Factors influencing customers' satisfaction with health-care services: a case of private medical practices in Thulamela Local Municipality

Abstract

Health care services are vital to the nation, and the improved quality of care is the foundation of every progressive country. In particular, the private health care industry in South Africa has become more competitive, making customers to have a wide range of selection of providers to choose from when seeking for medical health services. It is thus important that private medical care service providers be more responsive to their patients’ needs and preferences for creating satisfied loyal customers. The purpose of this article is to understand factors that affect quality service delivery and customer perceptions in the private medical sector and thereby propose strategic intervention that private medical practitioners can adopt to improve services level provision for customers’ satisfaction. The research study focuses on determining factors that influence customers' satisfaction with private healthcare services in the Thulamela Local Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa; and also, to investigate the relationship between patient attributes and the factors that influence customer satisfaction. Analysis of the quality health care services from the patients’ viewpoint has beneficial implications for private health care services sector. In the study conducted, a philosophical approach adopted was positivism perspective in line with the quantitative method. The target population included all patients visiting the private health care service providers in the Thulamela district municipality of Limpopo, South Africa. A total of 242 customers (patients) were selected using a convenience sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and the analytical tools included the descriptive analysis method. The study concludes that quality service and customer satisfaction are influenced by various determining primary factors including medical practice surrounding, receptionist’s conduct and medical doctor competencies. Further, the private medical practitioners operating in the rural areas in particular need to take cognisant of those factors that affect customer satisfaction in order to effect required changes for customer service improvement and satisfaction