Title: Does a doctor's skill influence patient satisfaction, loyalty and compliance in low-medium income countries?

Authors: Firas AlOmari

Addresses: Putra Business School, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the impact of doctor's skills on patient's satisfaction, loyalty and behavioural compliance in Syrian healthcare setting. Convenience sampling method was used to select 301 patients from six hospitals, in the Syrian capital Damascus, to complete the questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the proposed model had been confirmed. Doctor's skill is a multidimensional construct that consists of three dimensions: doctor's competence, listening skill and explanation skill. The statistical analysis indicated that doctor's skills construct has a significant positive direct effect on patient satisfaction, loyalty and compliance. In addition, patient satisfaction has a partial mediating effect between a doctor's skills and patient loyalty. However, a satisfied patient with the perceived clinical service does not secure medication compliance. In other words, patient satisfaction does not mediate the relationship between doctor skills and patient's compliance. This study introduces noticeable contributions to the healthcare marketing and management in Syria.

Keywords: doctor's skills; patient satisfaction; patient loyalty; medication compliance; Syrian healthcare.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIDS.2022.123635

International Journal of Information and Decision Sciences, 2022 Vol.14 No.2, pp.149 - 163

Received: 05 Apr 2020
Accepted: 09 Jun 2020
Published online: 30 Jun 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article