Reviewing the Impact of Setting up Health Complexes on Utilization of Healthcare Services by Insured Members of Social Security Organization and Health Insurance-2016

Abstract

e Abstract Introduction: since healthcare system management (HSM) and its proper planning depends on appropriate and wise decisions by the health policy makers, the knowledge of healthcare services utilization is necessary for the allocation of resources and related healthcare planning. Objective: this study aims at investigating the impact of setting up healthcare complexes on the utilization of healthcare services. Method and Materials: this study is a before-and-after study which analyzes the utilization of different healthcare services (outpatient care, hospitalization, diagnostic and medicinal) among 274 people insured by social security organization and health insurance in Chamran healthcare complex during two one-year-long time intervals before and after setting up this healthcare complex (2013 and 2015). The witnessed differences are analyzed and eventually the impact of setting up healthcare complexes on utilization rate of healthcare services is measured. Finally, the gathered data is analyzed and reported through SPSS23 software using descriptive statistics and statistical tests. Findings: the results indicate 10.71% increase in the average number of referring to general practitioners and 22.4% decrease in referring to specialists. There are also increases in utilizing laboratory services up to 23.8% and referring to public sector for outpatient services up to 25.1%. Conclusion: the results of this study indicate that setting up healthcare complexes has made the utilization of healthcare services more logical, and in some cases, it has actually increased and upgraded the utilization indicators. Keywords: utilization, healthcare services, healthcare complex