Patients' Expectations and Perceptions of Service Quality in the Selected Hospitals.

BACKGROUND Hospital's success depends on patients' expectations, perceptions, and judgment on the quality of services provided by hospitals. This study was conducted to assess the patients' perceptions and expectations from the quality of inpatient health care in Vali-Asr hospital, Ghaemshahr, and Imam Khomeini and Shafa Hospitals, Sari. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study is applied regarding the objective of the study. Considering the research methodology, it is a descriptive - analytical study. The sample of this study consists of 600 patients with at least 24 hours of being hospitalized in internal, surgery, women, and children sectors of Vali-Asr, Ghaemshahr, Imam Khomeini, and Shafa Hospitals. Using random sampling method, the classifications relevant to the size of each class were selected. The data required was collected through the standard SERVQUAL questionnaire and then it was analyzed using the SPSS software. RESULTS The overall mean value and standard deviation of expectations were equal to 10.4 and 28, respectively. The mean value for the field of perception was 69.2 and the relevant standard deviation was 26. In terms of patients and hospital visits in concrete cases, the highest priority is related to empathy. The second priority is related to physical appearance, the third priority is related to responsiveness, the fourth priority is related to assurance, and the lowest priority is related to the reliability of the SERVQUAL approach. Examining the gap between patients' perceptions and expectations, the widest gap was observed in the Vali-Asr Hospital with the mean and SD (-92.0±39.0) and the lowest gap was observed in Shafa Hospital with the mean value of (-39.9±44.0). According to The Kruskal-Wallis test, the difference observed in these three hospitals were significant. CONCLUSION The results showed that patients' expectations had not been met in any of the examined dimensions and their consent has not been achieved. It seemed that necessary for managers and relevant authorities to plan and pay special attention to this important issue.