Quality award dimensions: a strategic instrument for measuring health service quality

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe research which compared quality awards and the selection of criteria for assessing health care processes quality status, in private sector health care institutions in India.

Design/methodology/approach

A comparison of quality awards was performed and criteria were selected for assessing health care processes quality status. The relationships in the model, as measured by the instrument, was the work's main objective. Using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, European Foundation for Quality Management and Kanji Business Excellence Model, common factors were extracted to measure the quality perceptions of health care organizations and to measure the relationships among the quality dimensions. The sample selected for this study comprised healthcare stakeholders.

Findings

As a result of respondents' knowledge, data provide unique insights into the relationships among the dimensions that compose quality in healthcare organizations. Principal component analysis was used to identify relationships among service quality dimensions in the developed quality framework. Specifically, the relationship between leadership, resource measurement, people management, process management and customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

The research shows that developing a measurement instrument is an important step in assessing an organisation's actual or perception of quality and assessing customer's perception is one way to improve service quality.

Citation

Palani Natha Raja, M., Deshmukh, S.G. and Wadhwa, S. (2007), "Quality award dimensions: a strategic instrument for measuring health service quality", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 363-378. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526860710763299