synopsis for phd presentation.ppt

Presented By : Ansuman Samal Registration No - 1481208001 (January 2014 Session)

“COMPARATIVE STUDY ON SERVICE QUALITY INGOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITALS IN ODISHA”

A Research proposal (Synopsis) submitted to Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University for enrollment in to the

Doctoral programme in Hospitality Management for January 2014 session

Under the Guidance of Prof. Dr. Bibhuti Bhusan Pradhan

Dean In-Charge, School of Hotel Management cumRegistrar, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

04/28/23 SCHOOL OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT 2

FLOW OF PRESENTATION

Introduction Background (The Prologue) Statement of the Problem Need for the Study Objectives of the Study Scope of the Present study Research Methodology & Sampling Plan Hypotheses Limitations Scope of further Research Related Works (Review of Literature) Conclusion


INTRODUCTION Survival of the Fittest !

This is the new mantra for the modern day marketers to begin, survive, thrive and sustain their businesses in the highly competitive market place

Now a days the consumers have become more and more demanding which has resulted in new type of challenges for the marketers

Changing customer demands, increased expectations for superior quality of products and services and the global competition have created a competitive situation among different industrial sectors

The more the options they have in the market place, the less they are brand loyalist

The key for survival in the global market for a firm is to offer a product or service that is some way superior to its competition and it must also be sustainable over time

A paradigm shift has happened in today’s hypercompetitive market place; from transaction based business to relationship centric business

Obtaining and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage is a more challenging task in case of services marketing

Therefore the marketer has to constantly keep a vigil in order to explore new avenues to offer new types of services, best in class quality, better services, processes and innovative ways to reach to the customers in order to differentiate the Brand from others


THE PROLOGUE The Concept of Service

According to the International foundation of Information Technology, a Service is a set of actions or solutions that are put in place or are performed to provide a repeatable and consistent set of outcomes, deliverables, and performance for people, organizations, and systems that represent consumers or beneficiaries of such results

A service provision comprises a sequence of activities that does not result in ownership of the outcome, and this is what fundamentally differentiates it from furnishing someone with physical goods

Contd…

List of Services:

1. Business Functions like HR, consulting, etc. 11. Foodservice industry2. Child Care 12. Personal grooming3. Cleaning, repair and maintenance services 13. Health care 4. Construction 14. Hospitality Industry5. Death Care 15. Information Services6. Dispute resolution and prevention services 16. Risk Management like Insurance & security7. Education 17. Social Services8. Entertainment 18. Transport9. Fabric care 19. Public Utility10. Financial services


THE PROLOGUE Contribution of Services Sector

The contribution of service sector to the national economy has grown up to a significant percentage

we can also divide the total labor force employed with various industry sectors where also a major contribution in employments is provided by the service sector only seconded to the agriculture sector

Contd…


THE PROLOGUE Unique Characteristics of ServicesServices can be paraphrased in terms of their generic key / unique characteristics which differentiate them from

the products.

1.Intangibility

2.Perishability

3.Inseparability

4.Variability

Contd…

How Services differs from GoodsGoods Services Resulting ImplicationsTangible Intangible

o Services cannot be inventoried.o Services cannot be easily patented.o Services cannot be readily displayed or communicated.o Pricing is difficult

Non-perishable Perishable o It is difficult to synchronize supply and demand with services. o Services cannot be returned and resold.

Production separatefrom Consumption

Simultaneous production and consumption

o Customers participate in and affect the transaction. o Customers affect each other. o Employees affect the service outcome. o Decentralization may be essential. o Mass production is difficult.

Standardized Variable o Services delivery and customer satisfaction depends on employee and customer actionso Service quality depends on many uncontrollable factorso There is no sure knowledge that the service delivered matches what was planned.


THE PROLOGUE The Concept of Quality:

According to the definition provided in the business dictionary, the term Quality can be states as “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy the stated or implied needs.”

