Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2097102
The impact of outsourcing operating theatre support services on hospital performances: the case of the largest university hospital of the Albania
Vieri Lastrucci
Alberto Romolini
Martina Giusti
Niccolò Persiani
Abstract
Hospitals in most of the countries in transition face the challenge to
raise efficiency in a rapidly evolving health sector. In this framework,
the Albanian Ministry of Health has outsourced the sterilization and
operating theatre support(SOTS) services of all the public hospitals.
The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of the outsourcing of
SOTS services on the productivity of the surgical services. A case
study analysis was conducted in the Country’s largest hospital.
Surgical activity data of all the surgical services were analyzed.
Furthermore, interviews with key stakeholders were conducted in
order to enable a more detailed exploration of the results.
Compared with the previous twelve months, a relevant increase in
the total number of surgical interventions performed by the hospital
was registered in the twelve months after the introduction of the
new organizational model (þ14%); this significant increase occurred
in almost all the surgical services. Results of the interviews highlighted
several organizational-, supply capacity-, and confidencerelated
determinants behind the productivity gains. These findings
have significant implications for poorly performant—but increasingly
competitive and evolving—hospital sectors of countries in
transition, in which the outsourcing of SOTS services may represent
a key tool for enhancing the productivity.
Keywords
Outsourcing; sterilization; operating theatre support services; productivity; efficiency; countries in transitions
Hrčak ID:
304223
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2023.
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