Effects of management practices on hospital outcomes in Kenya

Abstract

Management in hospitals just like any other organization is very important as nothing moves without it. Kenyan public hospitals have not been doing well in their service delivery and the management’s role in hospital performance has not been evident.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of hospital management practices on hospital outcomes Design: The study employed a mixed method research design where both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from all the 25 hospitals in central Kenya. The qualitative data was analysed thematically while quantitative data was analysed statistically.

Setting: 25 hospitals in central Kenya.

Subjects: Patients, next of kin, health workers and hospital managers. Interventions: There was no intervention measures taken.

Results: The study identified eleven management practices in Kenya public hospitals with regular supervision being practiced widely. The results further showed that hospitals practicing motivation and inspiration of staff, effective communication, delegation, work plan, work plan implementation and, staff empowerment had an increase in total live births. At the same time the results also indicate that hospitals that practiced empowerment, delegation and managers residing in hospitals had a reduction in fresh still births. All management practices identified in this study improved overall inpatient and outpatient satisfaction though not statistically significant.

Conclusion: This study concluded that better management of hospitals translates to improved hospital outcomes and general health improvement of population served. This results in reduction of fresh still births, increase in total live births, and overall satisfaction in both inpatient and outpatient services.