Factors Effecting Patient Satisfaction in Private Sector Hospitals: A Case Study of West Bengal

Abstract

Satisfaction of the customers in the private sector hospital service depends on a set of factors including the physical factors like quality of treatment rendered to the patients, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, tangibles i.e. convenience created psychological factors like care taken cost to the patients and monetary factors like the cost required to access the services provided by the hospitals. Based on a field survey data collected from the privately owned hospitals in West Bengal, the present study aims to identify the factors responsible for patient satisfaction and thereby to gauge its effect on the brand-image of the hospitals. The study clearly shows a strong association between the factors such as care, quality of treatment and cost of service with the customers i.e., patients satisfaction. The study concludes a paradigm shift in the Indian hospital industry as the customer preference to choose a service is changing