Journal of health care marketing
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The authors describe a five-year continuous quality improvement program that monitors inpatient and outpatient satisfaction with emergency services offered by a multi-institutional health care system. The program provides managers with the information to develop detailed plans for service improvement and suggests ways to appraise performance and recognize personnel.
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The authors conducted a field experiment in which emergency-room patients of a metropolitan hospital were either given or not given an expected waiting time to see a physician. Patients were then surveyed through the mail on their satisfaction and perceptions of service quality. ⋯ In addition, satisfaction was independently influenced by whether patients' prior timeliness expectations were confirmed. The authors discuss the results in terms of the concept that the situational context of the service may influence the quality dimensions that most affect consumer satisfaction.