This preliminary study aims to examine the influence of service quality and cost aspects on patient satisfaction, with hospital image as a mediating variable. The study was conducted at RSUD Bumiayu, Brebes Regency, using a quantitative, descriptive- correlational approach with a cross-sectional survey method. A total of 30 outpatient and non-BPJS inpatient respondents were selected using purposive sampling. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS) via the SmartPLS application. The analysis showed that service quality had a significant effect on hospital image (β = 0.730; p < 0.001) and an indirect effect on patient satisfaction through hospital image (indirect effect = 0.391). Hospital image exerted a strong direct effect on patient satisfaction (β = 0.536; p < 0.01), whereas the direct effect of service quality on satisfaction was relatively weaker (β = 0.244). The cost aspect had only a minor influence on hospital image (β = 0.165) and patient satisfaction (β = 0.136). The R² values of 0.754 for hospital image and 0.755 for patient satisfaction indicate strong predictive power of the model. These findings emphasize the importance of improving service quality as a key determinant of institutional image and patient satisfaction.
Ghozi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.