[Prioritizing factors influencing medical equipment purchase in selected hospitals in Tehran using analytic hierarchy process model]

Introduction: technological advances made necessary the use of scientific methods in the purchase decision. The present study Prioritization Factors affecting the purchase of medical equipment has been done at selected hospitals in Tehran

Methods: the present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2014. About 645 members of the medical equipment committee and medical equipment users [including clinical and Para-clinical administrators] in a number of hospitals in Tehran were selected using census method. For data gathering questionnaire was used that its Validity has been proved by experts and its reliability as due to the inconsistency ratio of questionnaires which was less than [0.1] was proved. Then, the collected data was analyzed using AHP model, and Expert choice 11 software. [Responsiveness rate was 87%]

Results: four determinants were influencing the purchase of medical equipment among which "quality" was the most influential determinant with the highest geometric mean [0.414] and "price" was the least influential one with the lowest geometric mean [0.148].Also the after sale [0.278] and brand [0.160] are the next priority after the quality

Conclusion: the results showed Health care organizations have great attention to quality of medical equipment consider it as part of quality of service. Correct diagnosis is one of the success factors for health care providers that use the appropriate equipment plays a major role in it

[ correlation between nurses' conflict and head nurses' emotional intelligence in the emergency ward of teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences]

Introduction: Implementation and following up of the activities in the emergency ward is a critical task. Due to importance of this ward in the hospital, any destructive factors such as conflict between nurses that have negative effects on their activities should be avoided. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between nurses' conflict and head nurses' emotional intelligence in the emergency ward of teaching hospitals who are affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2013.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, sampling method was census, hence 143 head nurses and nurses in teaching hospitals who were affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences were selected. Among the sample population, 125 nurse and 8 head nurse [total of 133] participated in the study. Data was collected by using of "Schering Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire" [for head nurses] and "Dobrin Job Conflict Questionnaire" [for nurses]. Data was analyzed by SPSS/21.

Findings: Nurses' conflict average score with 28.12 +/- 13.4 out of 15 score was in "medium" level [12.28] and head nurses' emotional intelligence average score with110.20 +/- 7.83 out of 165 score was in "good" level. There was no significant correlation between head nurses' emotional intelligence and nurses' conflict [p=0.41, r=-0.34].

Conclusion: Assessing the cause of nurses' conflict should be a prior task of head nurses of the emergency ward. In order to improve the performance of head nurses, nurses and the entire emergency department, it is recommended that training classes or workshops should be offered for nurses and head nurses to enhance their emotional intelligence.

[Correlation between nurses' conflict level and application of negotiation styles by head nurses in general hospitals of Boushehr province [2007]]

Conflict and dispute are inevitable phenomena in man's life and considered as necessity of social activities. Healthcare system, especially nursing ward is susceptible to develop kinds of conflict that must be directed and controlled by head nurses. Negotiation as an advantageous, effective and factual method is known to resolve the conflict. This research intended to investigate the correlation between nurses' conflict level and head nurses negotiation styles at general hospitals in province of Boushehr. This was a kind of correlation study carried out in a given time course in 2007. The study population consisted of 362 nurses and 53 head nurses from general hospitals in Boushehr province south of Iran. Two questionnaires including the Dubrin conflict and Pierre negotiation styles questionnaires were used to collect data based on literature survey. Descriptive and analytic statistics were used for data analysis. Results showed that the nurse's conflict level was located at average level except for Fatemeh Zahra Hospital in which a high level of conflict was observed. Head nurses had overuse of factual, analytic and normative negotiation style with only proper use of initiative negotiation style. There was a reverse correlation between the nurse's conflict level and the use of negotiation styles yet no significant difference between these variables was demonstrated. Hospital managers must recognize the causes of conflict to properly handle it. There are some important chances in hospitals with average level of conflict to improve the performance and produce creativity. These opportunities could be used as competitive advantage in health markets. Head nurses must learn conflict resolving skills such as negotiation but they must also use these skills correctly and adjust their negotiation styles on the basis of special situations

