Journal of Health Information Management
Year:2021 | Volume:18 | Issue:3 (79)|Papers Count:8

Introduction: The rapid prevalence of the recent infectious disease of Covid 19 in countries around the world, including Iran, is due to the lack of sufficient attention of some individuals to health issues, safety advice and prevention principles recommended by health professionals. 1 Information provided by different sources about the ways in which the virus is transmitted may increase the fear of individuals becoming infected. individuals search daily on news and social media posts for features, prevalence, infection, treatment, and ways to prevent infectious diseases. Meanwhile, incorrect advice complicates the problem more than it helps to solve the corona problem and gives rise to undesirable results. The adverse effects of the spread of incorrect information about coronavirus can be traced psychologically, mentally and intellectually in society. 2 In Iran, after the first cases of Covid 19, various official and unofficial sources began to inform the public. In this regard, a lot of virtual content was developed and distributed in cyberspace and social networks, where many of them did not have a reliable source and transmitted contradictory information to individuals. Teaching health protocols to different age and social groups and attracting public participation along with proper crisis management, can reduce the incidence of infectious diseases such as Covid 19. Control of communicable diseases through virtual education on social networks through official sources of the Ministry of Health can minimizes the possibility of epidemics. Optimization of infection control methods, staff training as wll as identification and treatment of carriers using screening tests is another method of controlling this disease. The media should pay more attention for training the public about identifying valid information and provide the necessary basis for institutionalizing the concept of avoiding false information among the public. Changing individuals' health behaviors requires their knowledge and awareness, among which the training of health protocols can play important role in raising public awareness to control and prevent infectious diseases. Under the Covid 19 epidemic, some countries, including Iran, have designed health information systems in different regions to meet the health needs of the individuals. These systems include basic information about the methods of spreading the virus, a leaflet on the signs and symptoms of the disease, the principles of self-care, mortality and morbidity, as well as classified information for specific groups, including travelers and health personnel. Are different. Identifying individuals information needs about Covid 19 disease, as well as raising public awareness through credible sources, can help governments produce better educational content and change people's lifestyles to reduce the prevalence of the disease and ensure health. Conclusion: Given the need to raise awareness about the ways of transmission of Covid 19 and the appropriate attitude towards individuals, officials should take into account the cultural and social conditions of the community, in Developing and implementing programs to increase awareness and improve the attitude of individuals in the community through social networks, especially prevention programs. Achieving these goals should be done through activities such as vaccination, screening, treatment, collection, registration and analysis of health information, workshops and training courses.

Introduction: Physicians need personalized tools that help patients to make the best and appropriate clinical decision through proper access to patients' data and information. This study identifies important data items for designing an electronic physician desk panel in a hospital information system (HIS). Methods: This descriptive study was performed with the participation of physicians of hospitals under the auspices of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran and Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. The population was all physicians at different levels who were selected by stratified and simple random sampling method. In two consecutive phases, first the minimum necessary data were identified by expert and then the opinions of the physicians were collected through interviews and structured questionnaires. Results: 298 variables were identified as data items and 70 physicians in 18 medical groups were interviewed about them in specific questionnaires. Of the total items studied, 57 data items were common to all physicians and other non-common items between 5 and 45 items in different specialties were selected and prioritized at three levels. Conclusion: Access to patients' clinical data seems to be an important criterion for physicians and the physician's desk panel needs to be used as a daily tool by them.

Introduction: New concepts in the field of planning for healthcare centers are noteworthy. One type of healthcare centers which was brought up and emphasized in terms of efficiency in recent years are micro-hospitals. Considering the ability of micro-hospitals to provide effective availability of healthcare services, elicitation and prioritization of key factors in establishing of these healthcare centers in Iran seems necessary. Methods: In this library-descriptive study, the population consisted of 16 experts in hospital planning and design who were selected purposefully. After reviewing 53 resources and conducting library studies related to the micro-hospitals to compare them with the current healthcare centers in Iran, the key factors in establishing micro-hospitals were selected and prioritized in an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) by the population. Results: The two factors of “ easy access for users and increasing the job efficiency of healthcare staff (due to the low number of patients)” were the factors the highest importance. Conclusion: It was found that easy access, possibility of attracting patients on a local scale, and higher speed with job efficiency of employees, as well as lower construction costs (due to the small scale of the complex), were the factors with the highest priorities among the key factors. Accordingly, it seems that this idea can be a proper solution to promote the healthcare service level in Iran.