In simpler terms it is a comparison between the level of expectations of a customer before availing the product or service and the level of perception after receiving the product or service

The Concept of Quality in Services:

Service quality refers to the collective effort of service performance, which determines the degree of satisfaction of users of the services

The degree of customer satisfaction bears a direct relation to the quality of service where good quality of service gives better customer satisfaction and the bad one leads to dissatisfaction of the customers

In another view, Service quality is defined as the customer’s impression of the relative superiority/inferiority of a service provider and its services (Bitner and Hubbert 1994) and is often considered similar to the customer’s overall attitude towards the company (Parasuraman et al. 1988, Zeithaml 1988, Bitner 1990)

The major difficulty in this aspect is the problem in measuring the service quality because of the unique characteristics of it

Because of the unique characteristics of the services, marketers of services face some of the very real and distinctive challenges Contd…


CHALLENGES FOR SERVICE MARKETEERS1. How can service quality be defined and improved when the product is intangible and non-standardized? 2. How can new services be designed and tested effectively when the service is essentially an intangible

process.3. How can the firm be certain it is communicating a consistent and relevant image when so many elements of

the marketing mix communicate to customers and some of these elements are the service providers themselves?

4. How does the firm accommodate fluctuating demand when capacity is fixed and the service itself is perishable?

5. How can the firm best motivate and select service employees, who because the service is delivered in real time, become a critical part of the product itself.

6. How should prices be set when it difficult to determine actual costs of production and price may be inextricably intertwined with perceptions of quality?

7. How should the firm be organized so that good strategic and tactical decisions are made when a decision in any of the functional areas of marketing, operations, and human resources may have significant impact on the other two areas?

8. How can the balance between standardization and personalization be determined to maximize both the efficiency of the organization and the satisfaction of its customers?

9. How can the organization protect new service concepts from competitors when service processes cannot be readily patented?

10. How does the firm communicate quality and value to consumers when the offering is intangible and cannot be readily tried or displayed?

11. How can the organization ensure the delivery of consistent quality service when both the organization’s employees and customers themselves can affect the service outcome?

In order to solve these problems, many researchers have worked over the years to find the solution. Over the

years, they have developed certain measures to evaluate the quality of services through various studies which can be described in the later section

Contd…


THE PROLOGUE Importance of Service Quality in Hospitals

The role of service quality is recognized as being a critical determinant for the success of an organization in a competitive environment

Improvements in service quality is linked to increased profit margins, lower costs, and positive attitudes towards the service by customers, and willingness of customers to pay premiums price

However the measurement of the quality of services is difficult due to its unique features,

As the hospital industry is mainly concerned with the provision of services and not physical goods, the application of marketing concepts in general and services marketing is proper

In the hospital industry, service quality and patients’ satisfaction are getting much attention and this issue is considered in their strategic planning process

Moreover, increased patients’ expectations about the service quality made the healthcare service providers find the key determinants that are necessary to improve their services that cause patients’ satisfaction and it also helps them to cut the time and money involved in handling patients’ complaints

The literature suggests that sustainable competitive advantage for service organizations, such as those in the hospital industry, is best attained through service quality and customer satisfaction as perceived by customers

Contd…


CURRENT SCENARIO - TRENDSIndian Health Care Sector:

After gaining Independence in 1947, India started a journey towards the transformation in the Health care Industry which occupies a vital place in the social services sector and is essential for achieving sustainable human resource development

According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (www.ibef.org), The Indian healthcare sector, one of the country’s fastest developing industries, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.2 per cent during 2011–17 to reach US$ 160 billion

due to certain reasons such as increase in the disposable income, ageing population, health awareness, demand towards preventive health care is expected to boost the health care sector in India in the coming days

Notable Trends in Indian Health Care Sector

Shift from communicable to lifestyle diseases

Expansion to tier II and tier III cities

Management Contracts

Emergence of Telemedicine

Increasing penetration of Health Insurance

Technological Initiatives

http://www.ibef.org/


CURRENT SCENARIO - STATUSThe Odisha Story:The Mission of the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Odisha, is to facilitate improvement in the health status of the people of Odisha with their participation, and to make available health care in a socially equitable, accessible and affordable manner within a reasonable timeframe, creating partnerships between the public, voluntary and private health sector and across other developmental sectors

It has adopted Central Government norms, guidelines, policies and programmes for this development

