Comparing the quality of private and public hospitals

Healthcare is a highly competitive global industry. People accept to travel to remote parts of the world in order to receive the service quality they hope for. Patients usually prefer to go to private hospitals, hoping to receive high service quality. On the other hand, healthcare organizations operating in the public sector are undergoing pressure from governments and the general public to improve quality and compete effectively with their counterparts in the private sector. This paper compares the service quality rendered by private and public hospitals. A questionnaire based on SERVQUAL is developed and tested for this purpose. This questionnaire is found to have five dimensions; namely, empathy, tangibles, reliability, administrative responsiveness and supporting skills. These dimensions, as well as overall service quality, are compared between private and public hospitals. Finally the implications of the results are highlighted for healthcare managers.