Service quality in healthcare establishments: a literature review

What is it about?

Over the past two decades, Indian healthcare establishments (HCEs) have embraced service quality (SQ) and SQ dimensions in some way to their organisation in order to improve the patient's satisfaction level. However, a recent report indicated that there is little evidence of leading Indian researchers working on healthcare quality and related areas in healthcare sector. Moreover, the perception is that whatever research has been conducted is fragmented, very specific in nature and specialised. In light of this, the purpose of the present study is to develop an extensive and systematic literature search on healthcare quality, SQ, development and application of SERVQUAL and to understand the link between SQ and patient satisfaction. The paper further identifies the healthcare quality dimensions and models for HCEs. Finally, it was concluded that further research is necessary to develop conceptual underpinning and analytical models based on quantitative studies. The outcome of this study will help Indian healthcare practitioners and quality experts to take initiative in implementing hospital SQ dimensions in their organisations as well as may propose a framework/model for enhanced performance.

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