Adapting the Servqual Scale to Primary Health Care Services in Spain

Patients' perceptions about health services seem to have been largely ignored by health care providers in developing countries. That such perceptions, especially about service quality, might shape confidence and subsequent behaviours with regard to choice and usage of the available health care facilities is reflected in the fact that many patients avoid the system or avail it only as a measure of last resort. Through the use of HEALTHQUAL scale adapted from SERVQUAL scale in the context of primary health care centers, we measure the perceptions service quality, both by the users and the health center managers in Spain. With this information, it was possible to calculate de size of Gap 6, proposed by Lewis, of discrepancy among the customers' perceptions and the perceptions of health center managers. Using factor analysis and multiple regressions, significant associations were found between the service quality dimensions and patient satisfaction. Implications and future research issues are discussed.