Is there any difference in service fairness between private and public hospitals influencing customer satisfaction

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The rapid expansion of insurance coverage, without the development of infrastructure, will create demand that cannot be met by the existing healthcare system. The sudden increase in demand will disrupt the delivery of service, especially in public hospitals, which will influence service satisfaction levels. A preliminary study shows that satisfaction levels of BPJS Kesehatan patients are still low. The most frequent reasons cited for dissatisfaction are fairness issues such as different treatments and different processes and procedures. Studies have found that aside from evaluations of quality, fairness is indeed an important factor that influences satisfaction. Yet there are limited empirical researches on the effect of service fairness on service delivery, especially in the healthcare industry. This study addresses the question of whether there are direct relationships between three variables of fairness and customer satisfaction. In other words, are there different levels of perceived service fairness in private and public hospitals and, if so, does this have an impact on customer satisfaction? Using a descriptive quantitative method, this study was conducted on BPJS Kesehatan members who used 19 public and private hospitals in nine cities in Java, Indonesia. A six-point Likert scale questionnaire was designed and distributed. Four hundred and six samples collected were eligible for analysis using descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling using LISREL. The results show that there is a positive impact of the three variables regarding service fairness on customer satisfaction in public and private hospitals. However, the relationship between distributive fairness and customer satisfaction is not significant in public hospitals. This study strengthens the building evidence that service fairness, in addition to service quality, influences customer satisfaction, specifically in service delivery in the healthcare industry