ABSTRACT
Introduction: Patients can determine the quality of services provided by hospitals which are regarded as large and complex service organizations within the health system. This study aimed to assess service quality gaps in Imam Khomeini teaching hospital in Tehran with respect to the differences between patients' perceptions of and expectations from health services
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the six-dimensional SERVQUAL model questionnaire - the validity and reliability of which were confirmed by the researchers - was used to collect the viewpoints of 116 patients admitted to Imam Khomeini teaching hospital. Samples were estimated using the Cochrane statistical formula and the data were analyzed by means of independent t-test as well as correlation and ANOVA tests
Results: There was a negative gap in all dimensions of the quality of services. The highest and the lowest gaps [-2.55 and -0.697] were observed in the access and assurance dimensions, respectively. However, there was no significant relationship between the variables of quality gap of services and gender, marital status, insurance, visit frequency, age, and education [p value>0.05]. It was also found that in none of the dimensions were the expectations of the patients satisfied
Conclusion: The results indicated that except for the access dimension, expectations can be affected if any of the other variables is changed. Generally, there are lots of opportunities to work on to improve the quality of services provided by health care system