Service quality in the public sector hospitals: a study in India.

Most studies on service quality have been conducted in the context of the private sector of the economy. In fact, in the healthcare setting, for a long time, public-sector hospitals were not expected to excel in the provision of service quality. In a country such as India, even now, public-sector hospital staffs enjoy relatively higher salaries, flexible work schedules, and secure employment until retirement. Because patients do not pay for most services, normally they are concerned only about the quality of the core product. The authors indicate that, even in the public sector context, the quality of the physician and that of the clinical support staff significantly impact patient satisfaction. However, the quality of nonclinical support staff is not found to have any significant effect on patient satisfaction.