Quality Based on a Spatial SERVQUAL Model in Healthcare
The main purpose of this work is to represent an alternative effective model for measuring the quality of healthcare (SERVQUAL) considering the geographical location of the under examination healthcare sectors. Based on that consideration, a new modeling is taking place introducing a spatial interaction between neighboring regions (spatial-SERVQUAL model). New directions are analyzed implementing specific questionnaires taking advantage of the spatial information given by the evaluation of the model. Moreover the role of spatial information in the health sector in relation to, for example, local health improvement performance management, is analyzed to support needs assessment and resource targeting as one of the principal action points in healthcare policies. Finally, the benefits of the GIS systems are illustrated, combined with the spatial assumptions, introducing a real-time health and disease monitoring tool to identify significant health trends in real-time data streams and geographic information systems.