The current strength of health care facilities in the state are as follows

Contd…

Health care facilities in the state of Odisha Facilities NumbersMedical College and Hospitals (State Government Owned) 4Medical College and Hospitals (Central Government Owned) 1Medical College and Hospitals – (Privately Owned) 4District Hospitals (30 Districts + Capital Hospital BBSR & I.G.H, RKL) 32Sub-Divisional Hospitals 27Community Health Centers 377Other Hospitals 79Infectious Disease Hospitals 5Training Centers 5Primary Health Centers (N) & others 1226Sub-Centers 6688A.N.M. Training Schools 16G.N.M. Training School 8M.P.H.W.(Male) Training School 3

Facilities NumbersAyurvedic Hospitals 2Ayurvedic College & Hospitals 3Ayurvedic Dispensaries 619Homoeopathic College & Hospitals 4Homoeopathic Dispensaries 560Unani Dispensaries 9


CURRENT SCENARIO - PROBLEMS

Despite of all the efforts, the general scenario in health care conditions of the state is very poor

It can be attributed to many factors such as Poverty, malnutrition, economic backwardness of people, scarcity of adequate hospitals, sanitation conditions, absence of modern and updated equipment for optimum level of service delivery, shortage of trained professionals, regular occurrence of natural disasters such as floods and cyclones etc. which are making them more vulnerable to diseases of various kinds making their lives miserable

Due to the inadequacy of Government initiatives in the state, during the last decade, a no. of private medical college hospitals and general hospitals have been established for promotion of knowledge, research and care but they are too in the nascent phase which is causing hindrance in the overall development of the health care industry in the state

According to the annual report of the UNICEF, around 40 percent of all children under three years old in Odisha are underweight and 61 per cent of adolescent girls are anemic

Odisha has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in India. Overall the healthcare sector in Odisha is growing but it is not in an adequate stage to serve its customer by providing them with high quality services

Contd…


STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Over the years, the health care sector has become highly competitive and it’s growing in many folds

In the present context, service quality is critical to the success of the hospital industry because the patients demand more information than ever and do not hesitate to switch to another health care provider if they do not get satisfaction

Every day, millions of people receive health care services to keep up or restore their health and ability to work with high levels of expectations

However, quality problems are reflected in a wide variation in the use of health care services, including an unacceptable level of errors

Besides, India's hospital industry faces significant shortage of qualified staff in all categories of doctors, nurses and paramedic staff

The quality of the public health care sector is quite low and inadequate and the patients are dissatisfied with the level of service provided in the public hospitals

Due to the inadequacy of public hospitals, during the last decades, a no. of private medical college hospitals and general hospitals have been established for promotion of knowledge, research and care but they are too in the nascent phase which is causing hindrance in the overall development of the health care industry

creating, implementing and monitoring the systems to improve quality and patient safety have become a major focus in the present scenario

To thrive in future health systems, hospitals will need to transform to patient – centered and information - rich organizations

Therefore, I think that it is worth to study the perception of the patients towards the service quality of the Medical college hospitals in the state of Odisha


Like the other service organizations, the health care sector has also become a highly competitive and rapidly

growing service industry around the world

Today, the biggest challenge faced by health care markets is to define and measure the service quality

In health care, patient perceptions are considered to be the major indicator to assess the service quality of a

health care organization

Also, the health care sector of a country needs special attention from the government as the quality of health

care provides hope and relief to the patients and their dependents and ultimately aims to build a healthy

human capital that contributes to the development of the country.

Keeping this in mind, the current study aims to measure the perception of patients towards the service

quality of the Medical College hospitals to give valuable information to the policy makers and hospital

administrators about the areas that need attention for improvement in quality of health careIn order to give excellent service quality, identifying the underlying dimensions of the service quality construct is the first step in the definition, and hence, should be a central concern for hospital administrators. The Government also needs to provide special attention and support to the health care section as it provides hope and relief to the patients and their dependents and support for maintaining a healthy human capital that contributes to the development of the country. Thus, there is a lot of scope for research to present new ideas about customers’ perception towards service quality, which may be useful to the hospital industry

