An assessment of agility in selected hospitals of Mazandaran province, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Evaluating agility effectively and efficiently is necessary and challenging for organizations. Therefore, this article aimed to assess the performance of hospitals with organizational agility (OA) approach. Materials and methods: A descriptive-analytical study was done in which the statistical population consisted of managers and experts of hospital courses including medicine, nursing, midwifery, and paramedics. A total of 283 managers and experts were enrolled as the sample using the Krejcie and Morgan table with stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed using one-sample t test with SPSS20. Results: Among 13 elements of agility, the results showed that competence (P=0.032) had a significant difference with customer satisfaction (P=0.029). The results also showed that OA was not optimal in selected hospitals of Mazandaran province, Iran. Concerning the indicators, introduction of new product (8.56) and staff skill development indicator (5.32) were maximum and minimum, respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that OA was not optimal in selected hospitals. Introduction of new product scored the top, while staff skill development was the lowest. As a result, health policy makers are recommended to plan for customer satisfaction, timely utilization of facilities, elimination of weak points, lost cost reduction, encouragement and punishment system for staff, and staff empowerment.