Dimensions of hospital service quality: a critical review

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to review the service quality dimensions established in various studies conducted across the world specifically applied to health care. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Studies conducted on quality of care selected from literature databases - Ebsco, Emerald Insight, ABI/Inform - was subjected to a comprehensive in-depth content analysis. FINDINGS: Service quality has been extensively studied with considerable efforts taken to develop survey instruments for measuring purposes. The number of dimensional structure varies across the studies. Self-administered questionnaire dominates in terms of mode of administration adopted in the studies, with respondents ranging from 18 to 85 years. Target sample size ranged from 84-2,000 respondents in self-administered questionnaires and for mail administration ranged from 300-2,600 respondents. Studies vary in terms of the scores used ranging from four to ten-point scale. A total of 27 of the studies have used EFA, 11 studies have used structural equation modelling and eight studies used gap scores. Cronbach's alpha is the most commonly used measure of scale reliability. There is variation in terms of measuring the content, criteria and construct validation among the studies. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The literature offers dimensions used in assessing patient perceived service quality. The review reveals diversity and a plethora of dimensions and methodology to develop the construct discussed. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The reported study describes and contrasts a large number of service-quality measurement constructs and highlights the usage of dimensions. The findings are valuable to academics in terms of dimensions and methodology used, approach for analysis; whereas findings are of value to practitioners in terms of the dimensions found in the research and to identify the gap in their setting.