The Status of quality services provided in private hospitals
In the case of any health problems people usually face two choices, namely attending public or private hospitals. In the vast majority of cases, people chose the public sector as it is cheaper than the private one. However, private hospitals provide a competitive advantage. Public hospitals experience an impressive flow of patients, whereas public ones have fewer clients and choose the patient-centered approach. Caring and attentive employees contribute to the improvement of the quality of service. In addition, attending the private medical establishment, the patient can choose the preferred surgeon. It is impossible to do in public institutions as the client will be taken care of with the doctor in the shift. The ability to choose is significant for the positive outcome, and that is, people pay for this option.
Earlier, it was difficult to measure the quality of service; however, it should be pointed out that the SERVQUAL analysis facilitated this process. This approach is also known as the model that describes gaps between expectations and performing. SERVQUAL aims to describe the gap and consequently leads to a better understanding of what type of service is provided by the hospital. The quality of service used to be determined by the following ten aspects, namely “reliability, tangibility, communication, security, credibility, competence, understanding, access, understanding and knowing customers, responsiveness” (Alahmari, Aljasser, & Sasidhar, 2015).
However, nowadays the quality of service is evaluated in accordance with five fundamental factors, namely “reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy” (Alahmari, Aljasser, & Sasidhar, 2015). To get better involved in the issue, the stated above factors should be examined. First of all, the quality of service is measured by empathy. It is significantly important for clients to get individual attention. Tangible deals with the hospital itself and what it can offer to the customers.
The number of laboratories and equipment impacts the way the patients perceive the quality of service. Assurance describes the level of competence of the staff and the possibility to create relationships with the clients based on trust and respect. For the patients to be satisfied, the service should be reliable. The clients usually want to be aware of the process of treatment, and it should occur according to the schedule while timing is a significant aspect that influences the quality of health care. Responsiveness is about the willingness to provide the appropriate help and ease the life of the patients in the hospital.
The peculiarities of the private hospitals stimulate them to work better and to provide the clients with outstanding service. According to the researchers, the quality of service in the private establishments is higher as the staff aims to find a common language with the clients and to increase the satisfaction of the patients with the service provided.
There are a number of advantages that explain why patients choose private over public service. First of all, private medical establishments do not have a list of patients who need to wait. There are some cases when patients need to wait for the transplantation for almost one year.
The difference between public and private hospitals is in financing as the public ones use governmental money, namely local or federal. In other words, the government paid for the patients, and that is, the hospitals serve everyone, even if the person does not have money. Public hospitals are responsible for providing every client with health care. The private hospitals can refuse the patient in treatment. However, according to the law, in the case of emergency, the private hospitals should help the person and stabilize the health condition and then take him to the public one.
Private establishments are usually smaller, and that is, believed to be more centered on the needs of the patient. Moreover, the patients are likely to receive more care as the nurses should not be responsible for as many clients as in the public hospital. The relationships between doctors and patients are based on trust and respect. The private sector aims to keep pace with technological development. One of the drawbacks that the private medical establishments have is the high costs that not everyone can afford.
The quality of health care is a multi-faceted issue that can be viewed from different angles. The fundamental aim is to satisfy the clients with the service and to improve the index of positive outcomes that affect the quality. There are three groups that influence the level of quality of the medical service; among them are the following, namely people who provide the service, those who supervise it, and the target group, clients who use the service. Depending on the group, the quality of service can be measured differently. Taking into consideration the significance of the issues, a number of authors address this problem in the scientific works.
The SERVQUAL method is appropriate when measuring the quality of service, and that is, should be implemented to obtain reliable results. The usage of the SERVQUAL method is common while analyzing the work of the hospital and evaluating the professional attitude of the staff to the clients. According to the SERVQUAL, there is the difference between the expectations of the patient of the kind of service he will get and the service he gets in reality. From this point, the quality of care can be measured. The methodology provides a relevant analysis that is recognized and documented.
To get a better understanding of the issues, the question regarding the expectations should be considered. It is important to point out that expectations are personal subjective feelings regarding the performance. They are commonly based on personal background, experience, or beliefs. On the one hand, marketing, and advertisement influence personal expectations, however, on the other hand, personal experience in dealing with the medical establishments is significant to be taken into account.
