Title: Assessment of service quality of private hospitals in Southern India

Authors: G. Yoganandan

Addresses: Periyar Institute of Management Studies, Periyar University, Salem – 636011, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: Service quality measurement enables hospitals to focus on the areas in which they need to focus their energy and efforts. This study was conducted in Salem Region, an important city in the state of Tamil Nadu, located in the Southern India. The responses were collected through a structured and validated questionnaire. The sample size was 200. The study has used SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988), a proven data collection instrument, which is widely used by researchers around the world for measuring the service quality gap through a set of 22 statements that measure expectation and patients' perceived experience. The study found that among all the five dimensions, the service quality gap is well pronounced in the assurance dimension. One of the important limitations of this study is that the nature and severity of the patients' disease is not taken into the purview of this study as the pilot study highlighted their unwillingness to reveal such information.

Keywords: healthcare sector; hospital sector; Salem; service quality; SERVQUAL model; Southern India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2022.123336

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2022 Vol.42 No.2, pp.195 - 206

Received: 10 Jul 2019
Accepted: 20 Jan 2020

Published online: 10 Jun 2022 *

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