An Assessment of the Attitudes of Medical Tourists toward the Quality of‏ ‏the ‎Services ‎Delivered by Hospitals in Shiraz, Iran, Using the SERVQUAL Model

Introduction: Medical tourism is one of the branches of the tourism industry and, due to its low cost vs. high ‎income, many countries seek to maximize their competitive resources in order to develop this ‎industry. Moreover, improving service quality is considered a key factor in gaining medical ‎tourists' satisfaction. In Iran, Shiraz is one of the main destinations of medical tourists; therefore, ‎the present study aimed to determine medical tourists' expectations and perceptions of the ‎quality of services provided by hospitals in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: The current study is an analytical,‎‏ ‏applied,‎‏ ‏and cross-sectional study which‏ ‏was carried out in ‎‎2013. The study population‏ ‏consisted of 200 medical tourists who referred to hospitals in Shiraz (Ordibehesht, Doctor Khodadoust, Pars, Madar and Koudak, and Markazi‏ ‏and Dena). In order ‎to‏ ‏collect‏ ‏information, an adaptation of the SERVQUAL questionnaire‏ ‏was used. The validity of ‎this questionnaire was approved by experts and its reliability was confirmed separately for ‎expectations and perceptions using Cronbach’s alpha (90% and 89%, respectively).‎‏ ‏Data‏ ‏were ‎analyzed‏ ‏using‏ ‏paired t-test in SPSS software. Results: The findings of this study showed negative gaps in all dimensions of quality. Overall quality gap ‎was estimated to be -0.38. The largest gap pertained to the dimension of reliability (-0.6) and‏ ‏the ‎smallest‏ ‏was related to‏ ‏the dimension of access‏ ‏ to‏ ‏care (-0.08). Conclusion: The present study showed that the‏ ‏quality of services‏ ‏did not‏ ‏correspond to medical tourists’ ‎expectations‏ ‏and needed improvement. Moreover, improving the reliability aspect of the services provided by hospitals can be an effective factor in increasing the satisfaction of medical tourists.