病患與醫師對服務品質認知差異探討

Discrepancy of Service Quality Perception between Patients and Physicians

本研究以紮根理論為基礎，目的在探討病患重視的服務品質構面，並與醫師認知病患重視的服務品質構面相比較，本研究的重要性在於從病患的就醫經驗建構服務品質構面，並從醫師的觀點來闡述病患的就醫經驗，和國內以往的研究方式不同。
以重要事件分析法分別從醫師及病患觀點來探討病患重視的服務品質構面，病患的資料來源為96-100年五年間，南部某區域醫院病患對醫師的抱怨及讚美事件共577件，包括350個抱怨事件及227個讚美事件，這些抱怨及讚美事件是經由院內意見信箱、電話、電子郵件或傳真來投訴或感謝，並由行政人員記錄下來成為書面資料；並另對41位同一醫院內的醫師進行訪談，共收集了132個重要事件，包括54個抱怨及78個讚美事件，來歸納出醫師認為病患重視的服務需求。
由醫師及病患的資料共歸納出八個主要服務品質的構面：專業、效率、親切、尊重、耐心、負責、價值及倫理道德，但醫師所認知病患重視的服務品質構面及病患本身所顯示的服務品質構面大多一致，但在重要性認知上有差距。
本研究結果在醫院服務品質的理論文獻上有新的貢獻，有些病患重視的服務品質構面還未被其他研究報告過，這些構面也可作為醫院管理者訂定服務品質策略的參考，且讓醫師更了解病患的需求。

In this study we set out to identify the service quality dimensions relevant to patients and then compare these dimensions with what physicians believe is critical to the patients’ service experience by grounded theory. This study is important in revealing the dimensions patients construct around the service experience. It also reveals novel insights about the way physicians’ interpret the patients’ experience.
The critical incident technique (CIT) was used to explore the dimensions of professional service quality from physicians’ and patients’ perspectives. Data were collected as 557 complaint and compliment incidents reported by patients through email, letters, fax and phone calls regarding physicians’ service quality from 2007-2011 at a regional hospital in Taiwan. Forty-one physicians in the same regional hospital were interviewed to collect 132 critical incidents as 54 complaints and 78 compliments and draw forth the major dimensions physicians considered as critical for patients.
We find a total of eight service quality dimensions as professional, efficiency,chin-chieh, respect, patience, responsibility, value and ethics. Both patients and physicians report a similar understanding of the dimensions relevant to service quality. Discrepancies exist, however, in the ranking, subcategories and definition of the (dis) satisfactory dimensions between patients and physicians.
These findings offer new contributions to the theoretical literature on service quality in hospitals. The dimensions reported here have not, as yet, been reported in the literature on patient service quality. The findings can also be used by managers to provide empirical insights about service quality performance in a way that helps hospitals adopt improvement strategies to have the physician understand patientoriented demand and avoid negative situations which may make patients dissatisfied.