Assessing Patient-Perceived Healthcare Service Quality in Tertiary Care Government Hospitals in India: A SERVQUAL-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Quality assessment in healthcare has become increasingly significant with the recent surge in the number of healthcare providers. It is essential for hospital managers to assess consumer perspectives and identify service quality gaps so that any deficiencies in service delivery can be determined and addressed. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted across seven Indian cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Punjab, Lucknow, Vishakhapatnam, Chandigarh, and Kochi) to evaluate the service quality provided to patients in tertiary care government hospitals, using the SERVQUAL instrument to compare patient expectations against actual experiences. A total of 1,002 patients were surveyed across five service quality dimensions — Reliability, Responsiveness, Tangibles, Assurance, and Empathy. Paired-sample t-tests revealed a statistically significant gap between expectation and experience scores across all five dimensions (p < 0.0001), with experience scores consistently and significantly exceeding expectation scores, indicating substantial patient dissatisfaction. The largest gap was observed in the tangible dimension, followed by assurance and reliability. The findings indicate a significant, systemic healthcare service quality gap in tertiary government hospitals across India, underscoring the need for focused interventions by hospital management and government policymakers to strengthen infrastructure, staffing, training, and patient feedback mechanisms.

Keywords: SERVQUAL; Patient Satisfaction; Service Quality; Tertiary Government Hospitals; Healthcare Quality Gap