Patient satisfaction in a preoperative assessment clinic: an analysis using SERVQUAL dimensions

One of the most important quality dimensions and key success indicators in health care is patient satisfaction. One way to measure patient satisfaction is by calculating the gap that appears between patients' expectations and perceptions about services delivered. In this study, we focused on measuring this gap in a hospital-based preoperative assessment clinic. By using the SERVQUAL model, we found that patients' most highly ranked expectation is ‘adequate information about their anesthesia and surgery’, and the second one is ‘adequate friendliness, courtesy’. These areas contained relatively low gaps between perceptions and expectations. The largest gap occurred between the expectation of clinic waiting time and overall quality perceived. We found the SERVQUAL model to be useful in revealing differences between patients' preferences and their actual experience.