title: Outsourcing in public hospitals: a Greek perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent of outsourcing, the decision-making process, the impact of outsourcing, and the future trend of outsourcing in public hospitals in Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey instrument was designed and mailed to a random sample of 100 public hospitals in Greece and 43 usable questionnaires were received, representing a response rate of 43 percent. The survey instrument focused on the extent to which public hospitals outsource services, the decision-making process for choosing an external service provider, the impact of outsourcing, and the future trend of outsourcing in public healthcare organisations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Public hospitals in Greece outsource a variety of activities. Cost savings and customer satisfaction are the main factors affecting the outsourcing decision. The cooperation with a contract service provider has led to significant improvement in service quality levels. Most users are satisfied with the performance of these companies and believe that there will be an increase in the usage of these services in the future.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It provides a decision-making framework regarding outsourcing in public healthcare organisations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This research fills the gap in the area of outsourcing in public hospitals in Greece.
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Management and Technology, University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece. smosx@unipi.gr
authors.forename: Socrates J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Moschuris
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Kondylis
mesh_terms: D006115:Greece; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020416:Outsourced Services