Strategic action grids: a study in Indian hospitals

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Service Quality Improvement
• Patient Experience Research

Background:

• Effective hospital administration requires understanding patient and attendant expectations.
• Service quality is a critical factor in healthcare delivery, particularly in the Indian context.
• Addressing diverse customer needs is essential for healthcare providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To offer strategic recommendations for Indian hospital administrators.
• To improve healthcare service quality by analyzing performance dimensions.
• To understand the importance patients and attendants place on different service aspects.

Main Methods:

• Collected perceptions from patients and attendants using a structured questionnaire.
• Analyzed the importance of various performance dimensions from the consumer perspective.
• Focused on the unique aspects of the Indian healthcare environment.

Main Results:

• Identified significant differences between patient and attendant perceptions of service quality.
• Highlighted that different customer groups have distinct needs and expectations.
• Provided data for administrators to assess tangible and intangible assets.

Conclusions:

• Hospital administrators can leverage these findings to develop targeted strategies.
• Improving service quality involves addressing both structural and functional aspects of the hospital.
• The study's inclusion of attendant perspectives offers unique value in the Indian healthcare setting.