The barriers of clinical governance implementation in Khozestan province hospitals

Identification and removal of the barriers of putting clinical governance into practice facilitate its successful implementation. This study aimed to identify the barriers of clinical governance implementation in Khozestan province hospitals in 2014.
A valid and reliable questionnaire was used for conducting this descriptive cross-sectional study. The questionnaire assessed five issues including managerial, cultural, human resource, procedural, and structural barriers of clinical governance. Questionnaires were completed by clinical governance officers in 40 hospitals of Khuzestan province. All statistical analyses )descriptive and analytical( were done using SPSS. Ethical issues such as informed consent, confidentiality of information and researchers’ objectivity were all considered.
The mean score of clinical governance implementation barriers in studied hospitals was 2.92 out of 5. Structural and managerial barriers were respectively the most and least barriers of clinical governance implementation. Lack of doctors’ involvement in clinical governance, insufficient financial resources for implementing clinical governance and the bureaucracy involved in clinical governance had created the greatest obstacle in implementing clinical governance.
Hospital managers should overcome the barriers of quality management techniques such as clinical governance before implementing these techniques. In addition, they have to create an appropriate structure and organizational culture in order to facilitate the successful implementation of clinical governance. Besides, health policy makers should develop an appropriate clinical governance model considering the structure and organizational culture of the hospitals.