The Obstacles of Outsourcing in Educational Hospitals: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Outsousing is a key strategy toward improving performance and financial system of hospitals. The aim of study was to determine the obstacles of outsourcing in university hospitals in Ahvaz City, Iran. Method: This qualitative study was performed to determine the obstacles of outsourcing in university hospitals affiliated with Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, in year ۲۰۱۶. Research population included all hospital managers, employees, and contracting experts. ۲۳ participants were selected as samples purposefully. Data were gathered and concluded using framework analysis method; and were analyzed using content analysis method. Results: The obstacles of outsourcing were extracted and reported in format of ۴ themes and ۱۶ subthemes. Main themes were as “legal obstacles”, “financial obstacles”, “organizational/structural obstacles”, and “managerial obstacles”. Moreover, participants mentioned the benefits of outsourcing as “increasing the quality of services”, “organizational downsizing”, and “increasing the profit”. Conclusion: The results of study showed that the hospitals’ outsourcing faced serious problems in legal, financial, organizational/structural, and managerial aspects. Identification of these problems could be useful in solving them.

Keywords:

Hospitals , Outsourced services , Contracts , qualitative research