PRIVATISATION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICE AND UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE OF PATIENT SATISFACTION

Abstract

Health care management in any hospitals or organisations are becoming competitive day by day. It is challenging to maintain a good repute in the market in particular and patient satisfaction has become a key for gaining and maintaining market share. Patients are the most important stakeholders in any hospital, public or private, and it is extremely important to see whether they are satisfied or not. This study attempts to assess the consumer satisfaction regarding services provided to inpatients and outpatients in some hospitals located in Guwahati  in terms of clinical care, availability of services, waiting time, cost, trust and reputation etc. In this context, the study tries to understand the level of satisfaction of patients attending health care facilities in private hospitals and to understand which factor adds more value to the patients’ overall satisfaction level. The research design of the study is descriptive research design. The method of service quality measurement namely SERVQUAL scale was used to analyse the data.