Exploring the Gap between the Perceived and Expected Quality Levels of the Health Care Services Provided by Jordanian Dental Clinics

Abstract

The present paper aimed at exploring the gap between the perceived and expected quality levels of the health care services provided by Jordanian dental clinics. In order to fulfill the study’s objective, the researcher of the present study developed a questionnaire that adopts the five-point Likert scale and the SERVQUAL model. The questionnaire contains dimensions for service quality: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The questionnaire forms were distributed to (250) customers who have received health care services from Jordanian dental clinics. However, (194) questionnaire forms were collected. That means that the response rate is 77.6%. The collected data were analyzed statistically by using the SPSS program. It was concluded that there is a negative gap between the expected and perceived quality levels of the health care services provided by Jordanian dental clinics and measured by the dimensions above jointly and separately. The expected quality level of those services is higher than the perceived one. It was concluded that the quality of such services is below the level required by customers. Future studies are suggested to be applied to other health organizations such as specialized clinics, military hospitals, and comprehensive health centers to benefit from the development of their health service.