A Study of the Status Before and After Outsourced Pharmacies of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2014: A Short Report

Outsourcing is one of the strategic concepts for improving the quality of service and reducing costs, especially in the units of profitability such as pharmacy. The aim of this study was to investigate the status before and after the outsourced pharmacies in the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.
In this cross-sectional study, conducted from the perspective of the public sector in 2014, 9 final indicators were extracted using previous studies and Delphi technique to examine the status of outsourcing. All outsourced pharmacies, including 5 pharmacies during the period of 2008-2010 were considered for economic indicators, access to services, and quality indicators. The results were reported as descriptive statistics (number and percentage).
After outsourcing, in all pharmacies except for one, the losses for the public sector declined and the amount of profits and the number of personnel increased. The number of clients increased after outsourcing for all units. Also, the average levels of patients’ satisfaction and employer’s satisfaction from contractor were 73.2% and 60%, respectively.
According to the results, outsourcing health services for leased pharmacies has been an effective successful strategy, so that most of the units have been associated with increased profits and improved access indicators. It is recommended that the health system managers and policymakers consider the outsourcing mechanism as a corrective strategy in the health system.