title: The impact of service quality perception on patient satisfaction in government hospitals in southern Saudi Arabia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the impact of service quality perception on patient satisfaction and determine  which dimension from 5 dimensions (tangible, reliability, responsive, assurance, and empathy) has the greatest impact on patient satisfaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 183 eligible patients participated in this study. This study was conducted in Al-Baha province, Saudi Arabia from June 2013 to August 2013. We utilized the cross-sectional method, using a modified Assessment of Service Quality questionnaire to collect the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To test the study hypothesis, multiple regression analysis was carried out. Analysis of variance revealed that the overall result showed a statistically significant impact of health service quality on patient satisfaction (p=0.000). The beta-weights (beta) suggested that the empathy dimension had the greatest influence on patient satisfaction (beta=0.476), followed by tangible (beta=0.198) and responsiveness dimensions (beta=0.164).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patient satisfaction was influenced by health service quality, with the empathy dimension as the greatest influence on patient satisfaction. Therefore, it should be considered a priority by government hospitals to train doctors in interpersonal relationship skills to enhance the doctor-patient relationship.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Financial and Administrative Sciences, Business Administration Department, Al-Baha University, Al-Baha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tel. +966 (17) 7274111. Fax +966 (17) 7274264. E-mail. farissg@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Faris S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Alghamdi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010465:Perception; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult