Assessment of the Quality of Obstetric Services From the Perspective of Maternity Patients and Service Providers in a Tertiary Care Obstetric Unit in Lithuania.

Although largely focused on the patient, the provision of healthcare services is a 2-way process and its success hinges on the interactions between patients and physicians. Given the growing role of subjective, patient-dependent assessment of the quality of care received, which is increasingly influenced by the individual aspects of the interaction between patients and care providers, in addition to the explicitly measurable, objective assessment of the quality of care received based on clinical indicators, quality assessment of services should especially consider and explore the attitudes, needs and dynamics of all the parties involved in the healthcare process. This study was designed to assess the attitudes of maternity patients and healthcare providers towards the quality of obstetric care. A quantitative questionnaire survey was conducted in a tertiary level healthcare facility providing obstetric services in Lithuania. Research findings suggested that maternity patients rate both the technical and functional quality of obstetric services higher than the staff providing it. Midwives and obstetricians-gynaecologists view quality assurance as a complex process, rather than focus solely on quantitative indicators. Since midwives were rated slightly higher than physicians in terms of services they provide, it may be appropriate to ensure and encourage a wider use of midwife-only deliveries in low-risk births. A comprehensive assessment of the quality assurance aspects as viewed by the patients and the staff should be included in the regular quality assessments of healthcare facilities as one of the most informative assessment tools on the service quality.

Cross-Cultural Adaption and Validation of SERVPERF Tool for Measuring Healthcare Quality in an Oncology Public Hospital, Vietnam.

SERVPERF (Service Performance) tool needs to be adapted to the context and the usage purpose. Our study aimed to validate the context adapted SERVPERF tool in an Oncology public hospital in Vietnam. A study was conducted in 2020 with 227 in-patients as respondents the modified SERVPERF tool. Data collected were analyzed for tool assessment (reliability and validity). The new order in 5 factors in the modified tool were: (1) Responsiveness; (2) Empathy; (3) Reliability; (4) Tangible and (5) Assurance. The modified tool has a high Cronbach's alpha of .94. The tool validity was confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) where the healthcare service quality item corresponds as χ2/df = 3.79, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.85, Tucker Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.83, and Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.08 are good fit indices. The modified tool SERVPERF with high reliability and validity could be applied for measuring the clients' perceptions about healthcare service quality in other Oncology public hospitals in Vietnam.

The Impact of Healthcare 4.0 on the Healthcare Service Quality: A Systematic Literature Review.

Healthcare 4.0 is inspired by Industry 4.0 and its application has resulted in a paradigmatic shift in the field of healthcare. However, the impact of this digital revolution in the healthcare system on healthcare service quality is not known. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of healthcare 4.0 on healthcare service quality. This study used the systematic literature review methodology suggested by Transfield et al. to critically examine 67 articles. The impact of healthcare 4.0 is analyzed in-depth in terms of the interpersonal, technical, environmental, and administrative aspect of healthcare service quality. This study will be useful to hospitals and other stakeholders to understand the impact of healthcare 4.0 on the service quality of health systems. Besides, this study critically analyses the existing literature and identifies research areas in this field and hence will be beneficial to researchers. Though there are few literature reviews in healthcare 4.0, this is the first study to examine the impact of Healthcare 4.0 on healthcare service quality.

The quality of Syrian healthcare services during COVID-19: A HEALTHQUAL approach.

Syria is a developing country that face enormous healthcare challenges that aggravated with the outbreak of COVID-19. In the study, we evaluate the perceived healthcare service quality based on hospital type, public and private, using five HEALTHQUAL dimensions. We find that service quality in Syrian private hospitals is perceived better that in public hospitals. However, neither type of hospitals scores exceptionally high in any of the examined HEALTHQUAL dimensions. On the contrary, both hospitals score extremely low in the Improvement dimension. We argue that crowdedness environment, medical staff availability and their low salaries, pricing policies as well as the health insurance system, are to blame for such low perceived quality.

Prioritizing enablers for service quality in healthcare sector - a DEMATEL approach.

