Quality management standards for facility services in the Italian health care sector

PURPOSE: Health care, one of the most dynamic sectors in Italy, is studied with a particular focus on outsourcing non-core activities such as facility management (FM) services. The project's goals are to define national standards to balance and control facility service evolution, and to drive FM services towards organisational excellence. The authors, in cooperation with a pool of facility service providers and hospitals managers, studied cleaning services--one of the most critical areas. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This article describes the research steps and findings following definition and publication of the Italian standard and its application to an international benchmarking process. The method chosen for developing the Italian standard was to merge technical, strategic and organisational aspects with the goal of standardising the contracting system, giving service providers the chance to improve efficiency and quality, while helping healthcare organisations gain from a better, more reliable and less expensive service. FINDINGS: The Italian standard not only improved services but also provided adequate control systems for outsourcing organisations. In this win-win context, it is hoped to continually drive FM services towards organisational excellence. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: This study is specific to the Italian national healthcare system. However, the strategic dynamics described are common to many other contexts. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: A systematic method for improving hospital FM services is presented. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The authors believe that lessons learned from their Italian case study can be used to better understand and drive similar services in other countries or in other FM service outsourcing sectors.