SERVICE QUALITY CHECK OF THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY IN INDIA – A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC HOSPITALS

In India, the increasing awareness with respect to the quality of critical services, as that in hospitals, have paved way for the improvement in the quality of these services. These factors further lead to the healthcare facilities being chosen by different patients. The patients' opinion and voice if implemented would give a competitive advantage and notch up the service quality on the whole. In many countries, the general perception is that the service quality is better in private hospitals, than in public hospitals. This paper aims to find the perceptions and behavioral intentions of customers towards public and private hospitals based on the quality of services rendered during their experiences. Therefore, this study is patient centered, both outpatients and inpatients to get a complete perspective on their perceptions. It considers different geographical areas in India, which is a developing country with advancements in the health sector at a fast pace. Upon conducting the field survey through a questionnaire, scores on different dimensions of evaluation of service quality was obtained to draw inferences. With the aid of Multiple Linear Regression, dependencies on various significant levels for different dimensions was obtained. These relationships helped in the understanding of factors influencing the customer satisfaction maximum, thereby being the ones majorly deciding the service quality of the hospitals