Counter Service Quality Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: A Study on the Hospitals in Sarawak

SERVQUAL

The SERVQUAL model is a standard instrument that aptly measures the quality of service in public services such as hospitals that are characterized by difficulties such as patients who have limited contact with the hospitals service (Donnelly, Kerr, Rimmer, & Shiu, 2006). In a research to find success parameters that measure how quality management influences a hospital’s business performance, Kunst and Lemmink (2000) find out that, total quality management (TQM) models are fashionable because of the need to know the progress and achievements of quality management is a given institution. There are limitations that should be considered when choosing to use the TQM models. The models have to be used in the context that they are developed. The patient quality scores form a key factor in the relation of TQM and business performance in hospitals. The researchers concluded that employment of hospital patient-oriented strategies positively correlates with improved business performance.

Suki, Lian and Suki (2011) indicate that using SERVQUAL in hospital settings produces varied results. Furthermore, they find out that some studies find SERVQUAL to be appropriate in measuring the patient’s expectation and their perception of the healthcare domain. The researchers used a SERVQUAL 5 dimension model to conduct a survey aimed at measuring the service quality in the private healthcare setting of Malaysia. In this type of questionnaire, items are paraphrased to fit the appropriate wording and context to make them applicable in the research. Items in the questionnaire have a Linkert scale structure of five points that range from “completely agree” to “completely disagree”. The researchers had 23 questions for the expectation scale and a similar number for the perception scale. The study findings indicated that customer perception of healthcare quality was within the limits of their expectations. Patients were dissatisfied with the amount of time they had to wait to receive service and to get a response when there was a problem (Suki, Lian, & Suki, 2011).

Shekarchizadeh, Rasli and Hon-Tat (2011) used a modified SERVQUAL instrument on their sample size of international postgraduate students to access their quality perception and expectations in the quality of Malaysian universities. The modified SERVQUAL was distributed into five separate factors of professionalism, reliability, hospitality, tangibles, and commitment given that university service is measured by standards of education and research. The researchers also conducted a reliability study that indicated that their modified SERVQUAL instrument was statistically reliable. Findings of the study indicated that international postgraduate students in Malaysian universities negatively percept the educational quality they receive because their expectations were not met as far as education performance goes.

There is a more superior instrument for measuring quality however, the superiority remains within the context of its application. Vaughan and Woodruffe-Burton, (2011) empirically tested a disabled service user specific service quality model known as ARCHSECRET against a modified version of the well-known SERVQUAL in the context of disabled students of higher education. The experiment tested the portability of the SERVQUAL model into the context of measuring the experience of disabled service users. The research find is a pilot and does not reflect all contexts of possible application. The study indicated that other than being reliable, the model provides a powerful conceptual framework for diagnosis of service shortfalls and was superior in predicting the variation of the disabled student’s variation of quality as compared to the SERVQUAL.

Counter Management

Counter management concerns the initiatives to make staff free to use their rational thoughts to offer quality service to customers. Counter management releases the staffs assigned at customer counters from the constraints that limit them to making responses that are in accordance with the stipulated procedure. In many case, customers making inquiries that have not been covered in the procedure are forced to withdraw their requests because without counter management, staffs cannot respond to the queries in the fear of doing things wrongly (Drury, 2009). In addition, counter management will involve the provision of resources to make the interaction of hospital staff and clinicians swift by removing any unnecessary hindrances. Technology may be incorporated to achieve this goal of streamlining processes and making communication easier (Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1988).

Sharma, Sharma and Sharma (2011) studied service provision in an Indian hospital and the patient satisfaction as a measure of the health system satisfaction. They conclude that infrastructure and architectural hindrances are the main cause of patient dissatisfaction with the quality of service offered by the hospital. Improvements should be made at reception counters to limit the waiting period for patients (Rossiter, 2003). The waiting area needs to be more comfortable and provide more information. According to Sharma, Sharma and Sharma (2011), patients also complained that clinicians used jargons that they could not understand. Although the doctor quality of hospitals may be satisfactory, the dissatisfaction of patients at hospital counters influences their overall perception of the healthcare service they receive (Li, Huang, & Yang, 2011).

According to Currie and Finnegan (2011), institutional forces influence the introduction of enabling technologies that would improve the service quality of the healthcare environment. In their study, introduction of electronic records that reduce the overall waiting time for patients forced disruptive changes to clinicians, healthcare managers and even patients. They conclude that service improvement is not merely a technical aspect of cost cutting for management and performance improvement in the service delivered. Rather, it is infused with ideologies and rational concerns of several stakeholders.