An Empirical Study on Service Quality Comparison Between Private and Public Hospitals in Delhi-NCR

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the healthcare service quality of private hospitals with public hospitals in Delhi-NCR. The data for the study was collected by means of a questionnaire comprising of 52 statements related to tangibility, reliability, empathy, assurance and responsiveness. Only six tertiary-level health diseases were selected for this study. A sample of 249 respondents completed the questionnaire, 121 from private hospitals in Delhi-NCR and 127 from the public hospitals in Delhi- NCR that were selected randomly from two private and two public hospitals. Factor analysis and independent t-test techniques have been employed to analyze the data. The results obtained indicated that there was a significant difference in healthcare service quality between private hospitals and public hospitals in Delhi-NCR. Tangibility, empathy, responsiveness, reliability and assurance all were better in private hospitals compared to the public hospitals. Tangibility was considered to be the most important factor that helps in determining the difference between private and public hospitals. Proper attention of the government is required to be able to improve the service quality of the public hospitals and the development of more public hospitals so as to maintain the healthcare of the people. Recommendations were made to the administrators and the healthcare providers to improve the healthcare delivery system. To improve the quality of healthcare services and for patient satisfaction, continuous monitoring of patient perception is required.

Keywords: Healthcare, India, Patients, Hospitals, Service Quality

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