Assessment of Quality Care in Tertiary Government Hospitals of India.

Quality assessment in healthcare has become increasingly significant with recent spurge of healthcare providers. It is now essential for hospital managers to assess and measure consumer perspectives and service quality gaps so that any perceived gap in the delivery of service is identified and suitably addressed. A survey was conducted in tertiary government hospitals to assess the service quality provided to the consumer expectations, and experiences in respect of the hospital services.

A Descriptive Study was conducted in 7 cities of India using SERVQUAL as the survey instrument, the instrument being validated for use in the hospital environment. Consumer ratings across 5 dimensions of the survey instrument were collected and paired in expectation and experience scores and then statistically analysed to highlight service quality in healthcare.

There was a significant lack of quality healthcare services provided by tertiary govt hospital in all major Indian cities. The gaps exist across all the five dimensions of the survey instrument with a statistically significant mean score in expected and experienced services.

The study concludes that significant service quality gaps exist in the delivery of the hospital services, which need to be addressed by focused improvement efforts by the hospital and Government.