Exploring the Extent and Nature of Outsourcing in Public Hospitals Affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Measuring the extent and nature of outsourcing in public hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran was the aim of this study. In this cross-sectional applied study, we reviewed the relevant literature and interviewed with 5 experts to introduce various indices of measuring the extent and nature of outsourcing. We recommended 6 simple indices. The data was collected from 14 hospitals affiliated with TUMS in 2007. The extent of outsourcing in TUMS hospitals was 12% in average. Moreover, the private sector was in charge of 25% of employments. There were 124 contractual agreements between TUMS hospitals and other parties in 2007. A private institute was the other side of 90% of contracts. The other sides of 68% of contracts were recognized in a competitive space. However, 10% of the contracts had been revised during implementation. Although the extent of outsourcing was not considerable, the implementation process of outsourcing was acceptable.