Comparing the Perceived Quality of Private and Public Health Services in Nigeria

Services in private hospitals are considered to be superior to those of public hospitals. Research on the service quality in hospitals in developing countries is scarce, as is comparison of the customer-perceived quality of the two types of healthcare systems. The present study compares the perceived quality of private and public health services in Nigeria. The results show positive perceptions of both healthcare systems. However, when high-level hospitals were excluded, the scores for the private hospitals were higher. These findings are in line with earlier studies on hospitals in developed countries, but differ from previous findings on healthcare in developing countries.