The vast majority of people have an experience of dealing with public hospitals. As a matter of fact, not everyone was satisfied with it. The introduction of the private sector increased the level of trust in medicine, and the client-centered approach was beneficial as it contributes to the positive development of the health care segment. Although the quality of service can be influenced by personal experience, it should be stressed that a lot of organizations can manipulate and influence the way the client perceives the quality. Management and advertisement are powerful tools that affect the image of outstanding quality.
The private sector has a reputation for the best service. Attending private hospitals people usually have too high expectations. However, it should not necessarily be so. The doctors, who work in the private sector are all human beings, and, unfortunately, cannot make a miracle. However, the fact is that the quality of health care is much better in the private segment. If the expectations were too high, there are great chances for the perception to be lower. It should be noted that in this case, the results are not adequate and rather questionable. It is a significant drawback of the SERVQUAL method that should be kept in mind.
The question regarding the evaluation of the quality of service provided in the medical establishments is vital to be taken into account. The primary objective of applying the SERVQUAL analysis is to receive a better understanding of what the clients want to get, what kind of service is desirable, and how they want to be treated. The question is, whether the clients’ expectations are not too high. In the public sector, the patients provided with less care, and that is, the expectations are usually lower than in the private sector.
Private hospitals are expensive, and people want to get outstanding service. However, the professional who works in the sphere has almost the same skills and knowledge as in the public one. It is impossible to show only positive results. The sphere of medicine faces challenges and deaths every day, and it does not depend on whether the hospital is public or not. Due to the advertisement and reputation of the private sector, the expectations of the clients are believed to the considerably high.
The quality of service provided in the private sector is usually better than in the public one. As most of the patients have a negative experience with the treatment in public hospitals, they want to get more professional and reliable care for money. The patients pay money and want their expectations to be met. The increasing amount of public hospitals in the modern world proves that there is greater demand for more professional care. As the population increases, the number of hospitals should increase as well. Although the opinion of the customer is important, one should keep in mind that the improvement of service should not be the obstacle to the professional skills of doctors to develop and improve as the positive outcome depends not only on the caring staff but the skillful physicians and surgeons.
Although public hospitals are essential and provide help across the globe to any patient, it should be stressed that there are a number of challenges that influence the work of this sector. Recent studies suggest that a large portion of people who attend public hospitals have low income or do not have insurance. The evaluation of quality helps to indicate the problems and drawbacks of the system. In most of the countries, the health care industry received the priority and nowadays develops very fast. Patients and their expectations have stimulated the intense development of the industry. The hospitals provide the clients with the same kind service; however, the quality is different and is measured with the consideration of the patient’s expectations and what they get.
Private hospitals are an integral component of the system of medicine. They can be found in any area and are not as overcrowded with the patients as public hospitals. Taken into consideration the undeniable fact that the vast majority of private hospitals are expensive consequently, they are acceptable for the wealthy layer of society. There are a number of private hospitals across the world; however the difficulties they face seem to be similar.
The sphere of health care faces a number of issues and problems that significantly affect the quality of the service and care delivery. Medicine is always in progress, and it should catch up with the development of society. The fundamental difference between private and public hospitals is that the private sector is orientated on the profit. The first problem that should be noted is the budgetary accent that private hospitals make during the development of the strategies. According to experts, such an attitude has negative implications on the system of health care and influence the morale of employees in an impressive way.
However, it is essential to point out that the main concern of the medical establishment should be the wellbeing of patients and the staff. This objective can be reached by an outstanding and professional work of nurses and doctors, of every team member. The next issue that private hospitals face is the lack of rewards for the staff. The system of rewards and recognition beneficially affects the motivation of the workers and is likely to increase the effectiveness. Taking this fact into consideration, the public institutions pay more attention to this fact, whereas the private hospitals are more centered on the budgetary questions and desire to make more profit.
It results in the fact, that the majority of nurses feel more respectful and appreciated working in public hospitals. As a matter of fact, the private hospitals are usually not as big as the public ones; and it is the reason there are can be not so many specialists in the private medical establishment.
Apart from the above-stated issues, it should be highlighted that the private sector is powerful and is a strong competitor to public hospitals. Although the quality of service in private hospitals is usually better, not so many people can afford treatment in this sector. According to the recent researches, nowadays people suffer more from different diseases; the major reason for it is the environmental pollution and climate changes that were caused by the unlimited human activity. That is the demand for health care increases. A growing number of private hospitals proves this fact.
