Assessing patients' satisfaction by measuring service quality in public hospital in Myanmar.

Abstract

The majority of people in Myanmar rely on public hospitals for their health. The ranking of the healthcare system in Myanmar is the lowest among the world according to WHO. Therefore, it is necessary to assess service quality and the patients’ satisfaction. The objective of this study is to assess the service quality dimension by understanding the service quality gap between patients’ expectation and perception from the patients’ perspective. Moreover, it is also to understand which service quality dimension mostly depends on patients’ satisfaction and to understand the relationship between each service quality dimension and patients’ satisfaction. In order to apply quantitative method, the data were collected with the structured questionnaires from the patients who were admitted in one of the public and teaching hospitals, Thingangyun Sanpya General Hospital which occupied 500 bed in Yangon, Myanmar. The modified survey was conducted to understand the respondents’ opinion on five service quality dimensions which are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy consisting of total 32 items in demographic information, service quality dimensions and patients’ satisfaction. The study was composed of 204 respondents. The data are analyzed in SPSS by using paired-samples T test, correlation analysis, Multiple Linear Regression and Simple Linear Regression. The service quality gap between perception and expectation are all positive. It shows the patients are satisfied in all of five service quality dimensions. Moreover, all service quality dimensions are significant in patients’ satisfaction. Among the dimensions, the assurance dimension is the most significant dimension. The findings clarified the importance dimension in patients’ satisfaction. It would help to build a strong relationship between patients and the healthcare providers by providing the trust and confidence. Moreover, it would help the healthcare managers and policy makers to know the most important dimension in order to focus on improving the healthcare service quality.