A study of customer satisfaction in India's healthcare service industry

One of the fastest growing industries in the service sector is the health- care industry. India is becoming a hot spot for medical tourism. The increased demand and the competitive pressures, alternate health care delivery mechanism, changing cost structures, monitoring by public and private groups, increased information availability, and a markedly better informed clientele have begun to exert significant pressures on health-care providers to reassess their strategy (Andaleeb, 1998). Many providers are beginning to realize that achieving customer satisfaction is a key element of strategy and an important determinant of long term viability and success. The paper identifies the antecedents to customer satisfaction in the context of Indian Hospitals. An exploratory study was conducted and professionals from health care sector and the consumers were identified to list the factors that lead to customer satisfaction in the health care sector. Data was collected from 100 respondents from various hospitals of India. Factor Analysis have been carried out to identify the factors leading to client satisfaction in banks and further these factors were put in a regression model to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and these factors.