Factors Associated with Outsourcing Support Services by General Hospitals in Uganda

Results: Majority (59%) of hospitals surveyed were rural; 41% were urban. More than half (n=23; 72%) reported to be outsourcing at least one support service. There was a significant difference in the proportion of rural and urban hospitals outsourcing and those not outsourcing (p=0.0033). While outsourcing, rural hospitals were more likely to report challenges with the availability of vendors (p= 0.0152); urban hospitals were more likely to report challenges with contractual issues (p=0.0056). Ministry of Health owned hospitals were more likely to report political interference in the outsourcing process (p= 0.0065). Rural hospitals were more likely to monitor the continued need for outsourcing compared to their urban counterparts (p=0.0358). We found no significant differences (p>0.05) in the hospital managers’ perceptions about the benefits of outsourcing, outsourcing risks, characteristics of services that need to be outsourced and outsourcing barriers among outsourcing and non-outsourcing hospitals.