Capabilities assessing of teaching hospitals in Iran University of Medical Sciences in attracting medical tourists according to JCI patient-oriented standards

Medical tourism is an increasing industry that patients travel to abroad for receiving health care services. The countries which are successful in this industry have global accrediting quality. This research is aimed to access capabilities of selected hospitals in Iran University of Medical Sciences in attracting medical tourists according to JCI patient-oriented standards. This research is a descriptive, cross-sectional study that carried out in Hasheminejad, Rajaie and Motahhari hospitals. To collect data patient-oriented checklist of JCI standard used. Data analyzed by using descriptive statistic techniques. The results showed the high rates of consideration is related to medication management and standards used [84/5%], and anesthesia and surgical care standards [80%] that both of them are related to Hasheminejad hospital and also patient and family rights standards [47/5%] are low rates of considerations that are related to Motahhari hospital. Generally, the mean rates of consideration in Hasheminejad [71/8%] are more than Rajaie hospital [67%] and these hospitals are more than Motahhari hospital [62/3%]. Generally, the selected hospitals had rather readiness and possible and appropriate capabilities in attracting medical tourists. Some standards [access to care and continuity of care, patient and family education, assessment of patients, anesthesia and surgical care] were appropriate and some of them were insufficient [patient and family rights, care of patients and patient and family education]. According to identify strengths and weaknesses of the hospitals in medical tourism, they could use SWOT analytical model to increase their capabilities

[Influencing factors on implementation of total quality management at teaching hospitals affiliated with Iran university of medical sciences]

Perspective to retrieval of equity, access to services, effectiveness, efficiency, social acceptability, and strive for continuous improvement of services, Total Quality Management [TQM] has broadened new horizons in health sector. Hence it can result in efficiency and renovation of health services delivery system. Therefore we aimed to determine the influencing factors on implementation of TQM at teaching hospitals affiliated with Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. We assessed the views of all the 90 managers and supervisors of the hospitals under investigation about the eight factors influencing on implementation of TQM. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, we used an eight-part questionnaire with 75 Likert-type questions for data collection. Validity of the questionnaire was verified with Delphi method. Chi square and t tests and analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. We assumed an average of 50% for responses indicative of desirability as the minimum acceptable level in each of the eight factors. Of the eight factors studied customer orientation [59.7%], organizational communication [55%], and appropriate organizational structure [50%] proved to be acceptable. The other five factors ranked average [40-50%]. There was significant difference among the total means of influencing factors in the studies hospitals [p = 0.001]. After five years have passed since the implementation of TQM in the studied hospitals, attention of managers to organizational culture, staff participation, human resources development, teamwork, and leadership commitment can result in improvement of the services, effectiveness of the activities, and social acceptability of hospitals

Application of multiple-attribute decision making model to measure hospital efficiency

During recent years, the cost of hospital services is increased in most countries and in spite of greater volume of resources devoted to hospitals, the ineffective management of hospitals has led to wasting of resources, hence, the measurement of hospitals efficiency or comparing between the input and output in such organizations is of special importance. Comparing between two methods, Ratio analysis and Multiple-Attribute Decision Making model [MADM] to estimate the hospital efficiency. This was a descriptive analytical study carried out in 1998. The efficiency of 5 general hospitals affiliated to social security organization in Tehran province was compared using two methods named as [Ratio] and [MADM]. The results of this study showed that all hospital under investigation were facing problem with proper use of their inputs [beds] from a scale efficiency point of view. Regarding the technical efficiency, 3 out of 5 hospitals were involved in shortage of personnel. Our data shows that, the Ratio method, due to some limitations in simultaneous use of quality and quantitative criteria, is incapable to measure hospital efficiency and providing a final conclusion by which the establishment of a ranking system to compare hospital efficiency could be made