Arab and Foreign Empirical Studies on quality services provided in private hospitals
Providing patients with the high-quality health-care service is considered to be a demanding task. Although the sphere of medicine should receive the priority, there is hardly a country in the world that does not face challenges in the sphere of the health delivery service. One of the major issues is that the level of patient’s satisfaction with the care provided is difficult for estimating. The biggest problem is that the concepts of the quality and satisfaction are rather broad and can be understood by people in a different way.
To improve the quality of medicine and provide the patient with the highly professional help, the government of Saudi Arabia spent over 10 billion of dollars on the health care industry which is equal almost 15% of the overall budget. Public and private services are commonly compared. The health insurance links the quality of care with the patient’s expectations. The experts claim that the high quality of the health care will consequently increase the satisfaction of the clients with the service. As the matter of fact, the newly implemented and changed the system of medicine in Saudi Arabia results in the tense competition on the market between two sectors, namely the private and public hospitals. In regards to competitiveness, the question arises whether the situation on the market will have a positive impact on the patient’s satisfaction.
SERVQUAL is a widespread tool that is commonly used in the marketing; nevertheless, it can be applied to the sphere of medicine as well. The researchers believe that SERVQUAL “remains the most complete attempt to conceptualize and measure service quality” (Alahmary, 2014). According to the recent findings, in most of the cases, the patients choose private hospitals as their expectations to receive more professional help is higher in comparison to the public ones. The increasing amount of young population is the stimulus of the educational and health-care industry to develop rapidly (Al‐Borie & Damanhouri, 2013).
The private and public sectors show intent to built new medical establishments. To keep pace with the increasing number of people, private hospitals expand and add more beds for the hospital. The investments in the private establishments remain high. With the higher demand for the medical workers, the government of Saudi Arabia takes actions to encourage students to choose health scare industry for future development.
The major factor that contributes to the indication of the quality of the health delivery service is hospitals. It is worth noting that nowadays the vast majority of hospitals are client-orientated as the patients determine whether the hospital has a competitive advantage among the rivals. The medical system in Saudi Arabia experiences changes and reorganization. The changes affect decentralization, the capacity of beds, insurance, and the quality of the provided service.
According to the statistics, the population of Saudi Arabia growth with every year and this is the reason for the increasing demand for the development of the health care industry. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the highest index of the population growth in the GCC.
More than a half of hospitals in Saudi Arabia are owned by the Ministry of Health. The vast majority of the hospitals under the guidance of the Ministry of Health provide the population with the basic level of the health service, however, it worth stating that there are some centers that can be considered as the specialized. Almost six million of expatriates that live in Riyadh have to consult private hospitals in the case they need help as the Ministry of Health made some restrictions for the expatriates to get health care in the public establishments. That is, the private sector gains momentum.
Hospitals in Saudi Arabia are controlled by the Ministry of Health and certain companies that provide the employees with the medical service. Nowadays, hospitals in Saudi Arabia faced some changes that led to some advantages and improvement of the health care service. First and foremost, the hospitals became more accessible and offer the clients highly professional care. According to the recent researchers, starting from 1970 till now, the number of hospitals grew from 75 to almost 500 (Zarei, Arab, Froushani, Rashidian, & Tabatabaei, 2012). The findings suggest that the amount of beds increased by six times.
The government lays an accent on the development and improvement of the medical sphere as it contributes to the well-being of the nation. However, it should be pointed out that Saudi Arabia is not the single country that aims to make hospitals function more professional and increase the quality of service. A number of countries have chosen the same direction, among them are the following ones, namely France, Italy, and Japan. The World Health Organization investigated the quality of service provided in the hospitals of different countries and came to the conclusion that the medical care in France can be considered as the role-model.
The survival rates are impressively high in the country. People can cure of cancer and receive a highly professional help. In the United Stated, however, the system struggles with different factors that are an obstacle on the way to achievement the goal. The most evident problems are the following, high costs, the negative outcome of the clients’ treatment, and high demand for the health care service and lack of the registered nurses.
