[Quality of primary health services in the clinics of Shomal health center of Tehran]

ABSTRACT

Quality is a major concern in the services offered by the health sector. The first basic step, in formulating any quality-improvement program, is recognizing consumers' perceptions and expectations of the services' quality. The aim of this study is to determine the gaps in the health services and provide solutions to increase clients' satisfaction in the clinics of Shomal Health Center of Tehran. This cross-sectional and descriptive study was done in 2013. The sample size was 325, proportionately selected from the recipients of primary health care in each clinic. Data was collected by a questionnaire, based on the five dimensions of service quality gap SERVQUAL instrument; which includes 22 questions. The collected data was statistically analyzed using SPSS software. There was a significant difference between the client's perception and expectation in each of the five dimensions of service quality. The smallest gap was in the communion [0.68] and the largest gap in the concrete [0/88] service. The client's education was significantly associated with the quality gap. None of the service dimensions were beyond the expectations of the respondents. Therefore, there is an ample room for improving the service processes