Effects of service quality on patient satisfaction among rural hospitals in Western Kenya: a case of Kory Family Hospitals in the County of Bungoma
Date
2021
Authors
Murumba, Susan Murunga
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
The study examines the effects of service quality on patient satisfaction among rural hospitals in Western Kenya by focusing on Kory Family Hospitals based in the County of Bungoma as the case study. Specifically, the study aims at establishing the effect of tangibility, communication, empathy and turnaround time on patient satisfaction. This study adopted an explanatory design and sampled out 384 patients as respondents spread across the three branches of Kory Family hospital using Stratified Random Sampling technique. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using multiple linear regression models. The results showed that tangibility have a positive and statistically significant effect on patient satisfaction with π½2 = 0.172 and π = 0.01 while communication has a positive and statistically significant effect on patient satisfaction with π½2 = 0.264 and π = 0.01. Similarly, empathy appears to affect patient satisfaction most as it has a coefficient of π½3 = 0.318 and π = 0.01 whereas the coefficient of turnaround time on patient satisfaction is π½4 = 0.133 withπ = 0.01. In conclusion, this study provides adequate and conclusive evidence that service quality in its totality, and in particular; tangibility, communication, empathy and turnaround time all have positive and significant effects on patient satisfaction among rural hospitals in the Western Kenya region. Based on these results, the research recommends various aspects of service quality that should be improved to spur better patient satisfaction such as improvement in physical facilities, staff appearance and skill sets, effective communication, empathetic listening and management of queues; among others. Equally, the study recommends future research work to take a deeper insight of each component of service quality and perhaps consider using different econometric approaches to data analysis.
Description
A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Masters of Business Administration at Strathmore University Business School
Keywords
Service quality, Patient satisfaction, Rural hospitals_Western Kenya, Kory Family Hospitals_County of Bungoma