HEALTH SERVICE QUALITY PERCEPTION IN THE CITY OF ARICA, CHILE: TOWARDS AN IMPROVEMENT PLAN

In the present study an exploratory and descriptive research is carried out, whose main objective is to evaluate the quality perception of the service delivered by the Dr. Juan Noe Crevani Regional Hospital and the five Family Health Centers in the city of Arica, Chile. The Servperf model methodology was used, through the design survey with five dimensions: tangible elements, reliability, responsiveness, security and empathy. This survey was applied in a demographically and geographically balanced fashion throughout the city of Arica. In addition to a measurement mechanism with objective and valid construction, the results obtained in this paper can be used to develop an updated diagnosis of the public health of this city, uncovering the main capacities and aspects to be improved. Results show that the dimension with the highest degree of satisfaction was the one related to the tangible elements and that perceived as the most unfavorable was reliability. This reflects the distrust of people in the city regarding what the service promises.