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Volume 13 | Issue 8 | Year 2026 | Article Id. IJEMS-V13I8P103 | DOI : https://doi.org/10.14445/23939125/IJEMS-V13I8P103

Predicting Service Quality in Primary Healthcare Centres Using SERVQUAL Indicators: A Data-Driven Approach using CatBoost Machine Learning

Uma, A. Arulraj

Received Revised Accepted Published
21 Jun 2026 23 Jul 2026 15 Aug 2026 29 Aug 2026

Citation :

Uma, A. Arulraj, "Predicting Service Quality in Primary Healthcare Centres Using SERVQUAL Indicators: A Data-Driven Approach using CatBoost Machine Learning," International Journal of Economics and Management Studies, vol. 13, no. 8, pp. 25-34, 2026. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23939125/IJEMS-V13I8P103

Abstract

This study evaluates the Quality of Service (QoS) in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), which serve as the first point of contact for healthcare services in rural and urban areas. The research aims to identify key service quality dimensions influencing healthcare performance and patient perceptions in PHCs. Service quality was assessed using patient-reported indicators based on the SERVQUAL framework, which includes five dimensions: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Data collected from patient surveys were analysed using a CatBoost regression model to examine the relationship between service attributes and overall QoS. The model achieved strong predictive performance with R² = 0.856, RMSE = 0.027, and MAE = 0.021. The results indicate that SERVQUAL-based patient perceptions provide meaningful insights into service performance and can effectively support predictive evaluation of healthcare service quality in PHCs. The findings provide evidence for healthcare administrators and policymakers to improve service delivery by focusing on key service quality dimensions identified through data-driven analysis. The approach can support more efficient monitoring and improvement of healthcare services in resource-constrained environments. This study integrates SERVQUAL-based service quality assessment with machine learning techniques to provide a predictive framework for evaluating healthcare service performance in Primary Healthcare Centres.

Keywords

Quality of Service, Primary Healthcare Centres, SERVQUAL, CatBoost, Healthcare Analytics.

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