
AHP was used to rank order of healthcare setting regarding the service quality dimensions and relative standings of every service provider with respect to its competitors. The authors collected random data from nine private hospitals situated in eastern and southern India. The authors proposed a feasible appraising approach based on AHP to decide the sustainability priority of dimensions like reliability, physical environment, empathy, efficiency, timeliness, transparency, affordability, communication, appropriateness and consistency in the Indian private healthcare industry.
Findings
The result demonstrates that Indian NCHs are performing better on customers’ perceived service quality, followed by CHs and NCs. The comparative performance of healthcare settings is an attempt to establish a performance ranking.
Originality/value
This research assesses dimensions of the service quality that need urgent attention. The results may provide insight to healthcare managers as to how they can improve their service quality in order to match customer expectation and to improve business performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declaration of conflicting interests: the authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this paper. The authors would like to thank all the patients/accompanying persons who participated in this research study and gratefully acknowledge the support of the nine different private hospital managers for their support in collecting data.
Citation
Kondasani, R.K.R., Panda, R.K. and Basu, R. (2019), "Better healthcare setting for better healthcare service quality: An empirical analysis of Indian consumers’ perspective", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 36 No. 10, pp. 1665-1682. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-05-2018-0120
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited