Payavard Salamat
Year:2020 | Volume:14 | Issue:4|Papers Count:8

Background and Aim: Physicians as human capital and resources are one of the main components of health production. The imbalance of physician supply and demand affects the health and economics. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate and forecast the supply and demand of physicians working in Iranian Medical Universities. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study and was conducted at national level for Iran during 1991-2017. The statistical population was physicians working in Iranian Medical Universities. ARIMA method was used to estimate and forecast physician supply and Vector Error Correction Models was used for physician demand. The data was annual time series extracted from the statistical yearbooks of the Statistical Center of Iran and the World Bank database. Eviews 10 software was used to estimate the models. Results: The results showed that physician demand in Iran was affected by Gross Domestic Product, age structure and hospital beds, and according to the forecast of supply and demand of physicians, we will face physician shortage in the years 2018-2030. Conclusion: In the coming years, Iran is facing physician shortage. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt policies to increase physician capacity in Medical Universities and to increase strong incentives to retain physicians and prevent their migration.

Background and Aim: International student satisfaction is a vital element in international universities and one of the promotion methods in the global ranking, and is considered as a competitive factor. Materials and Methods: The research method is mixed(quantitative-qualitative) of exploratory-confirmatory type. The statistical population includes experts, international department managers and foreign students(1352 people) in three universities of medical sciences in Tehran, Shahid Beheshti and Iran. The sampling method is qualitative, purposeful and the sample size is 21 professors. In a small part of the multi-stage cluster method, 450 international students were selected. The research tool was a semi-structured interview in the qualitative part of the interview and a researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative part. Results: According to the research results, the most influential factor in the foreign students' satisfaction model includes virtual services(0. 84), loyalty(0. 81), university reputation and rank (0. 78), admission process(0. 75), Research services(0. 72), Staff and management services(0. 71), International services(0. 70), Educational services(0. 68), Health services(0. 67), Welfare services(0. 65), Financial facilities(0. 64), university infrastructure(0. 63) and cultural services(0. 61). Conclusion: In order to attract financial resources, international competition, improve regional and global ranking, universities should consider and plan the priorities of the proposed satisfaction model to improve the level of satisfaction of foreign students.

Background and Aim: Hospital accreditation is"the systematic evaluation process and accreditation determination of a hospital by an independent external organization using the optimal structure, process and outcome standards". Accreditation plays an important role in improving the quality and safety of hospital services. The Iranian hospital accreditation program faces some challenges. The aim of this study was to identify the governance challenges of the Iranian hospital accreditation program and to provide suggestions for its improvement. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study of interpretive phenomenology was conducted in 2019 using semi-structured interviews with 151 policy makers, managers, and employees of the ministry of health, medical universities, health insurance organizations and hospitals. Thematic analysis method was used for data analysis. Results: In total, 22 governance challenges of the hospital accreditation program were identified and classified into seven groups, i. e., organizational structure, organizational communication, policy making, planning, financing, stewardship and evalutation. Lack of independence of accreditation program, inappropriate organizational structure, lack of resource, rapid transfer of accreditation managers, poor coordination and communication inside and outside the organization, government and mandatory accreditation program, poor planning, lack of high cost of hospital accreditation program are among the governance challenges of the country’ s hospital accreditation program. Establishing an accreditation council with four independent scientific, accreditation, appeal and performance evaluation committees, piloting the accreditation program, proper planning, cascade education and training, allocating a specific budget for hospital accreditation, getting the approval of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare(ISQua) and public announcement of accreditation results are among the proposed solutions to these problems. Conclusion: Iran’ s hospital accreditation program faces challenges and problems in terms of governance. Improving the governance structure of Iran’ s hospital accreditation program can lead to desirable results and achievement of accreditation goals.

Background and Aim: The growing healthcare expenses, technological advancements and increasing competition in healthcare services, brings up new challenges for healthcare industry in providing appropriate services to customers. The Lean methodology, which is a managerial approach, provides tools necessary to eliminate waste and increase customer satisfaction through increasing quality of the services and decreasing the wait times and costs. The Scope of this paper was to determine and rank the lean criteria for hospitals. Materials and Methods: Twenty Two base criteria for a lean organization was selected and reconciled to hospitals from literature review. Then they were evaluated by experts in the field using Likert scale, leading to 18 criteria. The correlation of these criteria was found using ISM methodology, followed by ranking of these criteria. Lastly, the criteria were categorized utilizing MICMAC analysis. Results: Utilizing MICMAC analysis, the"defining the flow of processes & continuous improvement", "utilizing visual surveillance to understand the situation & exploit the problems" were identified as the most important variables. Conclusion: In order to increase the quality of services and customer satisfaction and to reduce operating costs, hospitals are advised to utilize lean methodology. In which case the management should pay more attention to the two more important criteria derived by MICMAC analysis, "Defining the processes in order to find problems" and "Continuous improvement and utilizing visual surveillance in order to find problems".