PURPOSE: The Healthcare sector is one of the important sectors of the Service Industry. It is believed that in this sector, the customer server relationship is very critical, and even the slightest gap in the people quality may have a huge impact on the delivered service quality. Some of these enablers are doctors, nursing staff and support staff. Furthermore, the nonpeople quality enablers such as diagnostic services, facilities, hygiene levels and so on are also likely to impact the delivered service quality. It was also felt that the degree of impact each enabler has on the service quality could vary. Therefore there is a need for structured and deep analysis. The paper attempts to identify, analyze and prioritize the enablers that impact the delivered service quality. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The enablers have been identified through literature review and inputs from experts in the healthcare fraternity. The authors have explored different decision-making tools such as analytic hierarchy process (AHP), analytic network process (ANP), stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis, Hybrid Model and DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) for the analysis of data in this paper. Based on the strengths of the approach and careful considerations by focus group discussions, DEMATEL was chosen as the best option. It is simple, unique, sparingly used in the healthcare sector, effective in prioritizing and gives meaningful insights on importance, cause and effect factors. DEMATEL approach converts the complex problem with interrelated factors into a clear structure that makes simple interrelationships among factors in the form of cause and effects digraph, and hence, the authors chose to use it. A case study in one of the hospitals has also been conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the developed index. The case study very strongly validates the developed index. FINDINGS: This research paper has found that there are people quality enablers such as the doctor, nursing staff, support staff and nonpeople quality enablers such as facilities, diagnostic services and hygiene levels maintenance, which impact the delivered service quality. It also concludes that the delivered service quality depends not only on the quality but also on the availability of these enablers. The inputs received from the experts have been run through the DEMATEL methodology and importance computed for each. The top five priority enablers are Quality of Doctor, Availability of Doctor, Quality of Support Staff, Quality of Nursing Staff and Availability of Support Staff. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The weights of the enablers have been obtained using the DEMATEL tool. These weights have been calculated using the inputs from 22 experts, which meets the statistical requirement (Skulmoski, 2007). However, a larger group of experts can be reached, and based on the inputs received from them, the tool can be revalidated for repeatability and reproducibility. Using Fuzzy DEMATEL can also be explored for further analysis. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The proposed framework to assess the service quality level of a healthcare organization is based on a sound approach of DEMATEL. The service index arrived, thereafter, can be used to rate the delivered service quality by any healthcare organization. It can be used to compare the similar type of healthcare organizations across locations. This Index can facilitate improvements in the healthcare organization through internal and external benchmarking. It also helps the organization to know the gaps, understand the root cause, improve upon them and become the best in class. This Index uses the inputs from the end customers to calculate the rating, which makes it more reliable and accurate. The overall scores obtained from the Index can provide the ranking to the healthcare providing organizations and options to customers to choose from best. The service quality index can be used by an organization to continuously monitor their delivered service quality scores and improve them to become the best in class. The research paper highlights the significant role played by the people quality and its strong impact/contribution on the delivered service quality. Hence, it is believed that it will encourage the healthcare organizations to prioritize the improvement and upgrade of the people quality over the nonpeople quality aspect. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Putting people and nonpeople quality enablers in one single model and assigning weights to them using the DEMATEL approach is a new application in healthcare. Developing an Index to measure the delivered service quality in the healthcare sector is also different and new.

Analysis of the medical complaint data in a district of Beijing during the COVID-19 epidemic / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective:To analyze the complaint data of medical institutions in a district of Beijing in 2021, discuss the patients′ demands for medical services under the background of epidemic normalizaed prevention and control, for reference to improve the service quality and quality management level of medical institutions.Methods:The data was from all patient complaints received by the Beijing Hospital Management Center in 2021 from medical institutions in a district of Beijing, and the information of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Beijing in 2021 from Wind database. The time of complaint, the complained organization, the object of complaint, the content and reason, and the time distribution of epidemic related complaints and COVID-19 cases were analyzed. All data were analyzed by descriptive analysis.Results:A total of 2 408 valid complaints were included. The tertiary hospitals(1 175, 48.8%) and secondary hospitals(724, 30.1%) received more complaints; The complaints against to hospital managers were the most(1 470, 61.0%), followed by complaints against doctors(590, 24.5%); The number of complaints related to hospital management were the largest(776, 32.2%), followed by complaints related to diagnosis and treatment effects(623, 25.9%) and epidemic situation(431, 17.9%). The time distribution of epidemic related complaints was similar to the change trend of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Beijing during the same period.Conclusions:Under the background of epidemic normalizaed prevention and control, the problems of hospital management in medical complaints were the most prominent, and epidemic related complaints accounted for a large proportion. Medical institutions should closely combine patients′ demands, optimize diagnosis and treatment procedures, unblock doctor-patient communication channels, promote hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, optimize resource allocation, and explore high-quality hospital operation and management mode.

Re-evaluation of the healthcare service quality criteria for the Covid-19 pandemic: Z-number fuzzy cognitive map.

