Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Associate Professor, Health Services Management, Health Management and Economics Research Center (HMERC) AND Department of Health Care Management, School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Health Services Management, Department of Health Care Management, School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3 General Practitioner, Alzahra Medical and Educational Hospital, Isfahan, Iran
4 BSc, Health Services Management, Alzahra Research institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran
5 MSc, Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
6 MSc Student, Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: One of the 8 service packages in the first phase of Iran health transformation plan (HTP) is dedicated to improving the quality of outpatient visits. We investigated the average visits/hour criterion at the Alzahra university hospital, Isfahan, Iran, as the biggest province health center, after implementation of health transformation plan.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted in all 26 clinics of Alzahra hospital using visit/hour as the main indicator for evaluating the quality of outpatient services. Data gathered from June 2014 to July 2015 from clinic secretaries with the help of a checklist. Gathered data were analyzed via calculating the quarterly mean and standard deviation of visits/hour separately for internal and surgical clinics using SPSS18 software.Results: Considering 8 visits/hour as the desired standard number, the mean visits/hour in the internal clinics in the first, second, third and fourth quarter were 6.06 ± 2.27, 7.76 ± 4.80, 7.02 ± 4.18 and 6.37 ± 2.52, respectively. For the Surgical clinics, the mean visit/hour was 9.88 ± 6.09, 10.11 ± 5.47, 9.40 ± 6.26 and 7.63 ± 2.93 for first, second, third and fourth quarters, respectively. Conclusion: After implementation of health transformation plan in Alzahra hospital in May 2014, the visits/hour criterion worsened during the second quarter but improved in the third and fourth quarters. This can be due to the increase in the number of patients at the start of the plan or financial issues and the effects of which was reduced due to better supervision later on. We suggest using different standards for surgical and internal clinics in order to improve the effectiveness of the plan.Keywords: Hospitals; Visit; Outpatients; Health Transformation Plan; Iran
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