background & purpose: since 2005, a reform known as rural insurance and family medicine scheme has introduced to primary health care network in iran in rural areas and small towns. the content of the reform implies a substantial change in those aspects of health centers that mainly could be categorized as structural quality. although, this is the requirement of all health care providers, they a...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES : The role of the professional case manager is changing rapidly. Health reform has called upon the industry to ensure that care is delivered in an efficient, effective, and high-quality and low cost manner. As a means to achieve this objective, health plans and health systems are moving the care manager out of a centralized location within their organizations to "embedding" t...

BACKGROUND Psychotic disorders are a group of severe mental disorders that cause considerable disability to sufferers and a high level of burden to families. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), traditional and faith healers are the main providers of care to affected persons. Even though frequently canvassed as desirable for improved care delivery, collaboration between these comple...

background: changes in expectations and requirements of the end users of medical education “community members” and evolution in health services necessitate some changes in the medical education curriculum. to achieve this reform in curricula, obtaining insight into the health care needs of community members and their comments about their physicians is highly required in community-oriented educa...

conclusions with regard to the current challenges in iran’s health system, using risk-adjusted capitation as a primary healthcare payment system can lead to useful changes in the health system’s features. however, future research should focus on the development of the risk-adjusted capitation model. background when a country’s health system is faced with fundamental flaws that require the redes...

abstract background: the world health organization emphasizes on integration of sexual health into primary health care services, educating people and health care workers about sexuality, and promoting optimal sexual health. despite the high prevalence of sexual problems, these problems are poorly managed in primary health care services. this study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and feas...

AIM To date, the available information regarding the quality of primary health care services in Albania is scarce. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of primary health care services in Albania based on physicians' perceptions towards the quality of the services provided to the general population. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in January-March 2013 including a repre...

Overwhelming evidence reveals the close link between unwarranted weight gain among childbearing women and childhood adiposity. Yet current barriers limit the capacity of perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling. In response, today's Internet savvy women are turning to online resources to access health information, with the potential of revolutionising healt...

n engl j med 360;26 nejm.org june 25, 2009 2693 levels.1 Overloaded primary care practices, whose doctors are aptly compared to hamsters on a treadmill, struggle to provide prompt access and high-quality care. Three major factors contribute to this crisis. First, primary care physicians earn far lower incomes than procedural specialists, reducing career attractiveness for medical students with ...