Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Applying the SERVPERF scale to evaluate quality of care in two public hospitals at Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

2014; Volume: 9; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

2204-3136

Phung Tan Le, Gerard Fitzgerald,

Healthcare Quality and Management

The quality of hospital care has been an increasing concern in Vietnam, especially in public hospitals, which are congested throughout the country. Identifying related factors that influence the quality of hospital care is a critical contributor to improving hospital quality and therefore patient satisfaction. A culturally and contextually appropriate measure of patient satisfaction is necessary to help guide system-wide improvements. One such measure is the SERVPERF scale, which has been considered a superior instrument for evaluating service quality, including in the healthcare sector. Two public hospitals in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam, were chosen to assess the utility and validity of a modified SERVPERF scale, namely the Patient Satisfaction Scale (PSS), to evaluate quality of care. The multidimensionality of hospital care quality has been analysed using exploratory factor analysis with further examination of the scale's reliability and validity. The Exploratory Factor Analysis identified five factors with reasonable internal consistency coefficients. Cronbach's alpha for the whole scale is high, at 0.880. Further regression analysis showed a significant convergent validity of the scale. Assurance and Empathy are the greatest dimensions affecting the service quality of hospital care in Khanh Hoa province.