Science Journal of Business and Management

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Service Quality Dimension in Health Care Service Delivery: The Case for Healthstrat in Kenya

Received: 05 August 2015    Accepted: 13 August 2015    Published: 21 August 2015
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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate service quality dimension in health care service delivery, the case for Healthstrat. In doing so, the study adopted the following objectives: to investigate the factors that determine service delivery at Healthstrat, to investigate the customers’ service expectations at Healthstrat and to determine the impact of service delivery mechanism on service quality. The study was guided by the SERVQUAL model which was made of ten dimensions of service quality when created; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding the customer, and access, but later on these dimensions were reduced to five because some dimensions were overlapping (communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding customers and access) and they included, Tangibles- physical facilities, equipment, and staff appearance. The study adopted a descriptive research design method. The target population of this study consisted of all the 98 employees working at the hospitals that Healthstrat supports and a sample size of 30 employees was considered. The study used primary data collected through a structured questionnaire. Data was analysis using statistical package for social sciences. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation were generated. The study found out that service quality as perceived by customers is as a result of how well service matches expectations. Secondly that service quality was determined by two dimensions, namely; expectations and experience and each of these dimensions had underlying factors. Thirdly, five factors determined the outcome of service quality which is used by the customers to complete judgement during service delivery, namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The study recommends that participants mentioned the staff to be the focus of improvement based on the fact that it’s the service staff that actually operationalizes service quality standards and more importantly it’s during the service encounter where the customer forms the last judgements on service quality

DOI 10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15
Published in Science Journal of Business and Management (Volume 3, Issue 5, October 2015)
Page(s) 164-174
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Service Quality, Healthstrat, SERVQUAL Model, Service Delivery

References
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Author Information
  • School of Business Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

  • School of Business Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

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  • APA Style

    Janet Mukami Mugambi, Zipporah N. Kiruthu. (2015). Service Quality Dimension in Health Care Service Delivery: The Case for Healthstrat in Kenya. Science Journal of Business and Management, 3(5), 164-174. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15

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    ACS Style

    Janet Mukami Mugambi; Zipporah N. Kiruthu. Service Quality Dimension in Health Care Service Delivery: The Case for Healthstrat in Kenya. Sci. J. Bus. Manag. 2015, 3(5), 164-174. doi: 10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15

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    AMA Style

    Janet Mukami Mugambi, Zipporah N. Kiruthu. Service Quality Dimension in Health Care Service Delivery: The Case for Healthstrat in Kenya. Sci J Bus Manag. 2015;3(5):164-174. doi: 10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15,
      author = {Janet Mukami Mugambi and Zipporah N. Kiruthu},
      title = {Service Quality Dimension in Health Care Service Delivery: The Case for Healthstrat in Kenya},
      journal = {Science Journal of Business and Management},
      volume = {3},
      number = {5},
      pages = {164-174},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20150305.15},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjbm.20150305.15},
      abstract = {The main objective of this study was to investigate service quality dimension in health care service delivery, the case for Healthstrat. In doing so, the study adopted the following objectives: to investigate the factors that determine service delivery at Healthstrat, to investigate the customers’ service expectations at Healthstrat and to determine the impact of service delivery mechanism on service quality. The study was guided by the SERVQUAL model which was made of ten dimensions of service quality when created; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding the customer, and access, but later on these dimensions were reduced to five because some dimensions were overlapping (communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding customers and access) and they included, Tangibles- physical facilities, equipment, and staff appearance. The study adopted a descriptive research design method. The target population of this study consisted of all the 98 employees working at the hospitals that Healthstrat supports and a sample size of 30 employees was considered. The study used primary data collected through a structured questionnaire. Data was analysis using statistical package for social sciences. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation were generated. The study found out that service quality as perceived by customers is as a result of how well service matches expectations. Secondly that service quality was determined by two dimensions, namely; expectations and experience and each of these dimensions had underlying factors. Thirdly, five factors determined the outcome of service quality which is used by the customers to complete judgement during service delivery, namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The study recommends that participants mentioned the staff to be the focus of improvement based on the fact that it’s the service staff that actually operationalizes service quality standards and more importantly it’s during the service encounter where the customer forms the last judgements on service quality},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AB  - The main objective of this study was to investigate service quality dimension in health care service delivery, the case for Healthstrat. In doing so, the study adopted the following objectives: to investigate the factors that determine service delivery at Healthstrat, to investigate the customers’ service expectations at Healthstrat and to determine the impact of service delivery mechanism on service quality. The study was guided by the SERVQUAL model which was made of ten dimensions of service quality when created; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding the customer, and access, but later on these dimensions were reduced to five because some dimensions were overlapping (communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding customers and access) and they included, Tangibles- physical facilities, equipment, and staff appearance. The study adopted a descriptive research design method. The target population of this study consisted of all the 98 employees working at the hospitals that Healthstrat supports and a sample size of 30 employees was considered. The study used primary data collected through a structured questionnaire. Data was analysis using statistical package for social sciences. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation were generated. The study found out that service quality as perceived by customers is as a result of how well service matches expectations. Secondly that service quality was determined by two dimensions, namely; expectations and experience and each of these dimensions had underlying factors. Thirdly, five factors determined the outcome of service quality which is used by the customers to complete judgement during service delivery, namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The study recommends that participants mentioned the staff to be the focus of improvement based on the fact that it’s the service staff that actually operationalizes service quality standards and more importantly it’s during the service encounter where the customer forms the last judgements on service quality
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