A comprehensive framework for measuring service quality perceptions of patients: A case of Indian hospitals

The increasing purchasing power of Indian customers and the significant growth in the industry have led to stiff Indian competition in the Indian healthcare sector. It has become vital for the healthcare providers to deliver and sustain quality practices in order to get established in the global health scenario. The main objective of the paper is to determine the dimensions of service quality in Indian hospitals, from patients' perspective. Based on the existing models and the literature on healthcare services, the authors have proposed a framework to conceptualize and measure hospital service quality. This would enable hospital managers understand how patients evaluate the quality of care provided and aid them to allocate resources to various aspects of healthcare, considered to be important by the patients. A questionnaire has been developed for measuring the dimensions of hospital service quality and is being validated. The current work could be extended to determine the link between various aspects of hospital services and patient satisfaction. © 2008 IEEE.