This paper is part of earlier research work conducted in the health care services sector. The customer relationship management concept has encouraged the adoption of a marketing culture not only in the private sector, but in public health care sector as well. In this paper the authors have analysed the factors affecting patient satisfaction in public health care outpatient services. Patient satisfaction is measured with respect to technical and non- technical characteristics of health care service encounters, categorised into four basic components: attitude towards doctors, attitude towards medical assistants, quality of administration and quality ofatmospherics. The authors hypothesise that all four factors are closely related to consumer satisfaction. The paper measures the degree of consumer satisfaction experienced by patients through the tested self-developed five-point Likert scale and has highlighted the problem faced by them. The impact of age, education level and gender ofthe decision maker on satisfactionldissatisfaction is analysed using relevant statistical tools. The responses have been integrated into important factors on the basis of factor analysis after verifying the validity and reliability of the schedule. The paper concludes with the strategic actions necessary for meeting the needs of patients of the government health care sector in developing countries.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bal, Arun (1994). Consumer protection and medical profession. Indian Journal of Social Work, 54(2), 209-22.
2.
Babukus, Emin and Gregory W. Boller (1992). An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL Scale. Journal of Business Research, 24(3), 253-68.
3.
Band, William A. (1991). Creative value for customers: Designing and implementing a total corporate strategy, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
4.
Bhat, Ramesh (1999). Characteristics of private medical practice in India: A provider perspective. Health Policy and Planning , 14(1), 26-37.
5.
Brady, Michael K. and Cronin, Joseph Jr. (2001). Some new thoughts on conceptualising perceived service quality: A hierarchical approach. Journal of Marketing, 65(July), 34-49.
6.
Brown, Stephen and Teresa Swartz (1989). A Gap analysis of professional service quality . Journal of Marketing, 53(2), 92-98.
7.
Bryant, Carol et al. (1998). Increasing consumer satisfaction. MarketingHealth Services, 18(Winter), 5-17.
8.
Buller, M.K. and D.B. Buller (1987). Physician communication style and patient satisfaction . Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 28(December), 375-88.
9.
Carmon, James M. (1990). Consumer perceptions of service quality: An assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing, 66(1), 33-55.
10.
Chahal, Hardeep (2002). Strategies for enhancing patient satisfaction in rural health services in J&K. Project report, University of Jammu, Jammu.
11.
Chakraborty, Goutam, Gacy J. Gaeth and Maisha Cunningham (1993). Understanding consumer preferences for dental service. Journal of Health Care Marketing , 13(Fall), 48-58.
12.
Consumer Education Research Cell (CERC) (1991 ). What ails public hospitals? Ahmedabad : CERC.
13.
Cibulsksis, P. and Izard J. (1996). Monitoring systems. In K. Janovsky (ed.), Health policy and systems development: An agenda for research. Geneva: WHO.
14.
Cronin, J.M. and S.A. Taylor (1992). Measuring service quality: A reexamination of extension. Journal of Marketing, 39( ), 55-68.
15.
Cooper, Philip D., Maxwell Richard and Rehoe William (1979). Entry strategies for marketing in ambulatory and other health delivery system. In Philip D. Cooper (ed.), Health care marketing: Issues and trends (pp. 30-36). New York: Aspen Publications.
16.
Cronbach, Lee (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrica, 16(September), 297-339.
17.
Czepiel, John A. and Larry J. Rosenberg (1987). Consumer satisfaction: Concept and measurement. In Venkatakrishna V. Bellur and Harold V Berkman (eds.), Readings in marketing management (pp. 126-34). Mumbai : Himalaya Publishing House.
18.
Flexner, W.A., C.P. McLaughlin and J.E. Littlefield (1985). Discovering what the health consumers really want. In Philip D. Cooper (ed.), Health care marketing: Issues and trends (pp. 175-85). New York: Aspen Publications.
19.
Gabriel, B. Fosu (1989). Access to health care in urban areas of developing societies. Health and Social Behaviour, 30(December), 398-411.
20.
Gilson, L., M. Alilo and K. Heggenhougen (1994). Community satisfaction with primary health care services: An evaluation undertaken in the Morogoro region of Tanzania. Social Science and Medicine, 39(6), 767-80.