Background and Aim: The use of purchasing mechanisms in medical equipment sector along with the application of regulatory rules and regulations by the government can be considered as a way to move towards smart purchasing and increase the access level of vulnerable groups to receive services and expand justice. The aim of this study was to investigate the purchase management of medical equipment in hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). Materials and Methods: In this applied study conducted in 2018, the study population consisted of 623 and the research sample of 431 individuals who were selected by stratified random sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose variables were extracted from comparative studies. The validation of the questionnaire was performed by relative content validity coefficient, content validity index and Cronbach’ s alpha coefficient. SPSS and AMOS software were used to analyze the data with statistical methods of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: According to the obtained results, the effective dimensions in purchase management of medical equipment in TUMS hospitals were technical, organizational, political and economic dimensions with path coefficients of 1. 244, 1. 151, 0. 973, and 0. 845, respectively. Values indicate that all study paths are meaningful; in other words, path coefficients are exploitable. Conclusion: Based on the above study, effective dimensions in purchase management of medical equipment consist of four dimensions (technical, organizational, political and economic) which is, in fact, a comprehensive and multidimensional concept. Therefore, paying attention to all their dimensions and components can best guide the buyer agencies in moving towards efficient purchase.

Background and Aim: The purpose of the present study is to map the coronavirus domain citation network to better understand this domain based on all other citation networks. Materials and Methods: The present study is applied in terms of purpose, and is descriptive scientometrics in terms of type, which has been done with the all-citation method. In this study, all scientific publications on coronavirus(6980 documents) in the period 1985-2019 AD were studied on April 10, 2020 in the Web of Science database. For analysis and drawing all citation maps, VOSviewer and Excel software were used. Results: In the field of coronavirus, 6815 documents, 10246 journals, and 40298 authors were identified. Ksiazek(2003) with the acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) topic received 875 citations and won the first place. The most cited documents in the field of coronavirus have 5 clusters; and the first cluster with 201 documents and with the topic of studying the structure of coronavirus is the largest one. Journal of Virology--with the thematic range of genome structure and replication, virus identification, etc.--ranked first with 35, 383 citations. The most cited journals in the field of coronavirus are 5 thematic clusters, and the first one is the largest cluster with 121 journals and with the thematic domains of health policy, coronavirus, etc. Also, Woo PCY won first place with his specialization in identifying new microbes and emerging infectious diseases, and receiving 1491 citations. The most cited authors in the field of corona virus are in 6 thematic clusters; the first cluster with 195 authors in specialized field of virology and coronavirus is the largest cluster. Conclusion: By identifying the highly cited scientific products in the field of coronavirus, efforts have been made to provide a comprehensive view of top documents, top journals, and top authors so that it can be a decision-making tool in the shortest possible time.

Background and Aim: Mobile-based programs have been developed as tools to help both patients and physicians in various fields especially in dermatology. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to review the features and contents of dermatology applications. Materials and Methods: The methodology was comparative and descriptive. Applications in the field of dermatology were evaluated and compared through this research. Inclusion criteria included applications that have been downloaded more than 100 times in Google Play and App Store and applications designed in diagnosis in various fields of dermatology such as treatment, management, remote consulting, and self-care areas. Exclusion criteria included those developed before 2010 and those related to the non-dermatology areas. Besides, different features were considered for comparison based on literature review and expert consultation. Next, the recognized applications were reviewed and compared based on determined categories. Results: Based on criteria, a total of 33 applications were identified through searching. Of these, 33. 3% of Apps were in the field of education, and 24. 2% were in self-care. Regarding disease, applications were categorized into nine different domains. Of these, 61% of applications were covering different types of skin diseases. Also, in examining the frequency of the features of the evaluated programs, providing recommendations and suggestions with 57. 57% and educational contents and the possibility of uploading images with 51. 51%, respectively, had the highest frequency among the features of the programs. Conclusion: Analysis showed that education and self-care domains have a high rank among others. It indicates that developing such applications could facilitate patient education and self-management by himself or caregivers. However, this area needs more attention and the using health information technology capabilities to make applications smarter in this area.

Background and Aim: Medical concepts can be studied in language and literature. The purpose of this study is to investigate the term"pezeshk" and"medical terminology” in ancient Iran, in Persian language and literature, and in Mashreqi Shirazi poems. Materials and Methods: This research has been done by reviewing and studying three articles, three databases, and about fifteen books. Since the subject of study is “ medicine in Iran” and “ Persian language and literature” , non-Iranian physicians and Iranians whose works are in Arabic have been excluded from this study. Results: The history of medicine in Iran is as old as the history of Iran itself; and its influence can be clearly seen in Persian language and literature. The root of the term“ pezeshk” is Avestan)Baesha-za), which has changed to Baesha-zak in the Middle Persian and in Bejeshk and Pezeshk in Parsian, which is still used today. The names of many Iranian ancient therapists are associated today with widely used medical terms: Trita is one of the first Aryan therapists, and his name is the same as“ treat” . The names of some ancient Iranians are considered as the first ones in the world of medicine, e. g., Mehrdad II Ashkani, the first immunologist. Besides, in this study, the influence of medicine on literature was proved in the poetry of Mashreqi Shirazi)970-1038 AH), a shiite poet. Conclusion: Medicine is not an imported science to Iran and the history of medical science in this country is, as evidenced by history, as old as the history of Iran. This longevity can be seen in the Persian word “ pezeshk” itself, and in the names of the first Aryan and Iranian physicians and the medical schools of ancient Iran. The global name of Medicine is taken from the first historical dynasty of Iran, Maad(Medi in Greek), and one of the first Maad healers, Cina(Cine) Moghani. In literature, it is apparent that Hakim Mashreqi was aware of medicine. Such awareness included the constituent elements of the body, name of some diseases, treatment and the name of some drugs.