How do patients perceive and expect quality of surgery, diagnostics, and emergency services in tertiary care hospitals? an evidence of gap analysis from Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Service quality is one of the important gears to appraise services and determine the gray areas that need improvement. In countries with a resource-poor health system, the first step of measuring quality is yet to be taken. This study seeks to inform policy makers in developing contextual service quality models by identifying service quality gaps in tertiary care teaching hospitals using patients' perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using multistage cluster sampling, and a modified version of the SERVQUAL [SERV-service, QUAL-quality] instrument was administered to determine patient's expectations and perceptions. A total of 817 completed questionnaires were obtained from patients and/or their attendants using convenience sampling