Assessing physical spaces of hospitals affiliated to universities of medical sciences in Iran

Background: Proper site selection, number of manpower and their composition, physical space, optimal allocation of resources, active beds etcare the most important factors affecting the cost of current construction, income and other financial institutions in hospitals. Objective: This study assesses economic relationship between physical spaces and the hospital costs and determines hospital scale efficiency in selected hospitals across the country. Methods: This is a descriptive study which was conducted in 1386 in139 hospitals (out of 530) covered by the medical universities throughout the country. The sample hospitals selected and grouped based on a combination of factors such as be a teaching and non-teaching hospital, located in deprived and rich areas and also size of hospitals in terms of number of active beds. Information was collected using a questionnaire designed for the study and also through hospital websites. The collected Information included the number of employees, total hospital expenditures and income and information about the physical space of all wards in the hospitals. Findings: Out of total 650/4 hectares physical space of the hospitals, 240/5 hectares were developed (structured building), which 117/3 hectares allocated to treatment (clinical) and rest was administrative and supportive service. Conclusion: The results showed that the hospitals in the second and third groups had lower maintenance costs than the other groups, in a way that they could have more than 10.5% savings of scale through development of hospitals from first into third group.