Reliability is the most important of the five dimensions in any service organisation whereas this study shows that assurance is the most important dimension. This finding distinguishes hospital services from other service organisations that they have studied. One of the reasons for this is likely to be that, with many other service industries, there is very little human or personal contact with those delivering the service (e.g. Barclaycard or insurance companies). For hospital services, there is almost always a significant amount of personal involvement between patients when doctors/staff administer the treatment. Another reason for this is likely to be that patients would be very distressed if they were not informed of their medical condition or if they were not treated with dignity and respect. Also, they would expect their doctors/staff to be friendly and courteous and to possess a wide spectrum of knowledge. Thus, no wonder patients place a high value on the assurance dimension.
Tangibility is the least important of the five dimensions in any service organisation, as it is in this study.
Responsiveness, assurance and empathy were scored second, third and fourth respectively, whereas this study shows that responsiveness scored second, reliability were third and empathy fourth.