Service Encounter Related Process Quality, Patient Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intention

This study identifies some of the critical service encounters that the outpatients undergo in a health care facility and investigates whether the service encounter related process quality as perceived by the patients leads to patient satisfaction, repeat visit, and recommendation intentions. Personal visits, observations, and enquiries at the outpatient center have been conducted to identify the various service encounters that outpatients undergo in the hospital. Exit interviews of the outpatients have been conducted to identify service encounter related process quality variables which determine patient satisfaction and behavioral intentions. A preliminary scale to measure service encounter related process quality was developed and its factor structure and internal consistency reliability were established. The study reveals that both the physician quality and laboratory quality have been found to be significantly related to patient satisfaction. However, quite interestingly, courtesy shown by the registration or outpatient staff, perceived length of waiting time, or even the salient aspects of the servicescape, did not influence patient satisfaction.