Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: June | Volume: 8 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 232-241
Patients’ Expectations - A Study in a Selected Hospital
Dr Sweta Dcunha, Dr Sucharitha Suresh
Professor, Dept of Hospital Administration, Father Muller Medical College, Kankanady Mangalore 575002
Corresponding Author: Dr Sweta DcunhaABSTRACT
With the healthcare market turning into a buyer’s market, healthcare providers are turning more and more towards marketing of their services. This requires a marketing information system which provides information that is accurate, timely and need-based to hospital administrators. For this a relevant tool for hospital administrators today is a patient expectation survey which reveals what patients actually desire from hospital. When the results of such patient expectation surveys are applied to planning of healthcare services, it increases the chances of achieving patient satisfaction. The objectives were to study the actual performance and patient expectations and then analyse the gap between the two. The patients’ expectations were met at most of the counters they visited as an outpatient since the gap analysed at many instances between actual performance and patient expectation was negligible. In some areas no gap was observed between the actual performance and patient expectations, like in, the behaviour of the doctor and the supporting staff, promptness in service at the billing and pharmacy counters respectively, and availability of the drugs at the pharmacy. This means that the actual performance exceeded the patients’ expectations thus causing them to be highly delighted with these hospital services.
Key words: patient expectation, satisfaction, hospital services, hospital administrators.