“Assessing Perceived Service Quality by Patients at the National Center for Dermatology Using SERVQUAL Model” رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

Background: The SERVQUAL (SERV-service, QUAL-quality) model is utilized to evaluate the quality of a healthcare center in Palestine. The evaluation is based on the SERVQUAL model’s five dimensions (Tangibility, Responsiveness, Reliability, Assurance, and Empathy). This study was conducted at the National Centre for Dermatology in Ramallah, which is considered the only public specialized centre. Aim of the study: The work assesses the discrepancies between the patient's expectation of services and their perception based on the five SERVQUAL dimensions and their relations with sociodemographic factors (age, gender, residency, education level, social status, employment status, and the frequency of visits) in addition to the main predictors for patient satisfactions. Method: The researcher employed a cross-sectional study design by using an Arabic version of the SERVQUAL questionnaire. Data was collected over 25 days during July to August 2024. 350 questionnaires were distributed, but the total number of returned and valid ones was 320. The analysis of data was performed by SPSS 29th edition. Result: The study's main findings showed a gap between patients’ expectations and perceptions for all SERVQUAL dimensions where expectations are higher than those perceptions. Tangible dimension has the highest mean score for all the perceptions and expectations (6.03 and 5.28, respectively). On the other hand, Responsiveness has the lowest mean score for both perceptions and expectations (5.77 and 4.89, respectively). The highest negative quality gap was for responsiveness ( -0.88), followed by Assurance ( -0.85). Empathy was the most satisfied dimension with the lowest negative quality gap ( -0.68), followed by Reliability ( -0.73). Conclusion: It was scored negative for all SERVQUAL dimensions, meaning there are significant differences between the expectations and perceptions of services. According to socioeconomic factors, the study revealed a significant association between the level of education and the frequency of visits, where higher education resulted in more dissatisfaction among patients. In contrast, frequent visits lead to the center improving the satisfaction of patients. The remaining socioeconomic factors didn’t have any significant effect. As a main result, less than one quarter (22.8%) of the patients were satisfied with the NCD’s dermatological services, so implementing a quality management program, training on quality improvement techniques, and an effective monitoring system. The study also highlighted the weak points for managers and policymakers in V their efforts either to set new standards or change policies to make more changes that are important for ensuring the delivery of high-quality services that meet results. Also, this research could be a base for more research into quality achievements in the future.