Identifying Key Drivers of Patient’s Satisfaction in Indian Leading Hospitals Using Online Reviews

Abstract

Patient satisfaction has become a critical benchmark for evaluating healthcare quality, influencing hospital reputation, patient retention, and long-term sustainability. In India, where healthcare delivery faces challenges of scale, resource disparities, and rising digital adoption, online reviews offer a valuable lens into authentic patient experiences. This study investigates the key drivers of patient satisfaction in leading Indian hospitals by analyzing 6,548 Google Maps reviews using text mining, co-occurrence analysis, and sentiment analysis. Frequency analysis revealed that terms such as doctor, treatment, patient, staff, and hospital dominate patient narratives, underscoring the centrality of clinical care and interpersonal interactions. Co-occurrence networks highlighted associations between medical processes, staff behavior, costs, and emotional dimensions of care, while sentiment analysis showed that 62% of reviews expressed positive experiences, particularly regarding treatment quality and staff responsiveness, whereas 38% reflected dissatisfaction linked to waiting times, administrative inefficiencies, and hospital management. By leveraging large-scale, user-generated data, this research addresses limitations of traditional survey-based approaches and demonstrates the utility of digital platforms in capturing real-time patient perceptions. The findings provide actionable insights for healthcare providers and policymakers to enhance service quality, strengthen patient-centered care, and improve overall satisfaction in India’s rapidly evolving healthcare sector.