PATIENTS' PERCEIVED QUALITY OF HEALTH INFORMATION SERVICE DELIVERY IN UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITALS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF NORTH-WEST AND NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

The health information management department is often the first and last point of contact between
patients and a teaching hospital, and the quality of its services shapes patients' experience of care.
This study compared patients' perceived quality of health information service delivery in university
teaching hospitals in North-West (NW) and North-Central (NC) Nigeria, using the geopolitical
zone as the unit of analysis. A comparative design based on secondary analysis of two matched
doctoral surveys conducted in 2022 was adopted. Both surveys used patients' ratings on the five
SERVQUAL dimensions (assurance, empathy, tangibles, responsiveness and reliability) on fourpoint scales, with 407 patients in six NW teaching hospitals and 350 patients in four NC teaching
hospitals. Between-zone differences were tested with Welch's t -test computed from summary
statistics, with Cohen's d as effect size. Patients in both zones rated service quality at a high level
(NW overall mean = 3.30; NC = 3.16), and assurance was the strongest dimension in both.
However, NW ratings were significantly higher on empathy (3.31 vs 3.08; t = 4.91, p < .001, d =
0.36), reliability (3.26 vs 3.13; p = .003), responsiveness (3.29 vs 3.17; p = .007) and tangibles
(3.30 vs 3.20; p = .021), but not on assurance (3.32 vs 3.25; p = .110). The weakest dimension
differed: reliability in NW and empathy in NC. Item-level comparison showed the largest gaps in
staff availability, attention to patients and understanding of patients' anxiety. The study concludes
that the security of records is a shared strength, while the interpersonal and timeliness aspects of
service vary between zones. It recommends customer-care training focused on empathy for health
Information professionals, especially in NC, and process improvements in record retrieval and
turnaround in both zones.