Effect of Relationships’ Quality on Patients’ Loyalty in Selected State Hospitals

Background: Given the competitive environment prevailing in the market, service organizations are looking for loyal customers and hospitals are no exception. In the meantime, attention to relationships’ quality and establishment of long term relationships have an important role. The objective of the present study is to examine the effect of relationships’ quality on loyalty of patients in selected state hospitals. Methods: The present cross-sectional research was conducted in 2014 in selected state hospitals of Arak and Yazd. The population consisted of 160 patients in the selected hospitals. Simple random sampling was conducted to choose participants. Data were collected through two questionnaires; a part of Hon and Gruning’s measurement of relationships questionnaire with four dimensions (satisfaction, trust, commitment, and mutual control) and loyalty questions as a part of the Parasuraman et al.’s behavioral tendencies with one dimension (loyalty dimension). Data were analyzed with SPSS19 using Spearman correlation coefficient and regression. Results: Results from Spearman correlation indicated a positive and significant relationship between relationships quality and loyalty (r = 0.722, P-value = 0.001). In addition, results from regression indicated that 60% of the variance of patients’ loyalty is explained by satisfaction. Conclusion: Findings revealed that strategies to improve the quality of relationships with patients could lead to loyalty in patients.