Análisis de la percepción de la calidad de los servicios de salud mediante el modelo SERVQUAL

Abstract

Introduction: Providing quality health services is important in all the dynamics of health care institutions. It is an essential characteristic for achieving the well-being of a country's population. The quality of healthcare can be measured by determining the gap between patient expectations and perception, which is influenced by various factors during delivery. The SERVQUAL model has been widely used as a tool to measure the quality of health services, and has been adapted by incorporating elements specific to the health service delivery environment, evaluating mainly the dimensions Tangibility, Safety (Reliability), Responsiveness, Accountability (Assurance) and Empathy. Objective: The objective of this study was to know the perception of the quality of health services through the SERVQUAL model and its viability in the assessment and improvement of service quality. Methodology: A literature review was conducted. The data used for the review were collected from the Scopus and Dimension databases, mainly through a search with the keywords SERVQUAL, perception of quality, healthcare quality, nursing, medical and health science and public health; other documents collected from other search engines were also included. The documents were filtered and sieved, having as exclusion criteria duplicate documents, documents that were not in the objective of the review and that did not use the SERQUAL model in the measurement of quality, and finally 148 documents were included in the analysis. Results: The review found that in general there was a gap between patients' expectations before receiving the service and the perception after receiving it. This difference in quality was evident in all the dimensions evaluated in the measurement studies, indicating that patients' expectations are not being met when receiving medical care, and the studies also indicated that there is a strong relationship between the patient's future intentions about the service provider related to the dimensions of safety/reliability, assurance and empathy. Conclusion: Based on the review, it was possible to conclude that the quality perceived by patients is a multidimensional construct that varies according to each patient's expectations, and is related to factors such as age, education, socioeconomic level, lifestyle and previous experiences. Likewise, in order to improve the quality of health services and their evaluations, it is recommended to incorporate the point of view of health professionals and administrators together with the patients' evaluations to obtain an integrated vision of the service and achieve the desired quality. With respect to the use of the SERVQUAL model in the measurement of the quality of health services, it is recommended to modify it, adding or combining dimensions that allow adapting the model to situations of specific evaluations of the institution or service offered.