Health Information management
Farzaneh Mohammadi; Mostafa Amini-Rarani; Reza Rezayatmand
Abstract
Introduction: Resistive economy as a new concept/doctorine has entered to the Iranian economics literature several years ago. However, in order to be applied efficiently, a common perception among experts is necessary regarding its definition, instances and requirements. Thus, this study was conducted ...
Read More
Introduction: Resistive economy as a new concept/doctorine has entered to the Iranian economics literature several years ago. However, in order to be applied efficiently, a common perception among experts is necessary regarding its definition, instances and requirements. Thus, this study was conducted with the aim of general explanation of resistive economy concepts, its instances and requirements as well as identification of its requirements in health sector based on the experts’ opinions.Methods: In this qualitative study, 8 in-depth and face-to-face interviews were conducted with some economist as well as some health economists who were selected through purposive sampling methods. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the conventional content analysis method. MAXQDA Analytics Pro2020 (VERBI GmbH Berlin) Release 20.4.0 was used for coding and data management.Results: Two concepts of “economic resilience” and “comprehensive concept of resistive economy” were identified. Then, the instances and requirements related to these two concepts were determined. An anti-shock economy, an oil-free economy, economic productivity and change were identified as instances of “economic resilience” and justice-oriented, knowledge-based, endogenous, extraversion, democratized, jihadi culture, Islamization of the economy, and resistive economy as a political economy were identified as the instances of “comprehensive concept of resistive economy”. The instances and requirements of resistive economy in health sector were also elaborated. Conclusion: There are numerous interpretations of resistive economy. Based on expert opinions, resiliency is a very important specification of that economy, but other specifications should also exist to address the comprehensiveness of the concept. In order to implement and operationalize the resistive economy in various sectors including the health sector, the first step is to reach a common understanding of resistive economy amongst the experts.
Masoumeh Ghasemirad; Reza Rezayatmand; Farzaneh Mohammadi
Abstract
Introduction: Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death worldwide today. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and cost of various outpatient diagnostic procedures for cardiovascular diseases insured with the Health Insurance Organization in ...
Read More
Introduction: Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death worldwide today. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and cost of various outpatient diagnostic procedures for cardiovascular diseases insured with the Health Insurance Organization in Isfahan Province, Iran, during the years 2011-2017.Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study on the data of the Health Insurance Organization of Isfahan Province. After defining the list of outpatient diagnostic procedures for cardiovascular diseases, the information on the frequency and cost of these procedures were extracted in the form of an Excel file.Results: The total frequency and cost of outpatient diagnostic procedures for cardiovascular diseases over a period of 7 years were 751,421 procedures and 251,670,136,936 Iranian Rials (IRR), respectively. The per capita frequency of total procedures increased from about 19 procedure per thousand to about 115 procedure per thousand of the insured individuals of the Health Insurance Organization of the Isfahan Province. In addition, the per capita cost of these procedures increased from 1,733,815.24 to 46,130,235.10 IRR per thousand individuals.Conclusion: As the frequency and costs of outpatient diagnostic procedures for cardiovascular diseases of insured individuals of the Health Insurance Organization of the Isfahan province respectively raised 6.8 and 29.5 times during 2011-2017, the payment system reforms and prevention and effective control of cardiovascular diseases should be considered by policymakers.
Marzieh Azizi-Mobaser; Reza Rezayatmand; Farzaneh Mohammadi
Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays, estimating efficiency of health expenses and identifying its related factors has become important issue, and due to the increased expenses around the world, has received considerable attention by policymakers in health sector. This study endeavored to assess the factors affecting ...
Read More
Introduction: Nowadays, estimating efficiency of health expenses and identifying its related factors has become important issue, and due to the increased expenses around the world, has received considerable attention by policymakers in health sector. This study endeavored to assess the factors affecting the efficiency of government health expenses.Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study using World Bank databases carried out in the selected countries (including Iran) during the years 1995 to 2014. In the first stage, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), the selected countries were divided into four groups of countries with very high, high, medium, and low HDI. Then, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was employed to estimate the efficiency scores of countries. In the second stage, the Tobit Panel Data model was estimated to identify the influencing factors on the efficiency of the government health expenditures.Results: The average technical efficiencies observed for countries with very high, high, medium, and low HDI were 0.63, 0.52, 0.28, and 0.48, respectively. The out-of-pocket payment in countries with very high, high, and medium HDI had a positive and significant relationship with the efficiency of government health expenditures. Other variables in countries with very high and high HDI were not statistically significant. Hospital beds had a significant negative relationship with the efficiency of government health expenditures. In countries with low HDI, none of the variables had a relationship with the efficiency of government health expenditures. Conclusion: Findings reveal that the out-of-pocket payment can play a significant role in controlling unnecessary expenditures in very high and high HDI countries. This can be related to the service packages provided in these countries as well. The findings indicate that a service package which is covered by insurance in these countries, and patient do not pay for that, covers essential services for patient, and those services that are not in this package and the patient have to pay for that, are less essential services.
