Quality of Physician Service in Ahvaz Community Health Centers in 2016

Abstract

Introduction and purpose: The quality of service is an important factor in improving the satisfaction of clients referring to community health centers and the primary health care system. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of physician services of community health centers in Ahvaz, Iran, during 2016. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 patients referring to physicians at 14 community health centers. The participants were selected through a random sampling technique. Data were collected using Quality of Service questionnaire (Servqual), which evaluates the quality of services in five dimensions (22 questions). Results: In this study, 73% of the patients were female and the mean age was 32.8±8.6 years. The mean of the waiting time for the service was 11.09±10.8 min and the mean of visit time was 5.92±3.9 min. The findings showed that the most desirable aspect of the quality of the physician services was "assurance". The weakest aspect of quality was "responsiveness” dimension. Conclusion: Among the dimensions of service quality, responsiveness and tangibility need improvement. Health managers should strengthen these dimensions with effective interventions in order to increase patient satisfaction.

Keywords

• Community health centers
• Physician
• Service quality