A dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Corporate Management (MBA-CM) of Mzumbe University.
The link between customer satisfaction and services quality perception in the private healthcare organizations and how they affect each other has recently become a common phenomenon in the international debates on the healthcare development. Today's busy yet well-informed customers demand a health care system that accommodates their busy schedules, providing them with useful information and involving them in decision-making.
The general objective of the study was to measure the quality of healthcare service and customer satisfaction in private healthcare organizations with a case study of AAR Healthcare Tanzania. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection. Data were collected by using self administered questionnaires, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and documentary review.
A total of 193 respondents were interviewed in this study for quantitative data; out of which 145 (75.13%) respondents were customers and 48 (24.87 %) respondents were heath care workers at AAR Healthcare clinics. During qualitative data collection, 42 (87.50 %) out of 48 healthcare workers at AAR were involved in Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and In Depth Interviews (IDs).
From the findings, it was noted that 87.50% of AAR health care workers have college education which gives them an opportunity to a wider knowledge on their technical know-how in managing their customers. About 75% of AAR staffs have attended customer service training and this was complemented by 87.59% patients who reported to be satisfied by the quality of service given by AAR Health centres.
Results from this study showed that 82.07% of the customers commented that there is a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Because perception is reality therefore it was important to know what the customers perceive quality in relation to customer satisfaction.