Hospitals as healthcare centers have faced many challenges with the Covid-19 spread, which results in a decline in the quality of health care. Because the number of patients referred to hospitals increases dramatically during the pandemic, providing high-quality services and satisfying them is more important than ever to maintain community health and create loyal customers in the future. However, health care quality standards are generally designed for normal circumstances. The SERVPERF standard, which measures customer perceptions of service quality, has also been adjusted for hospital service quality measurement. In this study, the SERVPERF standard criteria for health services are evaluated in the Covid-19 pandemic. For this purpose, by considering the causal relationships between the criteria and using Z-Number theory and Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs), the importance of these criteria in the prevalence of infectious diseases was analyzed. According to the results, hospital reliability, hospital hygiene, and completeness of the hospital with ratios 0.9559, 0.9305, and 0.9268 are respectively the most influential criteria in improving the quality of health services in the spread of infectious diseases circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of the literature shows that in previous studies, comprehensive research has not been done on prioritizing the criteria for measuring the quality of health services in the context of the spread of infectious diseases.

The Gaps of Healthcare Service Quality in Nurse Practitioner Practice and Its Associated Factors From the Patients' Perspective.

PURPOSE: This study investigates the expectations, perceptions, and gaps of the healthcare service quality (HSQ) from the patients' perspective, and explores the significant demographic and clinical factors associated with the HSQ in nurse practitioner practice (NPP). DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was carried out, with convenience sampling performed under the NPP in Taiwan, from June to November 2016. METHODS: The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Service Quality Scale was used to assess the expectations, perceptions, and gaps of the HSQ. The demographics, clinical characteristics, and symptom severity of patients were collected, and the Importance-Performance Analysis was applied to identify the priority of ranking items for the improvement of nurse practitioners (NPs). The Generalized Estimating Equation was used to explore the factors associated with the HSQ in NPP. FINDINGS: A total of 200 patients completed the questionnaires. The results revealed that the patients had overall high expectations (M = 6.35, SD = 0.46), moderate perceptions (M = 4.21, SD = 0.95), and a mild HSQ gap (M = -2.14, SD = 0.69), with statistically significant differences (p < .001). In NPP, the largest gap in the HSQ dimensions was reliable responsiveness, followed by empathy, assurance, and tangibility. Patients with greater symptom severity and a longer in-hospital stay were associated with larger HSQ gaps; however, patients who were transferred from the emergency department had smaller gaps than those in the outpatient department. CONCLUSIONS: The patients' expectations were not fully satisfied in the NPP, especially for the dimensions of reliable responsiveness and empathy. The patients' symptom severity was a significant factor related to the gaps in the HSQ. The awareness of unmet needs, from the patients' perspective, could guide the convergence of a rational policy to promote healthcare delivery in the NPP. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The managers of NPP need to pay attention to increasing NPs' reliable responsiveness and empathy, by setting the appropriate scope of practice, regulating the NP-to-patient ratio, applying for certification programs in prescribing training, and cultivating patient-centered care with shared decision making. In addition, building up the knowledge and competency of symptom management is also suggested for NP training.

Assessing healthcare service quality using routinely collected data: Linking information systems in emergency care.

Emergency departments need to continuously calculate quality indicators in order to perform structural improvements, improvements in the daily routine, and ad-hoc improvements in everyday life. However, many different actors across multiple disciplines collaborate to provide emergency care. Hence, patient-related data is stored in several information systems, which in turn makes the calculation of quality indicators more difficult. To address this issue, we aim to link and use routinely collected data of the different actors within the emergency care continuum. In order to assess the feasibility of linking and using routinely collected data for quality indicators and whether this approach adds value to the assessment of emergency care quality, we conducted a single case study in a German academic teaching hospital. We analyzed the available data of the existing information systems in the emergency continuum and linked and pre-processed the data. Based on this, we then calculated four quality indicators (Left Without Been Seen, Unplanned Reattendance, Diagnostic Efficiency, and Overload Closure). Lessons learned from the calculation and results of the discussions with staff members that had multiple years of work experience in the emergency department provide a better understanding of the quality of the emergency department, the related challenges during the calculation, and the added value of linking routinely collected data.

[Development and Psychometric Testing of the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Service Quality Scale].

