A Comparison of Service Quality in Teaching and Non-teaching Hospitals: The Gap Analysis

Introduction: Service quality is a judgment that the customer compares his/her expectations by this judgment, with the perception of the received services. The purpose of this study was to compare service quality in teaching hospitals with non-teaching hospitals in Kerman city. Methods: This cross-sectional study has been done on 166 hospitalized patients and the standard SERVQUAL questionnaire with an approved validity and reliability was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 19. Results: The results show that the service quality from the patients’ perception in non-teaching hospitals is more than the teaching hospitals (p=0.002). Most of the service quality gap is in the tangibility dimensions and also in providing amenities for patients and their companions. Conclusion: Teaching setting of the hospital typically can cause poor subjectivity in patients about the quality of services provided and it is recommended that authorities identify factors causing these kind of thinking and solve them. Also the negative scores indicate a need for improvement in all aspects, especially the tangibility dimensions having the maximum gap.