To get deeper involved in the issue, the definition of the quality of service should be taken into consideration. The experts stress that the quality is the “degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge” (Al‐Borie & Damanhouri, 2013). Investigating the quality of service, certain indicators should be taken into account, namely “safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable” (Al‐Borie & Damanhouri, 2013).
In addition, the medical establishments that provide a high-quality care should be responsible for offering the patients the performance based on the recent scientific findings. The hospital should minimize the negative outcomes and eliminate injuries. Wasting time is unacceptable in most of the cases, and that is, the workers should be ready to provide reliable medical help as soon as possible. The outcomes should be improved as well as the survival rate. Moreover, the high-quality service should be provided to every person despite differences in nationality or race. Despite the fact that the quality of service has improved in Saudi Arabia, it is worth highlighting that there are still certain barriers that are an obstacle on the way of achievement of the success.
In order to get better acquainted with the quality of health delivery service in private hospitals, it should be examined from certain dimensions. First and foremost, the factor of safety should be observed. As the matter of fact, less than a half of private hospitals have a safety committee which can negatively affect the overall work of the medical establishment. Moreover, less than ten percent have a safety officer (Al‐Borie & Damanhouri, 2013). According to the recent findings in the sphere of private hospitals, not all the hospitals have the list of the products that look-alike sound-alike. Because of this fact, a number of mistakes take place. The presence of the safety committee or officer contributes to eliminating mistakes and reduces the index of negative outcomes.
The second aspect deals with the effectiveness. The most of the patients’ complaints were caused with the lack of the information regarding the health condition. The patients are provided with the discharged information more often in the private hospitals. The vast majority of clients (almost sixty-five percent) stressed that they could not understand the information they were given by the pharmacist. The patients in Saudi Arabia show better satisfaction point in the case the pharmacist is in the medical team and provides the clients with all the needed information regarding the medications.
Moreover, over forty percent of the patients want pharmacists not only to explain the information regarding the medication but to highlight the usage and the reaction of drugs. The half of the clients of the private institutions are satisfied with the work of pharmacists and are sure that they play an important role during the recovery process (Aljuaid, Mannan, Chaudhry, Rawaf, & Majeed, 2016).
For the private sector to improve the index of effectiveness, every member of the team should be responsible for the provided care and take a time to explain the patients the peculiarities of the diagnosis or medical prescriptions. The better awareness of the clients regarding the stated above issues will contribute to the improvement of the service.
According to the recent researches in the field of the satisfaction of the patients with the service in the private hospitals, almost twenty-five percent of the respondents out of three hundred patient stated that the pharmacists did not pay attention to the rights of the clients to be well informed regarding the diagnosis and treatment, despite the fact, that the patients have the right for it. It affects the index of quality of the service significantly, and that is, should be taken into consideration and improved.
As the matter of fact, the area regarding the quality of the health-care provided in the private hospitals is not well researched and demands further investigation. The major concern of the private institution is to provide highly professional service with the accent laid on the safety.
Providing high-quality care to satisfy the expectations of the patients is a demanding task. However, it is even more complicated to measure the satisfaction of the service. It is difficult because the concept of quality and satisfaction is very broad and there is no single meaning. According to the recent studies, the bed capacity in hospitals used to be over 50,000, almost eighty percent were at the disposal of public ones, and twenty percent belonged to the private establishments. However, the government decided that the health care industry should catch up with the growing population, and the bed capacity should be increased. The Saudi Arabia government invested over ten billion of dollars for the improvement of the quality of care and facilitation of the work of the public hospitals.
It is worth highlighting that public, as well as private medical institutions can be compared. The experts, such as Al-Shekh and Alsharqi, claim that the perception and experience of the patients influence the expectations (Al‐Borie & Damanhouri, 2013). The way clients perceive the service should impact the performance. Alsharqi is sure that the tense competition in the health-care industry should beneficially impact the quality of the service provided (Al‐Borie & Damanhouri, 2013).
The recent statistics shows that the total number of people who attend the hospitals in Saudi Arabia is almost three million. The vast majority of people still consult public hospitals; however, almost twenty-five percent of the patients prefer private health care providers. The statistics are understandable as the private hospitals are rather expensive, and the vast majority of people cannot afford it.
