Influence of Service Quality on Patient Satisfaction at Private Healthcare Hospitals

Abstract

Service quality is increasingly becoming a crucial factor influencing patient satisfaction within the dynamic private healthcare industry. This paper evaluates the influence of service quality on patient satisfaction at private hospitals in the Kozhikode district of Kerala State. The quantitative research methodology was used, which involved the use of a questionnaire to obtain primary data from 150 respondents chosen using convenience sampling techniques. Service quality dimensions used to evaluate service quality included tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to investigate the relationship between service quality and patient satisfaction. The analysis indicates that service quality significantly influences patient satisfaction positively. Responsiveness and empathy dimensions emerged as the most influential factors. Tangibility, reliability, and assurance were also found to have significant impacts on patient satisfaction, although to a relatively lower extent than those two. It is clear from the results that increasing the level of service quality can improve patient satisfaction among private healthcare hospitals significantly. The results provide valuable information to hospital management and healthcare policy formulators to devise effective patient-focused service policies and standards.

Introduction

The text examines how service quality influences patient satisfaction in private hospitals in Kozhikode district, Kerala, India. With rapid growth and competition in the private healthcare sector, hospitals must focus not only on medical treatment but also on service quality factors such as communication, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, and physical facilities.

The study highlights that patient satisfaction is strongly affected by these service quality dimensions, as satisfied patients are more likely to follow treatments, return for care, and recommend hospitals to others. A quantitative research approach was used, collecting data from 150 patients through questionnaires and analyzing it using statistical methods, including Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

Findings show that all service quality dimensions significantly impact patient satisfaction. Assurance (trust and staff competence) has the strongest influence, followed by empathy, tangibles, and responsiveness. Reliability is used as a baseline factor. Results also show that responsiveness and physical facilities vary more across hospitals, indicating inconsistency in service delivery.

Conclusion

This study proves the significant and positive effect of service quality on patients\' satisfaction in private healthcare hospitals. Each of the five service quality variables, namely reliability, assurance, empathy, tangibles, and responsiveness, positively influences patient satisfaction, whereas assurance and empathy are the two most important determinants. The results suggest that the model has a high explanatory power, meaning that service quality explains a substantial part of patient satisfaction. Nevertheless, the findings imply that there are several inconsistencies in providing healthcare services, especially concerning responsiveness and tangibles, showing that although the core medical services are stable, the overall experience of healthcare provision is inconsistent. While all fit indices for evaluating model goodness-of-fit prove a good fit, the RMSEA measure indicates some room for improvement in both the model itself and its real-life implementation. The analysis indicates that service quality significantly influences patient satisfaction positively. Responsiveness and empathy dimensions emerged as the most influential factors. Tangibility, reliability, and assurance were also found to have significant impacts on patient satisfaction, although to a relatively lower extent than those two. It is clear from the results that increasing the level of service quality can improve patient satisfaction among private healthcare hospitals significantly. The results provide valuable information to hospital management and healthcare policy formulators to devise effective patient-focused service policies and standards. To conclude, private healthcare hospitals should use their competitive advantage to increase patient satisfaction with their services through focusing on patient needs and interests and creating an efficient service process based on technical knowledge and personal interaction.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Dr. G. Sasikaladevi, T. V. Rajeesh. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.