Effective Factors of the Entrepreneurship Development in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences: A qualitative study

Background: Promotion and institutionalization of the entrepreneurial culture in the health system is one of the most important components of entrepreneurship development and economic success of countries. Thus, the present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the factors affecting the development of entrepreneurship in the health area, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2017. Methods: This applied qualitative study was conducted in 2017. First, 10 health experts in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were selected using semi-structured interviews based on the purposeful sampling method. The Delphi method was used to prioritize the factors. To analyze the qualitative data, the framework analysis method of Max QDA 10 software was used. Furthermore, descriptive statistics were used by SPSS 22 for analyzing the Delphi phase data. Results: In the initial phase, 3 themes (contextualizing, operational, consolidation and institutionalization) and 15 classes were extracted. Then, in the Delphi phase, 12 factors were determined as the effective factors on the entrepreneurship development in the health area. The most important factors in the development of entrepreneurship included empowerment of work forces, customers and stakeholders, as well as attracting internal and external capitals for initiating business with a mean of 4.73. Conclusion: In strategies of entrepreneurship development in the health area, policymakers are recommended to base their measures and decisions on differentiating the identified factors. In other words, this differentiation improves the entrepreneurship opportunities and outcomes based on the environmental conditions and current resources.