Health care services quality at private hospitals, from patients’ perspective: A comparative study between Jordan and Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare health care services quality of private hospitals in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The data for the study was collected through a questionnaire comprising 28 items mainly related to tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and accessibility. The instrument was validated through pilot testing, Pearson correlation analysis, and using exploratory factor analysis. The internal consistency of the instrument was found to be 0.75. A sample of 606 respondents completed the questionnaire, 327 from the private hospitals in Jordan and 279 from the private hospitals in Saudi Arabia that were selected randomly from six private hospitals. The collected data were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical techniques such as means and independent sample t-tests. The results obtained show that there was a significant difference in health care services quality between Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Tangibles and accessibility were better in the Saudi Arabia’s private hospitals. However, tangibles were found better in the private hospitals in Jordan. Recommendations were made for the health care providers and administrators to improve health care delivery systems. Continuous monitoring of patient perceptions to improve the quality of health care and patient satisfaction for the overall quality evaluations from patients on the private hospital services is recommended. Key words: Health care quality, private hospital, Jordan, Saudi Arabia.