The method of questionnaire modification and development is based on the process of using questionnaire dimensions initially obtained from pre-existing questionnaires and then further developing the questionnaires to better accommodate research objectives and industry characteristics [22 (link)–24 ].
Medical service quality was conceptualized through the evaluation of perceived performance in the following five areas of patient services: facilities and environment, service procedures, and physician, nurse, and administrative personnel performance. The final instrument consists of six items covering facilities and environment, eight items on service procedure, six items on physician performance, five items on nursing staff performance, and five items on administrative personnel. The performance section constituted of thirty items in total. Further, four items addressed treatment effect, two items were included on customer satisfaction, and lastly two items examined the patient’s revisit intent, covering a total of eight construct areas (total 38 items). Each item was rated on 5-point Likert scales ranging from 1, indicating “very dissatisfied” to 5, “very satisfied”.
The questionnaire used in this study was originally based on SERVQUAL. It was modified to concentrate on interpersonal relationship-based medical service evaluation in the service encounter system. The modification reflected expert opinion that the quality of Korean medicine service would be more affected by medical service providers (e.g. physicians, nursing staff) than conventional medicine as it is less influenced by technological advances or facilities. Moreover, satisfaction with service quality does not always correlate with the treatment effectiveness of a medical service. In addition to the theory that better service quality would lead to improved satisfaction and subsequent loyalty, we hypothesized that treatment effectiveness would affect both patient loyalty and service quality satisfaction in medical service, and accordingly added items on treatment effectiveness. In summary, we modified the basic SERVQUAL format with focus on the following:1 .
Medical service quality was conceptualized through the evaluation of perceived performance in the following five areas of patient services: facilities and environment, service procedures, and physician, nurse, and administrative personnel performance. The final instrument consists of six items covering facilities and environment, eight items on service procedure, six items on physician performance, five items on nursing staff performance, and five items on administrative personnel. The performance section constituted of thirty items in total. Further, four items addressed treatment effect, two items were included on customer satisfaction, and lastly two items examined the patient’s revisit intent, covering a total of eight construct areas (total 38 items). Each item was rated on 5-point Likert scales ranging from 1, indicating “very dissatisfied” to 5, “very satisfied”.
The questionnaire used in this study was originally based on SERVQUAL. It was modified to concentrate on interpersonal relationship-based medical service evaluation in the service encounter system. The modification reflected expert opinion that the quality of Korean medicine service would be more affected by medical service providers (e.g. physicians, nursing staff) than conventional medicine as it is less influenced by technological advances or facilities. Moreover, satisfaction with service quality does not always correlate with the treatment effectiveness of a medical service. In addition to the theory that better service quality would lead to improved satisfaction and subsequent loyalty, we hypothesized that treatment effectiveness would affect both patient loyalty and service quality satisfaction in medical service, and accordingly added items on treatment effectiveness. In summary, we modified the basic SERVQUAL format with focus on the following:
Interpersonal relationship-based medical service (physician, nursing staff, and administrative personnel)
Effect of service quality on treatment effectiveness
Assessment of the effect of service quality satisfaction and treatment outcome on intent to revisit, respectively
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