Chongqing hospital patients report improved healthcare quality
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Researchers surveyed 855 inpatients at six county-level public hospitals in Chongqing, China, in 2019, 2021, and 2025 to measure changes in their views of smart healthcare services.
They used a questionnaire based on the SERVQUAL model to assess patient expectations and perceptions across six areas, reliability, assurance, responsiveness, economic factors, empathy, and tangible aspects of care, and then calculated service quality scores.
The study found that the difference between what patients expected and what they perceived improved from a mean gap of -0.72 in 2019 to -0.46 in 2025. Patients reported significant improvements in five of the six service dimensions between 2019 and 2025, including assurance, reliability, tangible qualities, responsiveness, and empathy. However, the economic dimension, covering cost and value, showed a smaller change and wasn’t statistically significant across the study years.
The researchers also discovered that service quality scores varied depending on the patient’s age, education level, income, and where they lived. Specifically, older patients (60 or older) and those with a bachelor’s degree or higher tended to report lower scores. The study suggests hospitals should continue investing in technology, share diagnostic results between institutions, and develop smart healthcare services suited to different patient groups.
