Service quality measurement in a medical imaging department

Abstract

This project evaluates the quality of service provided for ambulatory clients at the Bone Densitometry Unit in the Royal Brisbane Hospital using the Servqual instrument. Every adult outpatient visiting the Bone Densitometry Unit over a six‐month period was invited to participate in the survey. On each of the five measured dimensions of service quality: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy, there were high satisfaction ratings with both perception scores and expectation‐minus‐perception gap scores. Of the five dimensions, responsiveness, assurance and empathy factors were more important predictors of overall service satisfaction. Perception scores better predict overall satisfaction than gap scores. Therefore, Servqual is useful if knowledge of the pattern of expectation trends is important in managerial decision making. Otherwise, the measurement of perception scores appears sufficient to assess service quality for ambulatory clients in a medical imaging department.