The perception of the patients is a crucial factor that determines the quality of care. With the consideration of the above stated peculiarities of the private sector in Saudi Arabia, the question arises whether there are the same issues associated with the problem in different countries. Although the real level of the health care service can be low, the fundamental objective is how the clients view this service and their opinion regarding the staff and efficiency.
The researchers state that there is a correlation between the perception and satisfaction. The satisfaction of the patients seems to be the main aspect that indicates whether the quality of service should be improved and what strategies should be implemented in the sphere of health care in order to reach desirable results. That is, some hospitals lay an accent on the satisfaction of the patients and make it the most prioritized strategy and objective.
The tendency towards the increasing number of private hospitals is typical not only for Saudi Arabia but other countries as well. As the matter of fact, the amount of private health care providers has also increased in Turkey. The number of private establishment increased by five times since 1980. The major reason for such progress in the private sector is considered to be the liberalization of the country. The negative experience of the Turkish clients with the public hospitals was the stimulus for the private segment to develop rapidly. The service of the health care providers was numerously analyzed applying the SERVQUAL analysis. The service should be viewed from certain dimensions, namely “tangibility, assurance, responsiveness, reliability, and empathy” (Bakan, Buyukbese, & Ersahan, 2013).
The findings suggest that people in Turkey prefer private over public hospitals because they are sure that the quality of service will be better, and they will get professional help. However, it does not necessarily mean that the quality of service differs dramatically. There are some cases when the clients complain regarding the care they received in private medical establishments. The dissatisfaction was based on the time of treatment, waiting, and consultations. The lack of staff is the reason for problems with time. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that the demand for the private hospitals has increased, and this tendency can be traced not only in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
While the quality of service is indicated by the satisfaction of the patients, private sector focuses on the improvement of the service as there is a tense competition on the market and they do not want to lose clients. People have a lot of alternatives, and it influences the attitude towards them, making the service better and more reliable. To succeed and prosper, hospitals should take into consideration the opinion of the clients if they do not want to lose clients.
The SERVQUAL analysis offers six dimensions that can identify the success of the hospital and the level of the service provided. Clients have expectations, but the service they get usually does not reflect these expectations on a hundred percent. The gap between these two concepts indicates the quality of service. According to recent studies, there are some common factors that patients want to see in the private hospital. First of all, tangibility should be discussed.
Clients think that the medical establishment should be fully equipped with modern technologies, bathrooms and rooms should be clean and in a good condition, the food should be healthy and attractive. In addition, nurses should respect the patients and do not interfere into their personal space and parking should be comfortable for usage. The private hospitals meet these requirements and strive to make the hospital more comfortable for the patients.
The second aspect of the SERVQUAL analysis is considered to be assurance. The patients want to be aware of the time and get the service in accordance with the agreement. The main objective is to follow the instructions and procedure in a strict manner. This criterion is usually performed outstandingly in the private establishments.
For the service to meet the expectations of the patients, it should be responsive. People want to know when they will be consulted. Moreover, the want to get a reliable help not only from nurses but other staff as well. Patients aim to get an explanation regarding medicaments and treatment. With the consideration of the discussed above information, it should be stressed that not all the hospitals provide the patients with detailed information regarding the treatment, and it is the drawback of the system. To improve the quality of service, the staff should explain the diagnosis and peculiarities of treatment to the patient and relatives if any.
It is understandable that when the patient has some problems with health he wants to choose a reliable place with the professional and caring staff. For the treatment to be positive and to eliminate any nervous situations, the patient should trust not only staff but billing as well. The client wants to feel safe and to be confident in the quality of service he gets. It seems to be significantly important to highlight the fact that nurses should ensure the patient that there is no need to worry regarding the treatment and consultations as it affects the overall health condition in an impressive way. In reality, private hospitals usually meet these expectations as they want to attract patients. However, clients have a different perception. It may be enough for one client to explain the diagnosis briefly but another customer wants to be informed in details.
The next factor that influences the quality of service is courtesy. The workers of the private hospitals should be polite and follow the procedure. For the process of treatment to be more positive, one should keep in mind that nurses should be cheerful for the patients to have more confidence in the positive outcome of the treatment. Moreover, visitors and relatives should be treated well. Although the staff of the hospital understands the importance of being polite, sometimes the situations are urgent, and there can be not enough time to follow the procedure precisely. However, the worker of the private institutions usually aims to improve the quality of service and dedicate more time to the patients.
