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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Hospital Operations

Outsourcing

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

/ˈaʊtsɔːrsɪŋ/nounCommon term

In healthcare management, outsourcing means: Paying an outside company to provide a service that the hospital used to do itself, such as cleaning, catering, laundry or laboratory tests.

In Turkish: dış kaynak kullanımı, hizmet alımı

How it is used

The verb is 'outsource'. Managers weigh the cost savings and flexibility of outsourcing against control and quality. Contracts set service levels, and the hospital remains responsible for the quality of the outsourced service.

Example sentences

  1. Outsourcing the laundry saved money, but clean sheets started arriving late.

  2. The board will discuss the outsourcing of laboratory tests at its next meeting.

Common collocations

  • outsourcing contract
  • outsource a service
  • outsourcing partner
  • outsourced services
  • procurementThe process of buying goods and services, such as medicines, equipment and cleaning, from choosing suppliers to agreeing prices and contracts.
  • operating costsThe everyday costs of running a hospital or service, such as salaries, medicines, supplies, energy and maintenance, not including large investments.
  • cost centerA department or unit, such as radiology or a ward, whose costs are recorded separately so that managers can see and control what it spends.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Hospital Operations

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.