This study seeks to understand the potential impact of outsourcing on healthcare processes. By referring to a wider scope of industries and sectors, as they have been the experimental fields of most of the studies on outsourcing, we highlight the pros and cons of the externalization of activities related to patient care. Our purpose is to show and contextualize the (yet) ambiguous effects of relying on external partners in delivering services related to the health of patients. We argue that the seek for efficiency might sometimes hinder the global outcome of care; further we state that given the peculiar nature of the healthcare, outsourcing needs to be used within a wider strategic analysis of the activities. This study starts with a review of the literature on outsourcing strategies applied to healthcare sector and it also proposes an analytical model for decision-making. The main conclusion is that healthcare organizations should set up proper mechanisms for the governance of the overall transactions related to outsourcing in order to extend the span of control over the external providers as long as the effectiveness and the efficacy of the general outcome is not compromised. Both private and public health providers could benefit from a more reliable model for deciding on the span of their activities that can be outsourced.

Caring more by doing less? An enquiry about the impacts of outsourcing on patient care / Brunetta, Federica; Giustiniano, Luca; Lucia, Marchegiani. - In: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES. - ISSN 1546-9239. - 11:2(2014), pp. 273-279. [10.3844/ajassp.2014.273.279]

Caring more by doing less? An enquiry about the impacts of outsourcing on patient care

BRUNETTA, FEDERICA;GIUSTINIANO, LUCA;
2014

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the potential impact of outsourcing on healthcare processes. By referring to a wider scope of industries and sectors, as they have been the experimental fields of most of the studies on outsourcing, we highlight the pros and cons of the externalization of activities related to patient care. Our purpose is to show and contextualize the (yet) ambiguous effects of relying on external partners in delivering services related to the health of patients. We argue that the seek for efficiency might sometimes hinder the global outcome of care; further we state that given the peculiar nature of the healthcare, outsourcing needs to be used within a wider strategic analysis of the activities. This study starts with a review of the literature on outsourcing strategies applied to healthcare sector and it also proposes an analytical model for decision-making. The main conclusion is that healthcare organizations should set up proper mechanisms for the governance of the overall transactions related to outsourcing in order to extend the span of control over the external providers as long as the effectiveness and the efficacy of the general outcome is not compromised. Both private and public health providers could benefit from a more reliable model for deciding on the span of their activities that can be outsourced.
2014
Outsourcing, Externalization, Patient care
Caring more by doing less? An enquiry about the impacts of outsourcing on patient care / Brunetta, Federica; Giustiniano, Luca; Lucia, Marchegiani. - In: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES. - ISSN 1546-9239. - 11:2(2014), pp. 273-279. [10.3844/ajassp.2014.273.279]
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
PDF_ajassp.2014.273.279.pdf

Open Access

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: DRM (Digital rights management) non definiti
Dimensione 140.56 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
140.56 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11385/83109
Citazioni
  • Scopus 4
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact