The effect of service quality on patient satisfaction and patient loyalty in city hospitals

The aim of this research is to examine the effect of service quality on patient satisfaction and patient loyalty in city hospitals. In addition, the effect of patient satisfaction on patient loyalty was examined in the study. The population of the study, in which the quantitative research method was used, consists of patients who received health services from Kayseri City Hospital between January and June 2022. Purposeful sampling method was used in the research and the research data were obtained through face-to-face questionnaires from 516 patients who received health care from Kayseri City Hospital. The obtained data were analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that interaction quality, physical environment quality and output quality, which are the dimensions of service quality in city hospitals, have a significant effect on patient satisfaction and patient loyalty. In addition, it was determined that patient satisfaction did not have a significant effect on patient loyalty in city hospitals. In the sub-dimensions of service quality in city hospitals, it was determined that professional skills in terms of interaction quality, ambiance and aesthetics in terms of physical environment quality, and treatment diversity in terms of output quality had a significant and strong effect on patient satisfaction. In terms of patient loyalty dependent variable, the effect of interaction with employees and problem-solving skills from the dimensions of interaction quality and the cleanliness of the hospital, which is one of the dimensions of physical environment quality, on loyalty emerged as a remarkable result. On the contrary, it was determined that the output quality dimensions did not have a significant effect on patient loyalty.