Service Quality and Patient Loyalty: Roles of Satisfaction and Customer Relationship Management

Abstract

Service quality is a key factor in enhancing patient satisfaction and loyalty toward hospital pharmacy services. In addition, the implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plays a role in building long-term relationships between patients and hospitals. This study aims to analyze the effect of service quality on patient loyalty at the Pharmacy Department of X Hospital in Surakarta, with patient satisfaction and the implementation of CRM serving as mediating variables. The study employed a quantitative design with a cross-sectional approach. A total of 240 respondents were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected via a questionnaire that had passed validity and reliability tests, then analyzed using Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA) based on estimated values and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). The results of the study indicate that service quality has a positive effect on patient loyalty (estimate = 0.272; 95% CI = 0.085–0.413) and patient satisfaction (estimate = 0.213; 95% CI = 0.083–0.389), and hurts CRM implementation (estimate = -0.135; 95% CI = -0.309 to -0.018). CRM (estimate = 0.200; 95% CI = 0.102–0.336) and patient satisfaction (estimate = 0.212; 95% CI = 0.055–0.348) have a positive effect on patient loyalty. Then, the mediation analysis revealed that patient satisfaction and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) did not mediate the relationship between service quality and patient loyalty, as all indirect effects had confidence intervals that included zero. Therefore, service quality exerted a direct contribution to patient loyalty.