Applying a Qualitative Approach in Designing the Model of Business Sustainability of Hospitals and Medical Centers

Little attention to sustainability in business, particularly in the healthcare sector, together with the absence of a model within acceptable limits for this purpose, were among the main objectives to design a business sustainability model for healthcare facilities (viz., hospitals and medical centers) in the present study.

The qualitative meta-synthesis approach was implemented in this study, and the most significant factors shaping sustainability in business were identified. The statistical population included the articles, books, and research reports published and retrieved from the reliable journals and databases, between 2002 and 2021. Moreover, the experts, i.e., the university professors and specialists involved in healthcare at Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran, were consulted. At this stage, snowball sampling was done based on the model proposed by Sandelowski and Barroso, until theoretical saturation was reached. In total, 26 articles were selected and finalized for the meta-synthesis. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) was correspondingly utilized to assess the quality of the study samples, and Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ) was employed to measure the validity of the extracted codes.

The study findings demonstrated that the business sustainability model for the healthcare sector comprised of 3 categories (viz. environmental, social, and economic), 12 concepts, and 65 codes, with a very goodness of fit.

In sum, business sustainability in healthcare facilities could be achieved if all environmental, social, and economic components developed in the give model as well as the effective indicators within each category were taken into account.