Laboratories Performance after Outsourcing in the Hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Background and Objective: Nowadays, downsizing the government to have aneffective and flexible organization is considered to be government’s top priority inthe world and outsourcing is one of the ways to achieve this goal. Accordingly,Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences has delegated some of itshospitals' duties to the private sectors. The present study has been carried out toassess the performance of outsourced clinical laboratories.Material and Methods: This Descriptive Evaluation study was carried out during6 month (May 2011 till February 2012). The data was collected by twoquestionnaires with close-ended questions and one with open-ended questions, andanalyzed by Wilcoxon, using SPSS software.Results: There is an improvement in outsourcing laboratory services. Forexample, increase in the number of tests (32%) and in the type of tests (37%).Consequently, increase of hospital income (51%). The number of personnel isdecreased and their responsibility and behavior are improved.Conclusion: Overall, it seems that outsourcing laboratory program could achieveits major goals such as: Absorbing non-governmental resources in bothadministrative and financial aspects, omitting extra expenditure, acquiringbenefits, and upgrading productivity of laboratories.Keywords: Outsourcing; Laboratory; Performance