Background Health systems need constant changes and reforms in their structure to adapt to changing conditions and meet the needs of society. One of the fundamental changes in the health system of Iran is the health transformation plan (HTP), the effects of which must be examined from different aspects. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of HTP on the performance indicators of public hospitals in Yazd city, Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out in all public hospitals in city of Yazd. Six performance indicators were examined monthly and in two time periods of 12 months before and 12 months after the implementation of Health Transformation Plan (HTP). The data was analyzed by SPSS software program version 22, using the paired T-test, and the Interrupted Time Series (ITS) model. Findings Findings showed that the performance indicators of the studied hospitals have improved after the implementation of the HTP. According to the ITS model, the implementation of HTP did not have a significant effect on the level and trend of the bed rotation distance, average length of stay and the ratio of surgical operations to bed indicators. However, it had a statistically significant effect on the level and trend of mortality and hospitalization rates. Moreover, the implementation of HTP had a significant effect on the level of the bed occupancy rate, but did not have a significant effect on the trend of this indicator. Conclusion Based on the research findings, all the selected indicators changed to some extent after the implementation of HTP, which showed the effect of this plan on the performance of hospitals. However, not all indicators were statistically significant as the findings sub-section revealed.

Enhanced treatment of ceramic-tile industry wastewater was investigated by modified coagulation–flocculation process using combination of poly-aluminum chloride (PAC) with anionic (A300), cationic polymer (C270) and nonionic polymers. The effects of pH, PAC coagulant dose alone and with polymers dose in various combinations was studied by jar tests. To compare the removal efficiencies of turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and color at different levels, we run multivariate analysis of variance. Regarding the economic evaluation, we applied the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. PAC had the best performance in pH 7 and in optimal dose of 400 mg/L; so that removal efficiency of wastewater turbidity, TSS, COD and color were 99.63%, 99.7%, 47.5% and 50.38%, respectively. The best removal efficiency for wastewater turbidity, TSS, COD and color were 99.87%, 99.89%, 87.5% and 93.02%, respectively which were obtained by combination of anionic polymer (1.5 mg/L) with PAC (300 mg/L). Furthermore, with combination of PAC + anionic + non-ionic polymers, the removal efficiency for wastewater turbidity, TSS, COD and color were 99.93%, 99.94%, 88% and 94.57%, respectively. The imposed cost for treating one cubic meter of ceramic-tile wastewater treatment by PAC + anionic and PAC + anionic and non-ionic polymers in comparison with PAC alone was reduced to 22.96% and therefore economically more affordable for the tile industry wastewater treatment.

Background: Over the past two decades, patient-centered care has become one of the important dimensions of health care delivery, given that patients are expected to receive appropriate care from the service center. This study aimed to evaluate the various dimensions of patient-centered care from the viewpoint of nurses and patients in order to improve the patient-centered care of health services. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on two hospitals in city of Yazd, Iran. A total of 100 nurses and 100 patients were selected by simple random sampling method. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire and analyzed using one-way ANOVA test. Results: The mean score of patient-centered care was 2.34 (standard deviation (SD) = 0.58) from nurses' point of view and 2.23(SD = 0.07) from patients' point of view. The dimensions of patient's dignity, patient's values and social support for the patient had the highest score and quick attention to the patients had the lowest score from nurses' perspectives. Respecting dignity and quality of health service provider had the lowest score from the patients' viewpoint. The quality of health service received significantly lower score from the patients than the nurses (P-value = 0.03). Conclusion: The quality of the physical environment, observance of the patient's dignity and quick considered as the priority of action to improve the patient-centered care. It is recommended that the authorities should give priority to these dimensions in order to increase satisfaction and loyalty of patients.

Background: Cost analysis is a management tool that helps the researchers to identify and manage high costs. The purpose of the present study was to calculate the cost of day bed and patient bed in the ear, nose, and throat departments of a teaching hospital and a private hospital in Yazd City, Iran. Methods: The present descriptive, analytical, and retrospective study was conducted in the ear, nose, and throat departments of a teaching hospital and a private hospital in Yazd in 2016. Data were collected by studying the relevant documents and checklists. Data were analyzed using Excel software. Results: The costs of day bed occupancy were calculated as 7286715 rials and 2386715 rials in the ear, nose, and throat departments of the private and educational hospitals, respectively. The cost of a private hospital day bed was much higher than that of a training hospital considering the tariff approved in 2016. Income per patient per day was obtained as 2204643 rials in educational hospital and 1500130 rials in the private hospital. The income per patient per day was higher in the teaching hospital than the private hospital. Conclusion: Hospitals should have a precise financial system in order to manage the day bed pricing based on the final costs and have realistic day bed costs. Given the high cost of staffing, hospitals should pay close attention to control these costs. Hospitals also need to adopt appropriate processes to consume the consumables logically and reduce their costs.

Introduction: Recently, the health care sector has been moved towards establishing non-governmental organizations (NGOs); due to the fact that collaborative approaches are happening more in these organizations and they provide better services.This collaboration has been conducted in a variety of ways, requiring the investigation of a study with the aim of providing a management pattern of health benefactors’ collaboration in medical sciences Universities of Iran. Methods: This is a qualitative and Delphi study conducted in 2017. The study population was 13 universities out of 57 universities of medical sciences in Iran to which the questionnaire was sent. To obtain experts’ opinion and consensus, using Delphi technique, a questionnaire with initial classifications and subclasses was electronically sent to the social deputy of the universities of medical sciences for three times. In order to ensure the consistency of the experts, their responses were analyzed by Kendall correlation analysis in 5 phases. SPSS and Excel software were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings of this study showed that the factors affecting the participation of the benefactors in the medical sciences Universities of Iran include: holding meetings in the beginning of the academic year of the universities, holding meetings in special timeframes, and using benefactors’ financial resources in the research field. the Kendall coefficient was 61% in the first stage. By improving the questionnaire in the second stage, the Kendall coefficient reached 86%, and in the third stage of validation, it increased to 91%. Conclusion: The management pattern of collaboration can be used to improve the management of health benefactors’ collaboration in Iran Universities of Medical Sciences, and the highest priority to improve its performance depends on the organization and guidance among its members.