Customer orientation and service quality practices in hospital industry a study of public and private hospitals in north India

Abstract

The Healthcare industry in India has passed its embryonic stage and has started developing its own characteristics now. Service quality measurement of hospital services is difficult because of criticality, service size, expertise required and complexity of processes. The customer orientation as a concept in healthcare has remained a neglected area; the present study is an attempt to measure the impact of customer orientation practices on hospital service quality. 500 patients from 10 public and private multi specialty hospitals of North India were selected for the study. Results revealed that there is a significant positive impact of patient orientation on the seven different dimensions of hospital service quality. Service quality and customer orientation practices were found to be better in private hospitals. Good patient orientation practices followed by hospitals will lead to better service quality; hence better patient satisfaction will be there. newline