Investigating the Effect of Hospitals Service Quality on Switching Behavior of Inpatients in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital of Yazd

Introduction: If the patients are not satisfied with the hospital, this results in switching behavior of patients. In this situation, among different hospitals, the patients choose the hospital with higher level of service quality. So, the main aim of this paper is investigating the effect of hospital's service quality on switching behavior of inpatients in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital of Yazd. Methods: This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional and applied which was done in 2016. The statistical population of this research was the inpatients of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital of Yazd. A sample comprising of 196 members was selected using simple random sampling method. The statistical instruments consisted of two questionnaires for measuring hospital's service quality and switching behavior of patients. Reliability of the scales was confirmed by Cronbach’s Alfa and validity of the scales was confirmed by content validity. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19 software. For analyzing data, Pearson correlation and Regression tests were employed. Results: In this research, the mean of hospital's service quality variable was 3.508±1.025 and the mean of switching behavior variable was 2.186± 0.997. The result of Pearson correlation test showed that there is a negative and significant relationship (r = - 0.746 and p-value = 0.000) between hospital's service quality and switching behavior. Among the six dimensions of service quality, the courtesy dimension had the highest correlation coefficient. Also, the result of Regression test showed that hospital's service quality has negative and significant influence on switching behavior. Conclusion: Since hospital's service quality had negative and significant influence on switching behavior, we can say that the higher the service quality of hospital, the lower the switching behavior of patients. According to high level of Pearson correlation the courtesy dimension with service quality, it is understood that the level of politeness and respect of employees, is very important for the patients.