Purpose
This article studies the customer’s purchase intention to choose healthcare services in the post-COVID-19 situation. The authors have used the most prominent SERVQUAL model to assess the service quality offered to patients and each variable’s influence on customer intent to purchase healthcare services.

Design/methodology/approach
Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, hospital image and customer purchase intention are the variables considered for this study. Data have been collected from customers who have recently experienced services in different hospitals. Standardized statements of the SERVQUAL model and purchase intention were adapted and modified as per the requirements of the constructs. Out of 271 filled questionnaires, the authors have undertaken the data cleaning process to circumvent any kind of biasness; finally the authors have considered 225 questionnaires to conduct this research work.

Findings
This study’s findings indicate significant and positive relationships between service quality, hospital image and customer purchase intention to choose hospital services. Additionally, the mediating role of hospital image was confirmed in all four hypotheses.

Practical implications
The results of this study provide practitioners with valuable insights and guidance for developing effective strategies for providing better services to patients.

Originality/value
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to check the validity and reliability of all the constructs. Due to the high correlation between tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy, authors have created a second-order construct, i.e. service quality. Authors have also used structural equation modeling (SEM) to inspect the associations between different constructs. Authors have measured the mediating role of hospital image between the relationship of all the service quality dimensions and customer purchase intention.