NEED FOR THE STUDY


RESEARCH PROBLEMIn the present context, service quality is critical to the success of the hospital industry because the patients demand more information than ever and do not hesitate much to switch to another health care provider if they do not get satisfaction

Thus, the provision of quality service and improving patient satisfaction are key strategies in the long - run success and profitability of health care providers

However, quality related problems are reflected in a wide variation in the use of health care services, including an unacceptable level of errors

Besides, India's hospital industry faces significant shortage of qualified staff in all categories of Doctors, Nurses and Paramedic staff

The quality of the public health care sector is quite low and inadequate and the patients are dissatisfied with the level of service provided in the public hospitals

Though the above are the problems faced by the hospitals, creating, implementing and monitoring the systems to improve quality and patient safety have become a major focus in the present scenario

To thrive in future health systems, hospitals will need to transform to patient – centered and information - rich organizations

Therefore, I think that it is worth to study the perception of the patients towards the service quality of the Medical College Hospitals in the state of Odisha


OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to check the perception of the patients towards the service quality of the

Medical College hospitals in Odisha.

Besides, the study has the following secondary objectives:

1. To study the importance of service quality in the hospital industry in general.

2. To study the various types of health care services offered by the selected Public Vs Private Medical

College hospitals in Odisha.

3. To study the difference in perception of the patients towards the service quality of the Public Vs Private

Medical college Hospitals in Odisha.

4. To analyze the service quality factors that influence patient’s satisfaction with Government vs. Private

Hospitals in Odisha.

5. To identify the service quality gap in Public and Private Sector Medical College Hospitals.

6. To suggest measures to improve the service quality of the Medical College hospitals based on the findings

of the study


SCOPE OF THE PRESENT STUDY The Scope of the present study is to assess the perception of the patients towards the service quality of

the Medical College Hospitals in the state of Odisha. This will be restricted to 3 Government Medical

College Hospitals and 3 nos. of Private Medical College Hospitals

The service quality is a vast subject consisting of a number of dimensions. The most common service

quality dimensions namely, assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibility only will be

studied in the present study

This study is confined to the patients of the selected Medical College hospitals in Odisha

In the present study, the sampling involves two stages. In the first stage, out of all the 9 Medical college

Hospitals 6 nos. will be selected

In the second stage, by adopting quota sampling, 75 respondents will be selected from each Medical

College Hospital. The sampling details are given in the later part


Research Methodology & Sampling PlanWe have to use both primary and secondary data but need to depend largely upon primary data

However at places it would be supplemented with secondary data which would be collected from various

reports of Department of Health, Government of India, and Government of Odisha, World Health Organization

(WHO) statistics and research articles from various other web sources

Besides some relevant journals, magazines and newspapers would be consulted.

For the primary data, we need to have questionnaire method. The questionnaire would be administered with

the patients in the medical college hospitals

Sl. Name of the Medical College and HospitalsSample

SizeType

1 SCB (Shri Ramachandra Bhanja) Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack 75 PublicSector2 VSS (Veer Surendra Sai) Medical College and Hospital, Burla, Sambalpur 75

3 MKCG (Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati) Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur 754 KIMS (Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences), Bhubaneswar 75 Private

Sector5 IMS & SH (Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital,) Bhubaneswar 756 Hi-Tech Medical College & Hospital, Bhubaneswar 75

Total 450


HYPOTHESESThe formulation of the hypotheses is based on specialist literature reviews, personal & professional

experience, consultations with recognized experts and my guide. The following null hypotheses are to be

tested empirically

H01: There is no significant association in the satisfaction level of the patients belonging to the different

social - economic profiles towards the services of the select multi specialty hospitals.

H02: There is no significant relationship between the acceptance levels of the respondents belonging to

different demographic profiles towards the perceived level of service quality in the select multi specialty

hospitals.

H03: There is no significant difference in the acceptance levels of the patients between the expected and

perceived levels towards various service quality dimensions in the select multi specialty hospitals in

Mumbai.

H04: The demographic variables of the patients do not have any influence on their acceptance level towards loyalty with the services of the select multi specialty hospitals in Mumbai


LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDYIn true sense, research in any field of knowledge makes the ground for more researches and this process on.

