From the passive recipient of health services to
the consideration of public needs
Quality of service has become a key issue for
management in the service sector in the last
20 years. This has been the result of increased
customer demand for higher quality services
and, consequently, the pressure for services to
satisfy customers demands; otherwise, the providers
of such services will not be able to
maintain public trust.3–5 This has resulted in a
shift from the traditional passive and with little
voice and influence recipient of a service to a
more empowered customer.6 Concerns about
quality of service did not leave the public sector
intact. Indeed, market rules have raised concerns
about the quality of service in the public
services, as private competitors are entering the
market and are gradually gaining the patients
trust. Therefore, considering the reduced governmental
funding and the growth of private
competitors, customer satisfaction becomes
critical for the reputation and the viability of
public services. Most importantly, public health
care providers, now more than ever, need to
justify their existence as organizations that offer
indispensable public services of the best quality.
Given the fact that patient satisfaction affects
loyalty and is related to the hospital utilization,7
it becomes evident that the assessment of quality
is a priority for health care providers. Therefore,
understanding and measuring service quality
from a patients point of view is important
because it is integral to the provision of better
services to the patients.