SERVICE QUALITY AND PATIENT SATISFACTION OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN PLATEAU STATE: A STUDY OF OUTPATIENT UNIT OF JOS UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL

The health care industry is an important service organization that contributes to the nation’s economy. In a competitive health-care environment, quality services that meet the satisfaction needs of patients/consumers are critical determinants of satisfaction and ultimately organizational success. Utilizing the ServQual model, the study explored the effect of tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy on patient’s satisfaction. A cross-sectional research design was adopted, and questionnaire was administered to out-patients who visited the out-patient unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) from January-March 2019. The total population of out-patients that attended the out-patient service of JUTH during the study period was 5,967 (JUTH out-patient records, 2019). A random sample of 374 out-patients was selected and the study questionnaire distributed to them. Findings showed that tangibility, responsiveness, assurance and empathy have significant impact on patient satisfaction while reliability had no significant impact and did not contribute to improving patient satisfaction in our study sample. From the result of the hierarchical regression we found that perceived value played a significant mediating effect on tangibility, empathy, assurance and responsiveness on patient satisfaction, while it did not mediate the relationship between reliability and patient satisfaction. The study findings suggest that patient satisfaction could be improved if hospital administrators focus more on aspects of service quality that have a positive relationship on patient satisfaction.