An evaluation of qualityof services in Tehran hospitals using HEALTHQUAL model

The quality of hospital services results in patients’ satisfaction. This study aimed to measure service quality in Tehran hospitals.
This descriptive and cross sectional study was carried out in 18 hospitals in Tehran in 2014. The perception and expectation of 707 inpatients were measured in 4 dimensions including environment, empathy, effectiveness and efficiency using HEALTHQUAL questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS-V20.
The mean score of patients’ perception and expectation were 3.56 and 4.14 out of 5. Thus, a negative quality gap was calculated )- 0.57(. This negative gaps were - 0.58, - 0.59 and - 0.54 respectively at university, social security and private hospitals respectively. The highest perception and expectation scores were seen in effectiveness dimension of quality. There were significant relationships between hospital service quality and type of the hospital, patient insurance status, place of residence and waiting time (p Service quality in Tehran hospitals was lower than patient`s expectations. Hospital managers should investigate the causes of patients’ dissatisfaction and accordingly take corrective actions using quality management techniques.