BACKGROUND: Many hospitals in Taiwan currently use the nurse practitioner (NP) care model to ameliorate the chronic shortage of resident physicians. However, no healthcare service quality scale is presently available that allows the evaluation of the healthcare quality provided by NPs from the perspective of patients. A scale of this type is necessary in order to effectively monitor and improve care outcomes. PURPOSE: This project was designed to develop the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Service Quality Scale (NPHSQS) and then to test its validity and reliability. METHODS: A cross-sectional design combined with Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry's Service Quality Model was adopted to construct the NPHSQS. After expert evaluation and confirmation of the model's content validity, 200 valid questionnaires were collected from a convenience sample of patients from medical center wards in northern Taiwan that regularly used the NP care model. The data were analyzed by group using item analysis, construct validity, internal consistency, and discriminant validity. RESULTS: The 25-item NPHSQS developed in this study earned a CVI (content validity index) of .91 and a good CR (critical ratio). Exploratory factor analysis revealed that four factors extracted in the expectation level, including reliable responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibility, explained 62.47% of the total variance. Furthermore, three factors extracted in the perception level, including reliable responsiveness, trust, and tangibility, explained 67.71% of the total variance. The NPHSQS has a good overall internal consistency coefficient and may also significantly distinguish differences in patient satisfaction between good and bad healthcare service quality groups (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The developed NPHSQS has good reliability and validity and is a reliable instrument for assessing the quality of NP-provided healthcare services from the perspective of healthcare recipients.

Improving healthcare service quality through performance management.

PURPOSE: Healthcare service quality in the USA has gained importance under value-based payment models. Providing feedback to front-line staff is a vital component of managing service performance, but complex organizational dynamics can prevent effective communication. This work explored the performance management of appointment desk staff at Mayo Clinic Arizona, identified barriers to effective management and sought to standardize the process for monitoring service performance. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Multiple data sources, including qualitative inquiry with 31 employees from the primary care and surgery departments, were used. The research was conducted in two phases - facilitated roundtable discussions with supervisors and semi-structured interviews with supervisors and staff six months after implementation of service standards. Participants were probed for attitudes about the service standards and supervisor feedback after implementation. FINDINGS: While all staff indicated a positive work environment, there was an unexpected and pervasive negative stigma surrounding individual feedback from one's supervisor. Half the participants indicated there had been no individual feedback regarding the service standards from the supervisor. Presenting service standards in a simple, one-page format, signed by both supervisor and the patient service representative (PSR), was well received. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Combining rapid-cycle quality improvement methodology with qualitative inquiry allowed efficient development of role-specific service standards and quick evaluation of their implementation. This unique approach for improving healthcare service quality and identifying barriers to providing individual feedback may be useful to organizations navigating a more value- and consumer-driven healthcare market.

Dimensions of service quality in healthcare: a systematic review of literature.

PURPOSE: Various dimensions of healthcare service quality were used and discussed in literature across the globe. This study presents an updated meaningful review of the extensive research that has been conducted on measuring dimensions of healthcare service quality. DATA SOURCES: Systematic review method in current study is based on PRISMA guidelines. We searched for literature using databases such as Google, Google Scholar, PubMed and Social Science, Citation Index. STUDY SELECTION: In this study, we screened 1921 identified papers using search terms/phrases. Snowball strategies were adopted to extract published articles from January 1997 till December 2016. DATA EXTRACTION: Two-hundred and fourteen papers were identified as relevant for data extraction; completed by two researchers, double checked by the other two to develop agreement in discrepancies. In total, 74 studies fulfilled our pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria for data analysis. DATA SYNTHESIS: Service quality is mainly measured as technical and functional, incorporating many sub-dimensions. We synthesized the information about dimensions of healthcare service quality with reference to developed and developing countries. 'Tangibility' is found to be the most common contributing factor whereas 'SERVQUAL' as the most commonly used model to measure healthcare service quality. CONCLUSION: There are core dimensions of healthcare service quality that are commonly found in all models used in current reviewed studies. We found a little difference in these core dimensions while focusing dimensions in both developed and developing countries, as mostly SERVQUAL is being used as the basic model to either generate a new one or to add further contextual dimensions. The current study ranked the contributing factors based on their frequency in literature. Based on these priorities, if factors are addressed irrespective of any context, may lead to contribute to improve healthcare quality and may provide an important information for evidence-informed decision-making.

Customer perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty in Indian private healthcare.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to analyse how perceived service quality and customer satisfaction lead to loyalty towards healthcare service providers. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: In total, 475 hospital patients participated in a questionnaire survey in five Indian private hospitals. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, regression and correlation statistics were employed to analyse customer perceived service quality and how it leads to loyalty towards service providers. FINDING: Results indicate that the service seeker-service provider relationship, quality of facilities and the interaction with supporting staff have a positive effect on customer perception. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Findings help healthcare managers to formulate effective strategies to ensure a better quality of services to the customers. This study helps healthcare managers to build customer loyalty towards healthcare services, thereby attracting and gaining more customers. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paper will help healthcare managers and service providers to analyse customer perceptions and their loyalty towards Indian private healthcare services.