Obviously, all studies and researchers have their own limitations. The researcher may have certain

limitations while conducting this study. They are as follows:

The sample of the study is only limited to the Medical College Hospitals and thus the result may not

represent the entire scenario.

Sample size is limited to only 450 of the patients which may not represent the total population perception.

Hence, the conclusion drawn is specific and may not be generalized.

The research will be based on primary data so it would depend upon respondent’s awareness and readiness

for the study.

Also the limitation of respondents’ willingness to provide all the information requested is there.

The service quality is a vast subject consisting of a number of dimensions. The most common service quality

dimensions namely, assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibility only were studied in this

study.

Despite all the care taken, the authenticity and accuracy of data depends upon the reliability of the

information provided by the respondents. Therefore, this limitation bound to be present in the study.

Lastly, few empirical researches have been done in the same area of study and hence intensive review of past studies is limited


SCOPE OF FURTHER RESEARCH

The basic significance of the study lies in identifying and highlighting the current status, challenges faced as

well as future opportunities at the Medical College Hospitals so as to develop strategies to promote it as a

destination so as to generate sustainable economic returns in the long run as well as upliftment of the

society in which it is operated

The suggestions from the respondents incorporated herein, would provide guidelines for future course of

action to be followed

This study may be equally important for all those interested in undertakings similar studies in the context

of other states and regions, because certain methods and approaches which would evolved and employed

here by the researcher ought to be helpful in carrying out further studies of a similar nature


RELATED WORKS IN MEASUREMENT OF SERVICE QUALITY IN HEALTH CARE

Parasuraman, et al (1988) suggested a widely used model known as SERVQUAL for evaluating the quality of services where he has used 5 dimensions to evaluate the quality

Weaver et. al.(1997), in his work, has identified some variables which have essentially defined and critically explained all the abovementioned latent constructs. These variables are Care and service (Service quality and access), Health Plan Features (Technical and interpersonal aspects), Consultation (Access, information and cost), Choice (Complexity, discomfort and convenience)

Chahal (2000) has described three latent constructs viz. physicians’ performance, nursing performance and operational quality having positive relation with service quality of health care

Aragon (2003) elucidated a model on patient satisfaction where he considered three latent constructs which are related to overall satisfaction of patients viz. 1) Waiting time (information about delay, waiting time, length of queue, Speed of service), 2) Physician service (physicians’ seriousness, physicians’ care about comfort of patients, physicians’ ability to explain the treatment and diseases, nursing service, seriousness of nurses, technical skills)

Doud – Marrakchi e.t al.(2008) pointed out that there is an association of patient satisfaction with seven variables – reception, information, nursing care, comfort, food, hygiene and invoice services which define the service quality of hospitals

Sharma and Narang (2011), in their study on quality of healthcare, identified some factors of service quality. These are health care delivery, interpersonal and diagnostic aspect of care, facility, health personnel conduct and drug availability and financial and physical aspect to care


RELATED WORKS IN MEASUREMENT OF SERVICE QUALITY IN HEALTH CARE

Otani et al. (2009), in their study, identified some independent variables related to quality of patient satisfaction towards quality of service. These variables are admission, nursing care, physician care, staff care; food and room of which they pointed out that the staff care and nursing care were two most preferable factors to patients

Zineldin et.al.(2011) identified some parameters for measuring service quality of healthcare in their study viz. Object(technical quality focusing on treatment; the main reason why patients visit hospitals), Processes (functional quality which measures how well healthcare activities are implemented), Infrastructure (resources required to perform healthcare services), Interaction (information exchange, financial and social exchange), Atmosphere (relationship and interaction process between parties )

Itumalla(2012), has conducted a study on service quality in the healthcare sector in India and identified ten factors of service quality for developing customer satisfaction index. These ten factors are reliability of service, knowledge of service staff, promptness of service staff, communication of service staff, attitude of service staff, availability of service staff, safety when using service, consistency of the service provided, trustworthiness of service and equipment and facilities

The above literature review revealed that there are some common attributes or variables based on which service quality of hospitals is measured. Therefore, it is important to select one the abovementioned instruments for measuring service quality of healthcare


