COVID-19 control management in central corona hospitals using SWOT and QSPM matrices: A case study in Kashan central hospitals

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have been the most important centers for the virus spread. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the management of infection control in central corona hospitals in Kashan using the quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) matrix. Methods: The existing documents studied the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization identified by environmental health experts. The internal and external factors were identified as internal factor evaluation (IFE) and external factor evaluation (EFE) matrices, respectively, then, prioritized and weighted. In the next step, the SWOT matrix was formed and the type of used strategy by the organization was determined, and solutions to improve the current situation were presented by experts. Finally, the attractiveness table was compiled and weighted using the QSPM method to prioritize the proposed strategies. Results: After identifying 25 strengths, 28 weaknesses, 15 opportunities, and 13 threats, weighting was performed, the final score for internal and external factors was 2.6475 and 2.3825, respectively. The final strategy for implementing COVID-19 disease control in the studied hospitals was the Conservative Strategy (WO). Based on this, six control strategies were presented. The priority and attractiveness of each strategy were evaluated using the QSPM matrix. Finally, the strategy of "structuring the system and providing and upgrading the equipment and infrastructure facilities" was implemented as a priority. Conclusion: According to the results, the combination of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and QSPM methods can play an efficient role in identifying and evaluating the factors affecting the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in hospitals and further developing and prioritizing control strategies for this infectious disease.