Service Quality in Rural Healthcare: An Exploration of Expectation Versus Veracity

Purpose: This paper aims to scrutinize the healthcare service quality in the rural population of a developing economy like India. It further aims at analyzing the service quality gap of the healthcare sector as perceived by its customers. Design/ Methodology/Approach: This paper used the SERVQUAL model to examine the service quality of the health care units. For this study, only public health care units from the rural areas were considered. Findings: The results entail that the hospitals have little or no provision of necessary infrastructural facilities inside the hospital in terms of medical equipment. The healthcare personnel do not provide personalized attention to the patients. Research Limitations: The study was limited to rural state-owned hospitals' status; the results and interpretations may not be completely applicable or relevant to the private sector hospitals and urban hospitals. Practical Implication: The study clearly states that the patients know their expectations in terms of service quality. Originality/ Value: Vivid research has been done to examine the quality of services provided by the healthcare units, the least of them focusing on the rural front. This study is a genuine work by the authors to understand the healthcare providers' rural population's expectations.