Evaluation of primary healthcare service quality in Ulaanbaatar city

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare quality and its improvement has become increasingly important issue in recent years; thus showing a necessity of assessing quality issues from different perspectives. Patient satisfaction and healthcare quality are considered as one of the main components of assessing medical healthcare service. Purpose: To evaluate primary healthcare service quality from patient’s standpoint Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study has been conducted in 30 primary health hospitals of all 9 districts of Ulaanbaatar city. The data was randomly collected from 1203 patients above age of 16 via standardized SERVQUAL questionnaire (22 items distributed into 5 dimensions) and its formula of GAP difference. Results: The result showed a significant difference in all 5 dimensions of service quality, which implies patients visiting primary healthcare centres of Ulaanbaatar are not fully satisfied with service quality they are receiving. The biggest gaps of service were in tangibles (-0.55) and empathy (-0.51), while the minimal gap was in assurance (-0.36). Reliability and responsiveness showed same result of (-0.46). An average gap of whole service quality was equal to (-0.46). Conclusion: A negative gap result of the analysis demonstrates a patients perception of primary healthcare service quality is lower than expectation and a necessity of improvement in primary healthcare service quality in all dimensions.