Potential Factors of Medical Specialist Allocation in a Private Hospital Network in Thailand: A Modified Delphi Study
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Medical specialist allocation is crucial for achieving equitable access to specialized care. Given the scarcity of data from the private sector, this study aimed to identify potential factors of medical specialist allocation within the largest private hospital network in Thailand.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: For standardization and comparison, based on the identified key point, the modified four-round Delphi study together with expert interviews from both public and private sectors were used. A total of 43 top executives from 32 hospital representatives of the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) participated by responding to a 5-point Likert scale for ranking the item that could influence the allocation of medical specialists. The items with interquartile range (IQR) of < 1.5 and mean values > 4 were considered as potential factors.
RESULT: Thirty-five out of 46 factors were statistically significant and were identified as potential factors of medical specialist allocation. Of the 35 factors, 6 potential factors were considered as the most affected potential factors of medical specialist allocation: 1) health need of the population, 2) organization’s mission, 3) organization’s Hoshin, 4) organization’s strategy, 5) complexity of the patients, and 6) severity of the patients.
CONCLUSION: Six factors that might influence the allocation of medical specialists were identified and could be useful for medical allocation in a private hospital network.
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