Service quality, consumer satisfaction and loyalty in hospitals: Thinking for the future

Healthcare industry in developing countries has recorded high growth rate in the recent years. This study seeks to identify the most critical factors in hospitals related to service quality that will ensure survival and success in the future. This study was conducted using the data from the consumers who received services from 40 different private hospitals in Hyderabad, India. Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Service Quality dimensions), patient satisfaction and loyalty to the hospital were the variables considered for this study. A path analysis was done on AMOS V20 in order to compute path coefficients, direct and indirect effects of the variables on patient's satisfaction and also loyalty to the hospital. We found that reliability and responsiveness (not empathy, tangibility, and assurance) impact patients' satisfaction. Patient's satisfaction is directly related to patients' loyalty to the hospital. Marital status and age have no impact on the regression weights of the variables analyzed; however, it was found that to some extent gender does.