Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model

(1) Background: Health care service quality has been equated with preparedness to provide, accessibility, suitability, adequacy, friendliness and ongoing support and has been connected to service excellence. The main aim of this study was to investigate patients’ perceptions and expectations regardi...

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Main Authors: Aspasia Goula, Maria-Aggeliki Stamouli, Maria Alexandridou, Lemonia Vorreakou, Aristeidis Galanakis, Georgios Theodorou, Emmanouil Stauropoulos, Martha Kelesi, Evridiki Kaba
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3418
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spelling doaj-1f9aed7b6b2e4eb1b30bacf9d16fd7d72021-03-26T00:05:26ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-03-01183418341810.3390/ijerph18073418Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL ModelAspasia Goula0Maria-Aggeliki Stamouli1Maria Alexandridou2Lemonia Vorreakou3Aristeidis Galanakis4Georgios Theodorou5Emmanouil Stauropoulos6Martha Kelesi7Evridiki Kaba8Master of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceMaster of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceMaster of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceMaster of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceMaster of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceMaster of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceMaster of Health and Social Care Management, Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Nursing, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Nursing, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece(1) Background: Health care service quality has been equated with preparedness to provide, accessibility, suitability, adequacy, friendliness and ongoing support and has been connected to service excellence. The main aim of this study was to investigate patients’ perceptions and expectations regarding the quality of health services. (2) Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was carried out in 5 public general hospitals and convenience sampling was used as the sampling technique. Questionnaires were distributed to inpatients and outpatients and 700 valid questionnaires were returned. The SERVQUAL questionnaire was used for data collection in this survey. (3) Results: Overall, in this study, it became apparent that patients’ expectations as regarding the quality of the provided services were not met. All of the five quality dimensions had a negative gap between patients’ expectations and perceptions. (4) Conclusions: The findings suggested that hospital managers and health care professionals should be interested about patient expectations and subsequently they should search out ways and means to meet them. Open communication with patients, individualized attention, as well as responsiveness to their requirements, polite behavior, trustful atmosphere across the hospital and better physical facilities are the key elements that determine the patient’s judgment about quality.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3418hospital qualitypublic hospitalsSERVQUAL modelpatient expectationspatient perceptions
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Aspasia Goula
Maria-Aggeliki Stamouli
Maria Alexandridou
Lemonia Vorreakou
Aristeidis Galanakis
Georgios Theodorou
Emmanouil Stauropoulos
Martha Kelesi
Evridiki Kaba
spellingShingle Aspasia Goula
Maria-Aggeliki Stamouli
Maria Alexandridou
Lemonia Vorreakou
Aristeidis Galanakis
Georgios Theodorou
Emmanouil Stauropoulos
Martha Kelesi
Evridiki Kaba
Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
hospital quality
public hospitals
SERVQUAL model
patient expectations
patient perceptions
author_facet Aspasia Goula
Maria-Aggeliki Stamouli
Maria Alexandridou
Lemonia Vorreakou
Aristeidis Galanakis
Georgios Theodorou
Emmanouil Stauropoulos
Martha Kelesi
Evridiki Kaba
author_sort Aspasia Goula
title Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model
title_short Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model
title_full Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model
title_fullStr Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model
title_full_unstemmed Public Hospital Quality Assessment. Evidence from Greek Health Setting Using SERVQUAL Model
title_sort public hospital quality assessment. evidence from greek health setting using servqual model
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1661-7827
1660-4601
publishDate 2021-03-01
description (1) Background: Health care service quality has been equated with preparedness to provide, accessibility, suitability, adequacy, friendliness and ongoing support and has been connected to service excellence. The main aim of this study was to investigate patients’ perceptions and expectations regarding the quality of health services. (2) Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was carried out in 5 public general hospitals and convenience sampling was used as the sampling technique. Questionnaires were distributed to inpatients and outpatients and 700 valid questionnaires were returned. The SERVQUAL questionnaire was used for data collection in this survey. (3) Results: Overall, in this study, it became apparent that patients’ expectations as regarding the quality of the provided services were not met. All of the five quality dimensions had a negative gap between patients’ expectations and perceptions. (4) Conclusions: The findings suggested that hospital managers and health care professionals should be interested about patient expectations and subsequently they should search out ways and means to meet them. Open communication with patients, individualized attention, as well as responsiveness to their requirements, polite behavior, trustful atmosphere across the hospital and better physical facilities are the key elements that determine the patient’s judgment about quality.
topic hospital quality
public hospitals
SERVQUAL model
patient expectations
patient perceptions
url https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3418
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