The last aspect that the SERVQUAL analysis is empathy. It is worth noting that the patients want the workers of the private hospitals to predict their wishes. Patients want to get desirable attention. As the matter of fact, in most of the cases, the private hospitals offer a high-quality care in order not to lose patients and improve the index of positive outcomes.
It is worth stating that one of the most significant accents the system of medicine in Saudi Arabia makes is the safety of the process of treatment. This concept receives the priority as the level of medical errors should be reduced. The number of medical mistakes on the base of medications increases, according to the expert’s point of view; it is caused because of the lack of safety officers in the medical establishments. The role of the medication safety officer should not be undervalued. Despite the fact that the responsibility of the officers is limited, it still can contribute to the improvement of the quality and delivery of service.
However, it should be stressed that the medical errors are typical not only for Saudi Arabia but other countries across the globe as well. Private hospitals aim to reduce the level of mistakes by hiring more staff and following the procedure. Medical mistakes can be explained by a variety of factors. First and foremost, the errors occur because of the human factor. The human being tends to make mistakes, and they cannot be eliminated, however, a lot of effort should be put to reduce its quantity (Zamil, Areiqat, & Tailakh, 2012). The implementation of the accreditation process will positively impact the quality of service and will consequently reduce the amount of mistakes made by doctors and nurses as well. According to the recent findings, the accreditation process will improve the medication safety.
Although the patient’s expectations are usually believed to be higher than the quality of service they receive, it is worth noting that the recent findings suggest that there is positive tendency regarding the client’s satisfaction. The relationships and respectful attitude towards the patients have a positive impact on the recovery of patients. Empathy influences the overall satisfaction of the client and the positive outcome. The quality of care and empathy contribute to the improvement of the survival rate and beneficially influences the expectations of the patients.
The researchers prove that the satisfaction of the patients of the private hospitals can be affected by numerous factors. The clients of the private sector usually expect the outstanding quality of the health care. Modern patients want to be active participants of the process of treatment and decision making. They want to be aware of the alternatives of the treatment and possible outcomes. As the matter of fact, the private hospitals dedicate more time to the patients and want to keep the clients and their relatives informative.
Every team member of the private hospital can influence the quality of service; however, it should be stressed that the nursing staff is essential and play a significant role in the improvement of the health service. Being aware of this fact, private hospitals aim to hire as much nurses as needed to provide all the patients with the needed amount of attention and care. Working on the improvement of the patients’ satisfaction, the staff of the private hospitals should take time for educating the relatives of the client regarding the diagnosis or the process of treatment. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that the satisfaction of the patients should not become the single objective as the satisfaction of the staff seems to be an important issue.
The patients and the staff are the stakeholders, and their interest should also be taken into consideration. The improvement of the health care service should be made on every stage of the treatment process. The progress and advance should be made from the first second the client enters the private hospital until the time he will be cured. When the hospitals fail to provide appropriate care, they receive poor outcomes and dissatisfaction of the patients.
The implementation of the SERVQUAL analysis is beneficial to take into consideration as it complements the quality of service and may evaluate the drawbacks of the sphere of medicine (Zamil, Areiqat, & Tailakh, 2012). It is worth stating that the further investigations regarding the quality of service provided in the private hospitals and ways for the improvement should be discussed and developed for the health delivery service to make progress.
Conclusions
In conclusion, it should be pointed out that the private sector in the sphere of the health care gains momentum and develops rapidly not only in the Saudi Arabia but the world in general. It is worth pointing out the fact that the public hospitals are overcrowded, do not use the client-centered approach and have other peculiarities that should be taken into consideration while choosing private or public sector.
The expectations of the clients are commonly connected with his experience, background, or the influence of management and advertisement. It is no doubt that the expectations regarding the level of service of the private sector are much higher in those patients who consult private establishments. First and foremost, private hospitals are expensive, have more workers and less patients, which allows dedicating more time to every client. The equipment in the private hospitals is commonly more modern and advanced. In addition, the patients have the personal right to choose the doctor or surgeon, which is a crucial factor, especially in the cases when the patients have serious illnesses that demand attention and highly-professional skills. However, the stated above reasons are not the only ones that influence the choice of people and their perception of quality of the health care.
