title: Comparing public and private hospital care service quality in Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this article is to examine the differences in service quality between public and private hospitals in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study applies the principles behind the SERVQUAL model and compares Turkey's public and private hospital care service quality. The study sample contains a total of 200 outpatients. Through the identification of 40 service quality indicators and the use of a Likert-type scale, two questionnaires containing 80-items was developed. The former measured patients' expectations prior to admission to public and private hospital service quality. The latter measured patient perceptions of provided service quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicate that inpatients in the private hospitals were more satisfied with service quality than those in the public hospitals. The results also suggest that inpatients in the private hospitals were more satisfied with doctors, nurses and supportive services than their counterparts in the public hospitals. Finally, the results show that satisfaction with doctors and reasonable costs is the biggest determinants of service quality in the public hospitals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consequently, SERVQUAL, as a standard instrument for measuring functional service quality, is reliable and valid in a hospital environment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. tolga.taner@boun.edu.tr
authors.forename: Tolga
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taner
authors.forename: Jiju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Antony
mesh_terms: D006777:Hospitals, Proprietary; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey