Foreign Patients’ Satisfaction toward Service Quality in Malaysia Private Hospitals

Abstract

Medical tourism is defined as travelling to a different country to receive medical treatment at an affordable cost, and have access to higher-quality healthcare or obtain specialised treatment which they would not receive in their home country. Such medical treatments may involve therapeutic intervention for cancer and cardiac matters through dental and aesthetic surgery. Although medical tourism is quite popular in Malaysia, there are limited studies that examine foreign patients’ satisfaction towards services they received from hospitals. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine customer satisfaction who seek medical treatment in Malaysia specifically in the Klang Valley private hospitals. This study applies a survey design with questionnaires and 100 sets of questionnaires were distributed to foreign patients in 6 private hospitals and the data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The data were analysed and the results indicated that there is a significant relationship between service quality provided by the hospitals and foreign patients’ satisfaction. The implications of the study will be useful for practitioners, academicians, and policy makers. Finally, the limitations of the study were addressed and recommendations for future studies are also provided.