Investigation of Hospitals Management Challenges: A Qualitative Study in Shiraz Hospitals

Background: Hospital management has been faced with several challenges in the recent decades. Identification and elimination of these challenges lead to improvement of effectiveness and efficiency of hospital activities. This study aimed to determine hospital management challenges. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study using content analysis approach was conducted in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2014-2015. The study participants included educational hospitals’ managers, senior managers, faculty members, and post-graduate students of the University. In this regard, 24 subjects were selected by purposeful sampling. The data were collected using interviews and focus group discussions and were analyzed through content analysis. Results: The hospital management challenges were categorized into five themes, namely structure of the University, rules and guidelines, resources and facilities, weakness of educational courses, and macro polices. On the other hand, changing the culture and beliefs, restructuring, education, and empowerment were mentioned as strategies for eliminating the challenges. Conclusion: This study showed that the hospital managers were faced with structural challenges. Yet, these challenges could be decreased by increasing the relationship between hospitals and other centers, senior managers supporting hospital managers, empowerment of managerial culture, and clarification of hospital indices.