Search results

Exemption from hospital charges may appear as an essential policy in order to support the poor. Such policies can function for the fulfillment of governments’ social- and justice-based responsibilities in public hospitals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pattern of offering discounts to the poor and the effect of Iran’s recent Health Sector Evolution Plan on it.

The authors conducted analytical research longitudinally on the data related to cash discounts offered to the poor within a teaching hospital. Data were collected through the period of four months, September to December 2013, before the establishment of the Health Sector Evolution Plan, and in the similar months through 2014, after the establishment of the Health Sector Evolution Plan, in order to compare the amount of cash discounts. The type of insurance, length of stay, amount of discounts offered to patients, and total costs of hospital charges were studied and compared by referring to the social working department. Data were analyzed using the χ²-test, Mann-Whitney U test, ANOVA, and regression analysis aided by SPSS 20.

The number of patients offered discounts or exempted from payment in 2014 reduced compared to the number in 2013. The highest rate of demand for discounts was related to patients covered by Emdad Committee followed by those who had no insurance. The ratio of discount to cost in the oncology ward was higher than other groups.

The results of the present study can contribute to the plans of health system policy makers in organizing measures for supporting poor patients toward accessing healthcare services.

Earthquake usually causes death, injury, disability and destruction of buildings and infrastructure, and people with disabilities are usually affected more than healthy people. As undesirable experiences may also have positive outcomes, this study aims to investigate the experiences of PWD and identify the positive effects of earthquakes on them in Iran, as an earthquake-prone country.

In this qualitative study, 20 participants were selected purposively among those having physical disability, aged 23-55 years and with experience of an earthquake. Their opinions were collected using semi-structured interviews. Analysis was performed using thematic approach and MAXQDA software was used to organize the data.

The positive effects of earthquake were categorized into five main themes: promotion of preparedness, knowledge enhancement, improvement of structures, socio-economic improvement (economic situation enhancement and social cohesion promotion) and outstanding role of national and international non-governmental organizations.

Although disasters are generally unpleasant, in the long term, they can result in positive effects and may be considered as opportunities to improve the situation and eliminate certain limitations. It is also important to learn from experiences of people with disabilities and apply the lessons learned, for enhancing preparedness and providing better services in the response phase of disaster management. Additionally, paying attention to the positive attitudes of such people, with special conditions and limitations, indicates their enhanced resilience to cope with disasters and emergencies, including COVID-19, which should be taken into consideration by policymakers and planners in future programs.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a critical role in modern health-care systems complementing state organizations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges of NGOs' participation in Iran's health-care system.

This qualitative study was conducted in 2020. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 26 participants: 11 managers and experts at the office of NGOs in the Ministry of Health (MOH) and universities of medical sciences and 15 chief executive officers (CEOs) of health-related NGOs in Tehran, Iran. The participants were chosen using the non-probabilistic approach of purposive sampling with maximum variation. Data analysis was performed using the thematic analysis method and MAXQDA 10 software.

Challenges of NGOs' participation in Iran's health-care system are categorized into external and internal challenges. Financial issues, the process of getting permissions, lack of trust in NGOs, weak relationships with the public sector and lack of law are identified as main challenges. Building trust in NGOs, passing the NGOs' law, making people more familiar with NGOs and capacity development are the most important measures that improve the role of NGOs and resolve barriers to their participation in Iran's health-care system.

In this study, for the first time, the challenges of NGOs' participation in Iran's health-care system are investigated by examining the views of both the public sector and NGOs. Improving the participation of NGOs in the health-care system provides Iran's MOH with the opportunity to make use of the NGOs' capacities to eliminate public health issues.