Public medical establishments usually have long waiting lists, and it may cause patients some problems. It is worth highlighting that private sector is not financed by the government, it uses the investments of the businessmen. Having more freedom and not depending on the governmental investments, the private hospitals have a competitive advantage. The fact that there are not some many patients, as not everyone can afford to go to the private hospital increases the level of quality of the health care.
As the matter of fact, the quality of service can be analyzed with the consideration of the following aspects, namely safety, effectiveness, time, client-centered approach, and efficiency. The attention to these factors is essential to be taken into account as they influence the quality of service significantly. It is worth stating that the improvement of the stated and discussed above aspect will beneficially affect the reality of the health care service.
The expectations of the clients should be reflected in the quality of care they get. Despite the fact that in most of the cases, the expectations are too high, the staff of the private and public establishments should strive to make progress and advance in the performing. The accent should be laid not only on the improvement of the index of positive outcomes but the service as well. The big percentage of the patients does not understand the medications and aim to get appropriate help. The pharmacists should pay more attention to the clients and explain the peculiarities of the drugs and highlight the usage. Taken into account the discussed information, the following conclusion can be drawn; the private sector offers more client-orientated approach, however, still should be improved as there is a gap between the patients’ expectations and the reality of service.
The global tendency proves that there is the increasing number of private hospitals. It can be explained by different reasons. First and foremost, people usually have bad experience while dealing with the public hospitals.
Quality of service estimated by the SERVQUAL analysis takes into account the following aspects, namely tangibility, assurance, responsiveness, courtesy, access, security, and credibility. As the matter of fact, the private medical establishments aim to meet customer’s expectations because there a lot of options that the clients may choose. The SERVQUAL analysis is beneficial for the implementation as it provides the deeper understanding of the issue. The number of private hospitals is growing, and they want to compete with public ones in the market. In order to meet this objective, private hospitals should improve the quality of service as the customers’ expectations influence the perception significantly.
The quality of the service in the private hospitals can be estimated by the evaluation of five primary factors, namely “reliability, tangible, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy” (Mosadeghrad, 2014). It should be stressed that the appropriate analysis of the expectations of the patients and the service they get will contribute to the improvement and progress in the sphere of medicine. I do not profess to be an expert regarding the subject, but I am strongly convinced that the issues and challenges the private sector is facing right now are a great stimulus for the health care industry to advance and deliver an outstanding service that will satisfy even the most demanding client.
Despite the fact that the system of medicine is experiencing the rapid development in Saudi Arabia, it should be stated that the Ministry of Health provides almost seventy-five percent of the population with a public health-care service. Nevertheless, there are still certain problems associated with the sphere of medicine in Saudi Arabia. Among the most widespread challenges are the amount of medical mistakes, safety of medications, waiting lists, and quality of care.
The government does not address these issues, and it consequently leads to the decrease of the quality of the health-care service. It is essential to highlight that the private sector aims to eliminate these problems and works for the improvement of the health delivery. Moreover, the government should take into account that because the population increases and demands of the patients become more advanced, the expectations of the clients regarding the service increase as well. The only way to eliminate the problems is to be flexible and adjust to different conditions. The increasing amount of the private hospitals will stimulate the governmental establishments to compete and make progress. To master the results regarding the quality of service provided in the health care institutions, the international experience should be taken into consideration.
Despite the fact that countries have different cultural peculiarities, the problems the modern system of medicine face are common. The globalization process brings the countries together and makes them closer. Cooperation and collaboration can impact the development of the health-care service in a positive way. To achieve this aim, different surveys should be implemented into the working process. The information is a great tool that helps to achieve progress.
The segment of private hospitals is represented in every country in the world. Although the quality of service is considered to be better in the private sector, it should be highlighted that the vast majority of private hospitals face the same issues that demand attention. Climate changes and poor condition of the environment lead to the spread of different diseases that should be treated. The rapid development of the private sector is possible because there is an increasing demand for the health care service.
The sphere of medicine requires improvement and advances. There is hardly a person in the world that had no experience with attending of the health care institutions. As the matter of fact, it should be pointed out that the number of private health care providers increases significantly because the public sector does not provide the patients with the appropriate service. To compete on the market, the private hospitals dedicate most of the attention to satisfy the needs of the clients. Striving to reflect the expectations of the clients will contribute to the improvement of service.
References
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