Evaluation of the Realization of the Management and Leadership Axis in the National Accreditation Standards Program in Shiraz Hospitals, Iran, 2017

Introduction: Accreditation is one of the standard assessment systems in hospitals used for its importance, efficiency, and critical role in improving health care services. According to the statistics, one of the primary accreditation axes is the management and leadership axis. Considering the close relationship between management and clinical issues in hospitals, this study aimed to evaluate the realization of the management and leadership unit in Shiraz hospitals. Methods: The research population in this applied field study included 33 public and private hospitals in Shiraz (i.e., charitable, military, and affiliated hospitals). According to the Ministry of Health’s announced checklist, all data were gathered from the hospital accreditation program during 2017 (the latest overall accreditation) completed by trained assessors. The accreditation certificate was issued. All data regarding Shiraz hospitals were collected from the accreditation portfolio of hospitals after obtaining the required permits. Data were analyzed in inferential levels, using SPSS25 software. Results: The study results demonstrated that the average percentage of realizing the subaxes of the governing team, executive management team, quality improvement, error management, disaster risk, and human resources management in public hospitals was higher than that of the private and affiliated ones. The average percentage of realization of the subaxes’ supply and accommodation management and food management increased in private hospitals compared to the public ones. Conclusion: The results showed that the average achievement percentage of six sub-axes was higher in public hospitals than the private and affiliated ones. Therefore, it reveals that public hospitals have paid more attention to infrastructural issues while working on the leadership axis than the other hospital types. The higher achievement percentage is necessary to deliver better service to patients. The public hospitals manifested a better performance in meeting the standards of this axis. The study conducted on these criteria showed that infrastructural issues were more considered while being developed. Meanwhile, there is a need to pay more attention to the promotion of the processes as well as infrastructural matters to improve the level of safety and the services provided to patients.