21.
Goel, S.L. (1989). Administration and rural hospitals. In S.L. Goel and R. Kumar (eds.), Hospital administration and management, III, 9-27. New Delhi : Deep and Deep Publications.
22.
Hair, Joseph Jr., Rolph E. Anderson, Ronald L. Tatham and William C. Black (1995). Multivariate data analysis with readings. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
23.
Heiby, J. (1996). Quality of health services. In K. Janovsky (ed.), Health policy and system development: An agenda for research. Geneva: WHO.
Kerlinger, Fred N. and Elazer J. Pedhazzhur (1973). Multiple regression in behavioural research. New York: Rinehart and Winston.
26.
Krishnaswami, Uma (1991). The ideal doctors. The Hindu, 4 August 24.
27.
Lytle, Richard S. and Michael P. Mokwa (1992). Evaluating health care quality: The moderating role of outcomes. Journal of Health Care Marketing , 12(1), 4-14.
McAlexander, James H., Borris W. Becker and Dennis O. Kaldenberg (1993). Positioning health care services: Yellow Pages advertising and dental practice performance. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 12(Winter), 54-57.
30.
Niraj, Rakesh, Mahendra Gupta and Chakravarthi Narasimhan (2001). Customer profitability in a supply chain. Journal of Marketing, 65(July), 1-16.
31.
Newman, Robert D. et al. (1998). Satisfaction with outpatient health care services in Manica Province, Mozambique. Health Policy and Planning, 13(2), 174-80.
32.
Nunally, Jum C. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York : McGraw Hill.
33.
Parsuraman, A., Valarie Zeithaml and Leonard Berry (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perception of service quality. Journal of Retailing , 64(Spring), 12-41.
34.
Peltier, James W., Thomas Boyt and John A. Schibrowsky (1998). Relationships building . Marketing Health Services, 18(Fall), 17-24.
35.
Peltier, James W, Thomas Boyt and John A. Schibrowsky (1994). Reassesment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: Implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 58(February), 201-30.
36.
Rao, A.A. and C. Rameshwaran (1992). Development planning and administration. New Delhi: Deep and Deep.
37.
Singh, Ratanjit and Narendra Kumar (1988). Qualitative assessment of the functioning of primary health centre in a tribal centre: A case study. Journal of Family Welfare, 35(2), 33-41.
38.
Sharma, R.D. and Hardeep Chahal (1995). Patient satisfaction in public health system: A case study. Indian Journal of Social Work, 61 (4), 445-56.
39.
Srilatha, V. and I.W. Aitken (1991). A health risk index for assessing primary health care coverage in urban India. Health Policy and Planning, 6(3), 234-42.
40.
Tabuchunick, Barbara G. and Linda S. Fidell (1983). Using multivariate statistics . New York: Harper and Row Publisher .
41.
Thompson, Phillip, Glenn Desouza and Bradley T. Gale (1985). The strategic management ofservice quality. Cambridge, MA: Strategic Planning Institute, PIMSLETTER.
42.
Tull, Donal S. and Del I. Hawkins (1980). Marketing research: Measurement and methods. New York: McMillan Publishing Company.
43.
Williams, B. (1994). Patient satisfaction: A valid concept? Social Science and Medicine, 38(4), 509-16.
44.
Woodside, Arch G., Lisa L. Grey and Robert T. Daly (1989). Linking service quality, customer satisfaction and behavioural intention. Journal of Health Care Marketing , 17(March), 61-68.
45.
Who (1981). Managerial process for national health development: Guiding principles for use in support of strategies for health for all by the year 2000. Health forAll, series 5.
46.
Hardip Chahal is Senior Lecturer, Department of Commerce, University of Jammu, Ambedkar Road, Jammu 180 006. E-mail: chahalhardeep@rediffmail.com.
47.
R.D. Sharma is at the Department of Commerce, University of Jammu, Jammu. E-mail: ramjirdsharma@rediffmail.com.
48.
Mahesh Gupta is at the College of Business and Public Administration, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY40292, USA. E-mail: mcgupta01@louisville.edu.
