IntroductionPreparedness of hospital has a major impact on their optimal and satisfactory performance. This study aimed to investigate the preparedness of the hospitals to deal with disasters.Case PresentationThis cross-sectional study was carried in 2011 and all of the hospitals which were located in the northern areas of Iran were investigated through the census method. The data collection instruments were self-administered Managers’ Awareness Questionnaire (40 items) and a 141-item checklist. The mean percentage score of hospitals in management of the unanticipated disasters program in the hospital was good. The mean score of managers’ awareness of the hospital status was moderate. With the increase in managers’ awareness, the preparedness of the hospitals significantly increased (r = 0.73, P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe findings showed the moderate preparedness of the hospitals in the Northern provinces to deal with disasters.

This study aimed to evaluate the use of WC, WHpR, WHtR and NC as a reliable alternative to BMI and determine the optimal cutoff values for identification of overweight and obesity.

Background: Urban family physician program is one of the relatively large reforms in Iran's health care system implemented in Fars and Mazandaran provinces since 2012. Nearly five years after implementation of the program, this study aimed to identify the achievements and challenges of this program from the viewpoints of managers and administrators. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in winter of 2016. The research population included administrators and experts monitoring the urban family physician program and representatives of the family physicians and health care providers selected using the census method. The data collection tool was a two-part researcher-made questionnaire containing 15 questions with confirmed validity. To collect data, 29 panels of experts were held and the collected information was analyzed by SPSS 23 using independent t-tests and ANOVA. Results: Among the total of 647 participants in 2 provinces, 1540 achievement cases, 2387 challenge cases, and 1641 strategies were found. The average numbers of achievements, challenges, and strategies stated by each person were 2.38 ± 2.0, 3.70 ± 2.7, and 2.54 ± 2.0, respectively. The most frequent achievements, challenges, and strategies were increased disease detection and care (430), untimely payment to physicians (198), and providing sustainable resources for timely payments (119).  The means of achievements, challenges, and strategies had significant relationship with some of the individual and social variables (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that increasing the rate of detection was the most important achievement and lack of timely payment was the biggest challenge of the program, which should be considered by policy makers.

Introduction: The quality of healthcare services can be determined by patient satisfaction as it affects the performance, sustainability, and durability of health services. This study aims to determine patients’ satisfaction with healthcare service providers and its determinants in the urban family physician program in Fars and Mazandaran provinces, Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the populations covered by the urban family physician program in Fars and Mazandaran provinces in 2016. In total, 864 households were selected in each province using random cluster sampling. Socio-demographic variables and underlying factors were gathered. Patient satisfaction levels were evaluated using a validated questionnaire. Results: Of the 1,480 participants with a mean age of 46.9 ± 14.2 years, 53.3% lived in Fars province and 74.2% were female. Furthermore, 67.9% of the patients were satisfied with their healthcare service providers. A higher satisfaction level was observed among the patients who resided in Fars province, lived in cities with <100,000 residents, walked <10 minutes to the family physician’s office, had a family physician they previously knew, accepted the family physician, had a positive attitude towards the importance of having a family physician and a referral system, and had adequate knowledge of the family physician program. Conclusion: The results indicated that two-thirds of the patients were satisfied with healthcare service providers. Several socio-demographic variables were associated with the patients’ satisfaction levels. Improving the family physician program by providing adequate medical equipment and monitoring physicians’ performance could increase patient satisfaction and improve the sustainability of the program.

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