Patients’ Zone of Tolerance in The Service Process and Service Quality at A Multi-Specialty Hospital

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study is to examine patients’ Zone of Tolerance by measuring the gap between perceived and expected service quality and the waiting time to complete the service process during the provision of Master Health Checkups (MHC). Method: Service Quality was tested by using a questionnaire among patients who underwent an MHC in a multi-speciality hospital, in Chennai, India. The observation checklist was used to measure the waiting time. Results: The F test results revealed that demographic factors may affect the zone of tolerance. The empathy of health care professionals may affect qualified and employed groups’ Zone of Tolerance. The patients who were dissatisfied with time were satisfied and delighted with overall services. Conclusion: Patients who come for MHC will have certain expectations. The mean score results indicate that patients are delighted with the empathy of healthcare professionals during the test procedure patients' weighting time was highlighted as the main problem of many patients, which needs to be fixed but the customer perceived opinion on overall services may compensate for the time issue. If healthcare professionals and management can adhere to patients' expectations, the organization will be able to satisfy them, and if they go above and beyond, they will be able to delight them.