Marzieh Azizi-Mobaser; Reza Rezayatmand; Farzaneh Mohammadi
Abstract
Introduction: Given the limitations of government resources, increasing the efficiency and the productivity when using those resources is an important and challenging issue in every country. Thus, the aim of this study was to measure the efficiency and the productivity of the government health expenditures ...
Read More
Introduction: Given the limitations of government resources, increasing the efficiency and the productivity when using those resources is an important and challenging issue in every country. Thus, the aim of this study was to measure the efficiency and the productivity of the government health expenditures in Iran and other countries with high human development index (HDI) over the period of 1995-2014.Methods: This descriptive study used panel data of Iran and high-HDI countries to measure the efficiency and the productivity of government health expenditure. The non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) method and Malmquist productivity index (MPI) were used.Results: The calculated average technical efficiency for Iran and high-HDI countries was 45% and 52%, respectively. A total factor productivity changes (TFP) of 0.93 and 0.99 was also observed in Iran and high-HDI countries, respectively.Conclusion: Technological efficiency changes have a major impact on the total factor productivity in Iran and high-HDI countries. By identifying the efficiency trend in different years, new proposals can be brought forward to increase the efficiency of government health expenditure in the coming years.
Hamed Shabani; Reza Rezayatmand; Farzaneh Mohammadi
Abstract
Introduction: Ever rising of health expenditure all over the world has shifted policy makers’ attention toward the determinants of health expenditures. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of health expenditures in Iran and the other member countries which are the members of ...
Read More
Introduction: Ever rising of health expenditure all over the world has shifted policy makers’ attention toward the determinants of health expenditures. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of health expenditures in Iran and the other member countries which are the members of Perspective Documents of 1404 (Hijri) of Iran.Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study which investigated the impact of gross domestic product (GDP)/capita, urbanization rate, unemployment rate, the percentage of the population between 0 to 14 years old, the percentage of the population older than 65 years and above, population growth rate, number of hospital beds, and number of physicians on health expenditures using panel data from World Bank during 1995-2014 for Iran and other country members of the Perspective Document of 1404 of Iran.Results: GDP/capita, urbanization rate, and the percentage of the population older than 65 years and above had a positive impact on health expenditures. Unemployment rate, the percentage of the population between 0 and 14 years old and number of hospital beds had a negative impact on health expenditures.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that urbanization rate and the percentage of the population older than 65 had the greatest impact on rising health expenditures. These findings can be used by policy makers in the health sector to design a better future for the health of the population while containing the health expenditures.
Azarnoush Ansari; Farzaneh Mohammadi
Volume 13, Issue 4 , November 2016, , Pages 297-303
Abstract
Introduction: The special brand equity is an important factor in marketing of health services especially in hospitals. The aim of the current study was to provide a model for evaluating the brand equity in Isfahan city hospitals, Iran.Methods: In this descriptive correlational survey, data were gathered ...
Read More
Introduction: The special brand equity is an important factor in marketing of health services especially in hospitals. The aim of the current study was to provide a model for evaluating the brand equity in Isfahan city hospitals, Iran.Methods: In this descriptive correlational survey, data were gathered using a questionnaire. The reliability and the content validity of the questionnaire were proved through the methods of Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.91) and factor analysis, respectively. The study was done in 10 medical centers in Isfahan city in 2015. The number of questionnaires was 380 including 24 questions. SPSS software was used for describing the demographic variables and Amos software was used for approving the fitting of model with structured equations.Results: Hospital brand equity was directly affected by ‘satisfaction’, ‘experience’ and ‘loyalty’ of patients to the hospital brand. The factor of ‘loyalty’ with the impact of 0.91 played the most important role in enhancing hospital brand equity. ‘Trust’, ‘tendency to maintain the relations’ and ‘commitment’ were the other factors which positively affected making patients ‘loyal’. The factor of ‘pervious experiences’ had no significant impact on loyalty to hospital. The result of fitting model with the index of goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.955, normed fit index (NFI) = 0.930, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.071 showed validity of the proposed model for evaluating the hospital brand equity.Conclusion: According to the results, since enhancing patients’ loyalty and trust on service quality and increasing their commitment to maintain the relations with hospital are effective in hospital’s special brand equity, necessary actions should be done in order to reinforce and promote these variables. In addition, appropriate strategies should be considered in hospital policy in order to have better and more effective relations with patients during hospitalization and after discharging from hospital.