APPLICATION OF SERVQUAL MODEL

Anderson (1995) applied the SERVQUAL model to measure the quality of health care service offered by a public university of health clinic

Youseff (1996) applied SERVQUAL in National Health Service Hospitals in the UK

Lam (1997) examined the validity, reliability and predictive validity of SERVQUAL and analyzed its applicability to the health sector in Hong Kong

Sewell (1997) in his study with National Health Service Hospitals

Angelopoulou et.al.(1998) in their investigation on service quality provided in the public and private hospitals

Dean (1999) applied SERVQUAL in two different health care settings at Australia to test the transferability of the said model

Lim and Tang(2000) measured satisfaction of 252 patients in hospitals of Singapore by applying modified version of SERVQUAL

Wong (2002) pointed out that three dimensions viz. responsiveness, assurance and empathy of SERVQUAL model were more important factors than other two dimensions affecting overall patient satisfaction

Jaboun and Chaker(2003) conducted a comparative study on public and private hospitals at UAE

Boshaff and Gray (2004) conducted their research on patients of private health organizations in South Africa

Contd…


APPLICATION OF SERVQUAL MODEL

Kilbourne et.al. (2004), in his study, proved that SERVQUAL is capable of capturing even slight quality indicators in a multidimensional way, namely, tangibles, responsiveness, reliability and empathy as well as overall service quality

Wisniewski and Isniewski (2005) conducted a study with SERVQUAL model in a Scottish colposcopy clinic and evaluated each of the five generic dimensions by applying mean score and t-test analysis

Karassavidou et.al. (2007) applied SERVQUAL model to measure a service quality on three dimensions viz. a) human aspects, b) physical environment and infrastructure of the care unit and c) access

Mangkolrat (2008), in her recent work on patient satisfaction measurement, suggested a conceptual framework where she measured the gap between patients’ expectation and their perception in the light of service quality

Akter et. al. (2008), in their research on service quality perception and satisfaction, applied SERVQUAL model considering three new dimensions viz. communication, discipline, tips or ‘Baksis’ replacing other three dimensions viz reliability, tangibles and empathy suggested by Parasuraman et.al

Qin et.al.(2009) considered the perceived quality as one of the antecedents of patient satisfaction and compared perceived quality with the expected service quality on the basis of SERVQUAL model


SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVQUAL MODELSERVQUAL is a standardized and reliable instrument that identifies five different dimensions of service quality

and validates those dimensions in different service situations

Over the years many researchers have successfully applied it across various Industries including health care

industry

Mangkolrat ( 2008), in his research thesis, summarized seven benefits of SERVQUAL approach in measuring

patient satisfaction

It is good at eliciting the views of customers regarding service encounters e.g. customer relative importance,

expectations and satisfaction.

It is able to alert management to consider the perception of both management and customers

Addressing the service gaps can serve as a basis for formulating strategies and tactics in order to ensure the

fulfillment of expectations

SERVQUAL is able to identify specific areas of excellence and weaknesses

It is able to prioritize areas of service weaknesses.

It provides benchmarking analysis for organizations in the same industry

SERVQUAL can trace the trend of customers’ relative importance, expectations and perceptions, if applied

periodically


THE SERVQUAL MODEL The SERVQUAL instrument developed by Parsuraman A, Valarie A Zeithaml and Leonard L. Berry in 1985 is

the most popular scale in measuring quality of services In the SERVQUAL model, Parasuraman et. al. identified the gap between the perception and expectation of

consumers on the basis of five attributes viz. reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles to measure consumer satisfaction in the light of service quality

SERVQUAL is a methodology that helps to identify customer perceptions of service quality, which defines five dimensions of service quality.– Reliability: Doing what they say they will do, on time and to specification– Assurance: Possession of the required skills to perform the service and also convey trust, confidence– Tangibles: Include the physical appearance of people and facilities– Empathy: Showing an understanding of customer needs and provide and individualized service– Responsiveness: Willingness to help and respond to individual requirements A SERVQUAL instrument consists of two sections: a 22-item section that records customer

expectations of excellent firms in the specific service industry, and a second 22- item section that measures consumer perceptions of a particular company in that service industry

