A BSTRACT Introduction: The quality of healthcare services is increasingly viewed as a vital component for patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Among the various frameworks used to assess service quality, SERVQUAL model emerged as one of the most used tools and assessing this is vital to identify gaps in healthcare service delivery. For regions like Northeast India, with geographical and resource constraints, such assessments can help identify gaps to enhance the overall health system. Objective: To assess the quality of public healthcare services in rural Northeast India, using the SERVQUAL model in Phek District, Nagaland. Materials and Methods: This study used a structured questionnaire adopted from the original SERVQUAL model. Data were collected from 282 households, who accessed public healthcare centers within the past 365 days. Both their expectations prior to service utilization and perceptions after service utilization were recorded. Results: Findings from the study revealed negative gap scores in all the five dimensions, indicating that patient expectations consistently exceeded perceptions. Reliability and Tangibility dimensions recorded the largest gap highlighting the existence of systematic issues on dependability of service delivery. Meanwhile, Assurance recorded the least gap suggesting that while structural and procedural shortcomings persisted, healthcare workers still attempt to maintain compassionate interactions with the patients. Subsequently, paired t -test confirmed that there are significant differences in the means scores of expectations and perceptions. Conclusion: The findings underscore the persistent quality gaps in rural healthcare delivery. Addressing these gaps is essential for strengthening the rural healthcare system and enhancing patient trust in public healthcare.
Mero et al. (Sun,) studied this question.