Lessons learnt from literature: Exploring outsourcing in rural hospitals and health services in Tasmania

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the literature exploring outsourcing, its principles and rationale and its application in rural hospitals and health services in Tasmania. While only a relatively small body of literature exists directly relating to the practice in hospitals and health services in Australia, literature related to workforce issues in rural areas represents a major body of research. Workforce issues in rural Tasmania contributing to the growth in outsourcing health care services are dramatically exacerbated by its fast becoming Australia's state with oldest population and increasing shortages across the full range of health care professions being a concern. While a major and highly successful trend in business management, literature related to outsourcing applied to health care services reveals far more complex issues involved in the implementation and modes of delivery. Where literature on health care outsourcing services in hospitals show and delineate various drivers and modes of delivery, the principle of outsourcing, applied to small rural hospital and services globally appears increasingly primarily based on a tactical imperative. Outsourcing as a tactical imperative reveals workforce issues pertaining to aging population, chronic disease and the need of innovation in government and cross-sector planning and use of health care in current health care policy documents (Productivity Commission Report, 2005). This paper examines research gaps which are present in health outsourcing practices and lessons learnt from the literature for rural Tasmanian hospitals and health services.