Development of a Multiple‐item Scale for Measuring Hospital Service Quality

TLDR

Hospitals increasingly use modern marketing concepts to improve efficiency and effectiveness, with service quality identified as a key strategic variable; the construct is theoretically defined, its assumptions and concepts discussed, and specific characteristics and the Access concept relevant to health care highlighted. The study aims to develop a multiple‑item scale for measuring hospital service quality in a Belgian hospital based on these theoretical considerations. The authors explored the dimensionality of service quality using the SERVQUAL instrument and conducted an empirical study in a Belgian hospital to develop the new scale. The new scale demonstrated reliable and valid dimensions that differ from SERVQUAL, revealing discrepancies and offering critical comments on SERVQUAL with recommendations for future research.

Abstract

Many hospitals apply modern marketing ideas to serve customer markets in a more efficient and effective way. An important strategic variable in this respect is service quality. Gives a theoretical conceptualization of the service‐quality construct and discusses its major underlying assumptions and concepts. Also describes some specific characteristics of the quality construct in the health‐care sector. Explores the dimensionality of the service‐quality construct using the SERVQUAL instrument. Also describes the Access concept, which is widely used in the health‐care literature. On the basis of these theoretical considerations, reports an empirical study in a Belgian hospital to develop an appropriate multiple‐item scale to measure hospital service quality. Discusses discrepancies between SERVQUAL and the dimensions obtained from this study in some detail along with the reliability and validity properties of our scale and makes some critical comments on the SERVQUAL approach with recommendations for future research.