title: Service quality and patient experiences of ambulatory care in a specialized clinic vs. a general hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Health care organizations are constantly looking for ways to establish a differential advantage to attract customers. To this end, service quality has become an important differentiator in the strategy of health care organizations. In this study, we compared the service quality and patient experience in an ambulatory care setting of a physician-owned specialized facility with that of a general hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comparative case study with a mixed method design was employed. Data were gathered through a survey on health service quality and patient experience, completed with observations, walkthroughs, and photographic material.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Service quality and patient experiences are high in both the investigated health care facilities. A significant distinction can be made between the two facilities in terms of interpersonal quality (p = 0.001) and environmental quality (P ≤ 0.001), in favor of the medical center. The difference in environmental quality is also indicated by the scores given by participants who had been in both facilities. Qualitative analysis showed higher administrative quality in the medical center. Environmental quality and patient experience can predict the interpersonal quality; for environmental quality, interpersonal quality and age are significant predictors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Service quality and patient experiences are high in both facilities. The medical center has higher service quality for interpersonal and environmental service quality and is more process-centered.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Service Management , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Regge
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Public Health , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: De Groote
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Public Health , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trybou
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Service Management , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gemmel
authors.affiliation: c Department of Cardiology , University Hospital Brussels , Brussels , Belgium.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brugada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Belgium; Case study; Focused factory; Hospitals; Service quality