An Assessment of the Quality of Services Provided to the Patients with Cataract Using Importance- performance Analysis Method

Identifying the perceptions and expectations of receivers of health services is the first step in the codification of quality improvement programs. The aim of this study is assessment of the quality of services provided to the patients with cataract using importance–performance analysis method.
The present study is descriptive. The statistical population of the two groups is selected. The first group included 10 ophthalmologists and 10 researcher in the area of health services management and the second group of 396 patients, obtained through the Cochrane formula. The components of service quality were obtained from various articles and during the meetings with 20 specialists for designing “Service Quality Questionnaire” with 32 questions in the 5-point Likert scale. According to the questionnaire, the “Questionnaire in Quality of Service According to Patient's Viewpoint” was developed. Reliability of this questionnaire was calculated by Cronbach's alpha. Data were collected from patients. Data analysis was performed using SPSS.16 and EXCEL software was used.
The geometric mean of the responses of patients with cataract in the "accessibility" component in terms of the performance of the hospital was 2.697, which indicates the high performance of the hospital in this component, as well as a score of 3.28 indicates the importance of this component for the people. Based on importance–performance analysis method, the component "Understanding and Recognizing Patients" with a weight of 0.074 in the first quarter meant significant importance for patients but lower hospital performance.
For patients, the "understanding and recognizing patients" component of the needs of patients with cataract is very important. Therefore, it is suggested that professional behavior training courses be conducted for hospital and hospital staff in order to assess the needs of patients in relation to health services.