A qualitative study on performance strategies in private hospitals in Istanbul

Regardless of the type and structure of the activity, every business must effectively control its costs and income. Today, increasing demand for health services, developments in technology and service delivery increase the costs of health services. As a very important organization in a country's health service delivery system, hospitals play a critical role in the delivery of health services. In order to calculate costs in hospitals, it is of great importance to examine the elements that create costs. Especially private hospitals must determine and effectively implement performance management and the appropriate performance strategy in this context in order to achieve sustainable success in the face of increasing competition, changing health policies and developing technology. In this study, research was conducted on strategies such as financial performance, efficiency measures, employee performance, patient satisfaction and patient safety that affect the performance of hospitals. In this context, the phenomenological analysis method, one of the less studied qualitative research methods in the literature, was used. Qualitative research focuses on how individuals make sense of the world, how they experience their lives and the meanings they attribute to various phenomena. In this context, interviews were conducted with 7 participants who are managers in private hospitals in Istanbul, with the aim of examining their knowledge and experiences with questions prepared in advance, supported by literature and experts in the field. As a result of the study; it was seen that the findings and the studies in the literature have both common points and each manager has their own strategies. When evaluated in general, it can be stated that the factors used to measure the performance of hospitals cannot be evaluated only with financial performance. It is of great importance to carefully monitor how effective and efficient all processes from the patient's entrance to the hospital to his/her exit are.