Designing a Multi-criteria Decision-making Framework for Selecting Wards and Units in Public Hospitals: A Case of Shiraz Zeinabieh Hospitals

Outsourcing in healthcare services is becoming a significant and popular strategy. Paying more attention to the essential activities and poor performance of internal departments is one of the most important reasons, causing the organizations to outsource their activities. This study seeks to propose an effective outsourcing model using fuzzy MCDM methods in Zeinabieh Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. In this research, the mixed methodology was used. In the first stage, all of the criteria affecting the outsourcing of the wards and units in the hospital were identified though a literature review and with reference to the opinions of the experts in the hospital. In the second stage, these criteria were finalized using content validity ratio (CVR) and the fuzzy best-worst method (BWM). Finally, the selected wards and units were identified and prioritized through fuzzy VIKOR method. The results showed that seven criteria constituted the final model of outsourcing in Zeinabieh Hospital wards/units: strategy, management, economic aspects, quality, security and protection of information of patients and related centers, service, and agility. The fuzzy BWM analysis showed that the “economic aspects” had the highest priority in outsourcing-related decision-making, and according to the fuzzy VIKOR analysis, among all the wards and units, the clinic showed the highest priority. Making decisions about outsourcing in hospital services is a complex and multi-criteria problem. Therefore, different factors must be considered in the process of outsourcing hospital wards and units. This study proposed a model that could efficiently and effectively facilitate the process of outsourcing of hospital wards and units.