Healthcare Service Quality: Comparing Public and Private Hospitals in Jordan

The purpose of this study is to shed the light on healthcare services quality in Jordan and to compare the service quality of different providers (i.e., public and private hospitals). The survey instrument in a questionnaire form was designed to achieve the research objectives. The study applies the modified scale of the Servqual instrument to compare and evaluate hospital services in Jordan. The study consisted of 250 randomly chosen patients who received treatment in the public and private hospitals. The questionnaire was completed by a total of 221 (88.4%). The private hospital service is regarded as being of superior quality to that provided by the public hospitals; satisfaction of the patients seems to be the most important factor for both private and public healthcare providers. The results can be used by hospital managements and policy-makers and academics to creatively re-engineer and redesign their quality management processes and the future direction of their more effective healthcare quality strategies to improve hospital performance and the service quality afforded to patients. This study contributes to research on healthcare services by understanding how the concept of service quality is adopted by private and public hospitals.