Private and public hospitals

Public services are experiencing more discerningevery 600 people; one nurse for every 225
and discriminating customers, who may choosepeople and one hospital bed for every 250 people.
between private and public sector services. WhileThe government is the main provider of
there is sufficient evidence indicating that privatehealthcare services in the UAE. The Ministry of
companies have higher productivity andHealth started providing health services to the
profitability than public ones, there is little researchpeople of the UAE in 1974. The
comparing service quality between the twogovernment-funded health care system offers
sectors. Here we compare service qualityfree medical treatment to all citizens and some
between public and private hospitals.subsidized services to expatriates. There are
The enhanced focus on customer satisfaction inmore than 9,000 beds in government hospitals
contemporary marketing and managementand medical centers. On the other hand, the role
sectors appears to have led to widespreadof the private sector has been increasing. Patients
attention for patient satisfaction in the moretend to prefer private hospitals and clinics for their
specialized healthcare sector. This trend isflexible measures, less crowded facilities and rapid
characterized by a move away from theprocedures in providing medical services. There
traditionally fragmented, episode-based type ofare nine hospitals, 44 polyclinics and almost 1,300
care, towards an emphasis on patient satisfaction.doctors in the private sector.
In view of this trend, service quality and patientThe difference between private and public
satisfaction have become critical for anyhospitals in the UAE
healthcare organization seeking to carve out aA questionnaire was developed to investigate
competitive advantage. Indeed, the strategicservice quality at public and private hospitals. This
importance of service quality in healthcare hasquestionnaire was distributed to 400 inpatients in
become widely recognized.the UAE and 205 responses were received.
Despite the strategic importance of quality in theFactor analysis of responses resulted in the five
context of any healthcare organization, it isdimensions of empathy, tangibles, reliability,
popularly perceived that substantial differences inadministrative responsiveness, and supporting skills.
quality exist among healthcare providers.These factors were all reliable. Furthermore, with
Research comparing healthcare providers onthe exception of administrative responsiveness,
various issues pertaining to service quality is,these factors showed strong predictive validity.
however, limited."There is a significant difference between private
A 22-item instrument, recognized as SERVQUALand public hospitals in service quality."
has become widely used as a generic instrumentComparisons of inpatient service quality between
for measuring service quality in many serviceprivate and public hospitals in the UAE reveal that
industries, including hotels, dentistry, travel, higherinpatients are generally unhappy with overall
education, real estate, hospitals and constructionservice quality, which is not unusual in the
services. The advantages of SERVQUAL includehealthcare industry. Managers need to focus on
the following:reliability, including the ability to perform services
It is accepted as a standard for assessingas promised and the skills of hospital personnel.
different dimensions of service quality.There is a significant difference between private
It has been shown to be valid for a number ofand public hospitals in service quality. Public
service situations.hospitals have higher service quality than private
It has been demonstrated to be reliable, meaninghospitals, indicating that inpatients of public
that different readers interpret the questionshospitals are generally more satisfied than
similarly.inpatients of private hospitals. This is unexpected
The instrument is parsimonious in that it has agiven the fact that people, the world over, go to
limited number of items. This means thatprivate hospitals in order to receive higher service
customers and employees can fill it out quickly.quality. This is a serious problem for private
The instrument items represent the following fivehospitals, particularly given the fact that reliability is
dimensions:the most important dimension of service quality.
EmpathyThe problems faced by public and private hospitals
Tangiblesin service quality and particularly in its important
Reliabilitydimension of reliability can be addressed by
Administrative Responsivenesstraining nurses, physicians and administrators on
Supporting Skillsanalysis of variations which is not yet commonly
This instrument can be used by hospital managersemployed in the healthcare sector. This includes
to assess their service quality and identify thethe use of graphic methods and control charts.
dimensions that need improvement.Physicians should also be involved in continuous
Healthcare in the United Arab Emirateslearning programs to further improve their
In the UAE the situation of healthcare servicesknowledge in professional subject matters. Private
has completely changed since the discovery of oilhospitals need to carefully design patient-oriented
in 1962. The investment in healthcare has beenstrategies focusing on reliability improvement in
significantly increased. It includes medical collegesorder to compete effectively with public hospitals
and easy access to all kinds of medical carethat enjoy great government patronage and
facilities. There is approximately one doctor forfunding.