Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Service Quality Dimensions in Healthcare

Service quality has been defined as the outcome of an evaluation process where the consumer compares his expectations with the service he has received or the difference between expected service and perceived service. In today's increasing competitive atmosphere providing service quality is important for any service industry. Health care services have a distinct position among other services due to highly involving and risky nature of services and the general lack of expertise possessed by consumers. In this study, five service quality dimensions are used i. e. tangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. The 22 items SERVQUAL scale based on gap model proposed by Parasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry was applied. A sample size of 200 was taken using quota sampling. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to find the fit of the model and also a comparison between the expectations and perceptions of government and private hospitals was made using mean values with the application of SPSS and AMOS software packages. Through the analysis it was found that the SERVQUAL model is fit for the present study. It was also clear from the mean values that people had higher expectations from private hospitals.