Abstract:

The main objective of healthcare managers is to provide high-quality healthcare with optimal cost. Although there are a variety of methods used in the assessment of the quality of the service, assessments according to the perceptions of the patients gain importance every day. The measurement of the quality of service from the patient’s point of view provides hospitals with a competitive advantage, giving information about their strengths and weaknesses. This study aims to measure the quality perceptions of patients seeking health care and to find out whether their perceptions are affected by individual characteristics and the property of the hospital. Patients who are treated in the selected hospitals have been interviewed face-to-face between May and June 2018. The survey included the data of 275 patients who responded to the survey. In this study, the SERVPERF model was used to measure the perception of service quality. The SERVPERF model, based on the measurement of the quality of the service detected, consists of physical elements, reliability, sensitivity, security and empathy dimensions. In the regression model created through the average score of quality perception taking into account all sizes, the hospital’s ownership has a significant impact. It is noted that service quality perceptions of private hospitals are positive compared to those of public hospitals. With regard to the subcomponents of the scale, it has been found that private hospitals have the advantage in creating a better quality service perception compared to public hospitals in terms of time efficiency, physical capacity, kindness and empathy, technical equipment and cleaning.

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