Results from the two sections are then compared to arrive at “gap scores” for each of the five dimensions

Customer expectations are measured on a 7-point scale with the anchor labels of “not at all essential” and “absolutely essential.” Similarly, customer perceptions are measured on another 7-point scale with anchor labels of “strongly agree” and “strongly disagree”

For Mapping Expectations01 02 03 04 05 06 07

Not at all essential Not Essential Somewhat not Essential Undecided Somewhat Essential Essential Absolutely Essential

For Mapping Perceptions

01 02 03 04 05 06 07Strongly Disagree Disagree Disagree Somewhat Undecided Agree Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree


THE SERVQUAL DIMENSIONSItem Dimensions Expectations (E) Perceptions (P)1 2 3 4

Tangibility E1. Excellent companies will have modern-looking equipment.E2. The physical facilities at excellent companies will be visually appealing.E3. Employees of excellent companies will be neat in appearance.E4. Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or statements) will be visually appealing in an excellent company.

P1. XYZ has modern-looking equipment.

P2. XYZ’s physical facilities are visually appealing. P3. XYZ’s employees are neat in appearance. P4. Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or statements) are visually appealing at XYZ.

5 6 7 8 9

Reliability E5. When excellent companies promise to do something by a certain time, they will do so.E6. When a customer has a problem, excellent companies will show sincere interest in solving it.E7. Excellent companies will perform the service right the first time.E8. Excellent companies will provide their services at the time they promise to do so.E9. Excellent companies will insist on error-free records.

P5. When XYZ promises to do something by a certain time, it does so.P6. When you have a problem, XYZ shows a sincere interest in solving it.P7. XYZ performs the service right the first time. P8. XYZ provides its services at the time it promises to do so. P9. XYZ insists on error-free records.

10 11 12 13

Responsiveness E10. Employees of excellent companies will tell customers exactly when services will be performed.E11. Employees of excellent companies will give prompt service to customers.E12. Employees of excellent companies will always be willing to help customers.E13. Employees of excellent companies will never be too busy to respond to customer requests.

P10. Employees of XYZ tell you exactly when services will be performed.P11. Employees of XYZ give you prompt service. P12. Employees of XYZ are always willing to help you.

P13. Employees of XYZ are never too busy to respond to your requests.


THE SERVQUAL DIMENSIONSItem Dimensions Expectations (E) Perceptions (P)14 15 16 17

Assurance E14. The behaviour of employees of excellent companies will instill confidence in customers.E15. Customers of excellent companies will feel safe in their transactions.E16. Employees of excellent companies will be consistently courteous with customers.E17. Employees of excellent companies will have the knowledge to answer customer questions.

P14. The behaviour of employees of XYZ instills confidence in customers.P15. You feel safe in your transactions with XYZ. P16. Employees of XYZ are consistently courteous with you. P17. Employees of XYZ have the knowledge to answer your questions.

18 19 20 21 22

Empathy E18. Excellent companies will give customers individual attention.E19. Excellent companies will have operating hours convenient to all their customers.E20. The employees of excellent companies give customers personal attention.E21. Excellent companies will have the customer’s best interest at heart.E22. The employees of excellent companies will understand the specific needs of their customers.

P18. XYZ gives you individual attention.

P19 XYZ companies have operating hours convenient to all its customers.

P20. XYZ employees give you personal attention. P21. XYZ has your best interests at heart.

P22. Employees of XYZ understand your specific needs.


CONCLUSIONAlthough, both at the public and private level, significant initiatives are taken for the development of the

hospital services, still we need to go miles in attracting and serving the customers according to their needs,

wants and demands

Findings of this research may provide the required positive inputs and will influence the Healthcare sector

in the state of Odisha in a constructive manner. Also it will be used as a guideline for the authorities to

design their facilities and arrange for the optimum level of service delivery

there always exist a need for systematic rethinking of measures of service quality because of the

uniqueness of the services and the quality of services are always perceived individually and differently by

different people

The basic aim behind all of these is to create our business process by keeping our customers at the core of it

so that we can create sustainable competitive advantage over our competitors over the years and remain in

the hearts of our customers for ever

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