International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Recent Iranian Health System Reform: An Operational Perspective to Improve Health Services Quality

Document Type : Debate

Authors
Mahdi Mahdavi 1
Mahboubeh Parsaeian 2
Ebrahim Jaafaripooyan 3
Shahram Ghaffari 4
1 Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Health Management & Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
4 Social Security Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
10.15171/ijhpm.2017.89
Abstract
The operational management of healthcare services is expected to directly touch patient experiences. Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME) for the first time, as such, has sought to improve the operational management of healthcare delivery within a reform agenda by setting benchmarks for ‘number of visit per hour’ and waiting time in outpatient clinics of about 700 affiliated hospitals. As a new initiative, it has faced with mixed reactions and various doubts have been cast on its successful implementation. This manuscript aims to shed some light on the operational challenges of the initiative and the requirements of its successful implementation.
Keywords
Health System Reform
Iran
Appointment Planning Systems
Outpatient Scheduling Systems
Service Quality Improvement
Operational management
Subjects
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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 7, Issue 1
2018
Pages 70-74

  • Received Date 23 December 2016
  • Revised Date 16 July 2017
  • Accepted Date 16 July 2017
  • First Published Date 01 January 2018
  • Published Date 01 January 2018