Introduction: Palliative care should be a top priority in public health and disease management programs. This study endeavored to compare the palliative care services in some selected countries and this way provide a framework for Iran. Methods: This study was conducted with a descriptive and comparative approach in the year 2019. Data were collected through literature review of the databases of the relevant organizations in the selected countries. Results: Findings revealed that the United Kingdom and the United States are leading countries in palliative care and provide comprehensive services to the patients. Turkey has also made significant progress in palliative care and has covered a large population in recent years. In Iran, many services required for end stage patients have not yet been implemented or the centers for providing these services are limited. Experts in palliative care believe that in Iran, less attention has been paid to the organization of such centers than the United Kingdom, the United States and Turkey. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is suggested to benchmark the experiences of leading countries and initiatives and proceedings of the developing countries, considering organizational structure, financing and support services, supervision of services, interdisciplinary teams, patient care need assessment, training and recruitment as a framework for Iran.

Introduction: Increasing pressure on available funds in health care section, especially hospitals, underlines the for analyzing different strategies in economic terms. One of the solutions for the optimal use of financial resources and potentials in hospitals and healthcare centers is using components of the marketing mix. This study endeavored to determine the related factors on patients' preference in choosing a hospital based on the mixed marketing model. Methods: This study was conducted in Farhikhtegan Hospital in Tehran, Iran, in the year 2020. Simple random sampling was employed to select the sample from among 243 inpatients, outpatients, and clients of the hospital. A bi-part researcher-made questionnaire was used to gather the data (demographics and seven aspects of marketing mix); whose validity and reliability were deemed appropriate. To analysis the data, one-sample t-test and Friedman test to rank dimensions and components as well as the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare the views of different classes of society were employed. Results: All seven dimensions of the mixed marketing had a significant and different effect on the preference of the patients in choosing the Farhikhtegan Hospital. Manpower and promotion dimensions were the most and the least important dimensions. Among the components of mixed marketing, sufficient expertise, family income, hospital’ s reputation, physicians’ attitude, pacing of services’ provision, doctors' advice and degree of diversity, novelty, and advanced equipment came out to be the most effective components of every dimension of mixed marketing. Conclusion: Considering the change in the needs of the audiences in the health field, hospital managers can identify the patients' needs in keeping with the principles of marketing mix. Regarding the importance of manpower in the findings of this study, managers can attract the attention of patients with culture making and preparing practical guidance in appropriate treatment of employees.

Introduction: Seeng as web has become an important source of information and search vehicle to retrieve information on the web, it is important to identify the capabilities and limitations of these tools. this study endeavored to compare the performance of search engines and specialized medical databases based on four categories of search criteria, display, navigation and user-friendliness in the field of recovery of common cancers. Methods: To conduct this descriptive study, the comparison was madebased on the data collected and their content description, the performance of search engines and specialized medical databases in the recovery of common cancers was compared. Five free and controlled keywords for common cancers were selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and were searched in five specialized medical search engines as well as three specialized medical databases. To evaluate the performance of search engines and specialized medical databases, a researcher-made checklist was employed and data were described through descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, & average) and Excel software. Results: In terms of search engine and database performance as well as search and display criteria, the Trip database search engine and PubMed-Embase database scored the highest. As to Trip database and WebMD search engines and navigation criteria Embase database scored the highest. In terms of the search criteria Medlineplus search engine and Embase database scored the highest. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, the performance of search engines and specialized medical databases in recovering common cancers was different based on different criteria and users can use them according to their needs.

Recently, achieving strategic supply chain goals includes reducing costs and improving revenue and profitability, which, in turn, has attracted the attention of many researchers. Although the efforts have yielded successful practices, the prevalence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and its disorders has turned the attention other indicators. Therefore, factors including increasing higher level of access to the product, diversification of goods and services, increasing the flexibility for tackling uncertainties and improving adaptability and resilience in the supply chain need more attention. Given healthcare research into Covid-19 vaccines seems to have acceptable results, much more attention needs to be paid to the supply chain planning regarding the large scale of demand, supply, storage, and logistics components. In this study, special considerations including needs to phase out vaccination, prioritizing individuals, organization and coordination, communications, effective planning control, and track consignments are discussed. Finally, a framework for the main contents of the supply chain of the Covid-19 vaccination program is proposed.

In the information world, humans are faced with valid and invalid information (misinformation and disinformation); however, the general tendency of humans is to use valid information. sometimes, however, individuals get caught up in developing and using invalid information for different reasons. Nevertheless, changing any behavior has consequences and individuals choose a path considering their attitudes and beliefs. Ensuring the right choice depends on accessing and employing valid information and avoiding invalid information. Now what should an individual do if one wants to save oneself from the swamp of invalid information? In thiscommentary, identifying the knowledge gap, searching and acquiring information, evaluating information, and deciding to avoid misinformation are suggested as steps for avoiding misinformation and disinformation in health context.