Assessment of electronic referral system of the family physician program in the provinces of West Azerbaijan: In 2020 and 2021 years

Abstract

Abstract Background: The electronic referral system was launched to increase access to care and efficient use of resources. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the performance of electronic referrals in the family physician program in West Azarbaijan province. Methods: The present study was conducted in several methods. The first stage of a qualitative study (semi-structured interviews) was conducted to examine the opinion of experts and to identify the challenges and solutions of the electronic referral system. In the second stage, the study was conducted as a quantitative study using descriptive statistics. Finally, in the third stage, the identified challenges and solutions were prioritized by experts using the prioritization matrix. Results: The findings of this study are in the form of three parts, which are the result of interviews to identify challenges and solutions, extracting quantitative data from the apple system, and finally using a panel of experts to prioritize challenges and solutions. The mentioned challenges were from the point of view of 31 participants in 4 main themes: support and infrastructure challenges, management challenges, socio-cultural challenges, and finally educational challenges. In these themes, 12 sub-themes were identified and categorized. The solutions were classified into 4 main themes: upgrading the electronic system, creating the necessary infrastructure (physical, technical, and legal), creating culture and training, and finally providing expert human resources, in which 9 sub-themes were identified and categorized. Conclusion: The results obtained from the study show that most of the identified challenges are related to infrastructure and management issues that require more attention before implementation by health system policy makers and referral system administrators to prevent the slow movement of patients in the health system levels. Do not cause dissatisfaction of recipients and providers of health services. On the other hand, there are solutions to solve the problems and challenges of the referral system program, which should be considered by policy makers and executives for better implementation of the program. In the implementation of the referral system program, paying attention to the different levels of the health system and the cooperation of the interested organizations involved in the program can be implemented at a high speed and better with the participation of data and more accurate planning. Identified challenges slow down the path of the patient in the system and cause dissatisfaction among the recipients and providers of health services. It is better for the country's health system to implement the referral system program according to the different levels of the health system and with the cooperation of the interested organizations involved in the program, make a detailed plan and then implement it. The use of transparent protocols suitable to the conditions of the country can facilitate the management of the implementation of this program.