Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of service quality and corporate image of Brazil's National Cancer Institute (INCA) on the satisfaction of its outpatients. Design/methodology/approach The study is quantitative, with data collected from a self-administered structured questionnaire answered by a sample of 434 outpatients of Hospital do Cancer I, the largest and oldest hospital operated by the INCA. The data were treated with covariance-based structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that the corporate image of the INCA was the main factor having a positive influence on the patients' satisfaction, followed by the quality of the services rendered by physicians and the quality of the hospital's facilities. Originality/value The study shows that unlike indicated by the theory, quality does not have a direct impact on satisfaction with the nursing services, but rather an indirect impact via corporate image. Even though part of the explanation can be the fact that only outpatients were surveyed, who have less interaction with the nursing team than do inpatients, this result shows the strength of the hospital's corporate image regarding patients' satisfaction. Besides this, the study identified that hospitals with a strong corporate image transmit to patients the perception that they are being treated by technically qualified professionals, thus increasing the chances of cure and reduced suffering. This is fundamental for patients' satisfaction, as most are unable to understand the technical attributes of the service. The study adds to the scarce Brazilian literature on the causal relation between the image of hospitals and their patients' satisfaction.
