In the past few years, many models and approaches to quality improvement experienced in commercial organizations, such as total quality management, continuous improvement and EFQM model have been accepted and used by universities and other research and educational institutions and the results also have been used effectively. Strategic Planning and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model are also among the approaches and models that deals with planning and performance assessment of organizations and corporates with a great broad vision . But some questions are raised here: How these two approaches make enhance the quality of universities and higher education institutions? Is it as much useful for organizations and commercial institutions as it is for higher education institutions and universities? What are the necessary requirements and infrastructures for deployment and implementation of these two approaches in higher education institutions? And whether they really are used in higher education. This is a descriptive research which aims at answering the above questions concerning the application of strategic planning models and balanced scorecard in higher education quality improvement.

Background: The health transformation plan (HTP) was put into action in Iran, in 2014, with 8 service packages. This plan was not implemented as a pilot and therefore, various problems and barriers have since emerged. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the economic challenges of inpatient payment reduction directive in HTP from the perspectives of 2 groups of experts in levels of hospital and university held in 2 time periods. Methods: In this qualitative study, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 participants involved in the healthcare reform in hospitals as well as the executive committee of HTP in universities. Results: Data collection resulted in 36 descriptive codes presenting the economic challenges of the payment reduction directive in thems of insurance / tariffs and financial affairs in the period of 3 months and 1 year since the beginning. Interviewees then suggested their solutions. Conclusions: Challenges trends over times show that some parts of challenges are changing. In addition, challenges interact with each other and could be avoided just by appropriate planning. On the other hand, execution of this directive was extremely costly for the government; it would be better to allocate resources with meticulous planning and designs.

Objective: This study was intended to demonstrate the applicability of the hackathon in idea generation for managing emergencies and disasters with a particular focus on flash floods. Methods: A 4-day hackathon event was held, having 60 students, 9 mentors and 6 judges gathered to explore different ideas, and to solve problems of Iran flooding from mid-March to April, 2019. Of these, 10 teams with 6 students were accordingly formed to brainstorm and discuss the idea, while 9 mentors offered advice and guided them to manage their ideas. Then, all teams focused on designing their business models. Finally, the hackathon teams finalized their lean canvas and presented their ideas to the judging panel and the other participants. Results: A total of 10 ideas were presented, and based on the knowledge and experience of the judges, 3 ideas that were more practical and useful were selected. Conclusions: As participants in a hackathon identify and present real-world problems, while ensuring that the prototype solutions address the end-user’s needs, it could be used to drive innovation, generate ideas, promote change in emergencies and disasters, and can increase our preparedness for future events. It helps us to develop tools and applications to better respond to these events.

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