Differentiation strategies to increase quality in healthcare institutions in Tabasco

Abstract

Public health is a determining factor in the wealth of nations in the 21st century. Despite the importance of health, to date, no studies reflecting the characteristics of users of different hospitals and clinics in the public sector have been found in the state of Tabasco. The Mexican government has generated the Comprehensive Health Quality System Program to measure the quality of services.

Objective: To measure the quality of service offered in the healthcare sector.

Materials and Methods: This is an exploratory study focusing on a relatively unexplored topic from a marketing perspective in the state of Tabasco. We refer to hospitals and clinics in the public sector that cater to 364,055 beneficiaries in Villahermosa. The resulting sample size was 755, with the final questionnaire applied to 930 respondents. Data capture and processing were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21. The study identified two aspects: firstly, the general characteristics of the patients, and secondly, service quality evaluated through the SERVQUAL model.

Results: The majority of patients have a bachelor's degree, and more than 50% are between 26 and 45 years old. Inefficiency of personnel, failure to deliver documents and process requests on time, and user dissatisfaction with the received service are the main deficiencies identified in explaining good service quality.

Conclusions: Product and differentiation strategies are proposed to achieve this quality and thereby fulfill the mission of such institutions.