Abstract

VERA, Jorge  and  TRUJILLO, Andrea. Assessing the effect of service quality over user satisfaction in public health institutions in Mexico. Contad. Adm [online]. 2018, vol.63, n.2. ISSN 0186-1042.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cya.2016.07.003.

The objective of this study is to offer an explanation of how service quality in public health institutions affects the beneficiary’s satisfaction with those institutions. Thirty-two quality attributes were identified in the service through an study and by analyzing the care received by the beneficiary in a primary care clinic. A structured scale was designed to measure the beneficiary’s perception of the performance of these attributes, as well as satisfaction indicators. A sample of 600 beneficiaries equitably divided between three institutions was collected. These were the Secretary of Health, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), and the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE). Through a confirmatory factorial analysis, the attributes were grouped into seven service quality dimensions. In order to analyze the impact of these dimensions on satisfaction, six regression models and two structural models were carried out. These analyses showed that the quality of service provided by physicians and the quality of medication delivery services tend to be the factors with the greatest impact on beneficiary satisfaction. The quality of service provided by clinical analysis staff and the quality of the facilities also had a significant impact. However, factors such as quality of nursing services, quality of service provided by pharmacy staff, and quality of front desk service (assigning turns), did not have a statistically significant impact.

Keywords : Service quality; customer satisfaction; health care institutions; M31; M39; I11; I18.