Quarterly Journal of Management Strategies in Health System

Management Mornings: A Strategic Tool for Organizational Progress

2025-06-27T14:08:40+00:00

This study examines the necessity and methodology of implementing daily managerial briefing sessions (morning huddles) in healthcare organizations. Inspired by established clinical training practices, these sessions serve as a tool to improve inter-managerial communication, interdepartmental coordination, problem identification and resolution, enhance motivation and commitment, and ultimately elevate the quality of services provided. The paper emphasizes the importance of sharing experiences and knowledge, and proposes strategies for effective morning huddle implementation, including: setting clear objectives, ensuring regular and active participation of management team members, maintaining concise and productive sessions, utilizing active participation methods (such as brainstorming and quick polling), following up on outcomes and decisions, and conducting periodic evaluations for continuous process improvement. The findings of this study can assist healthcare managers in improving performance and enhancing service quality.

The Impact of Emerging Technologies on Emergency Health Management

2025-06-27T14:08:39+00:00

Emergency health management has always been a complex challenge, requiring swift and effective coordination of resources and healthcare services. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics tools have significantly enhanced the efficiency and precision of emergency health systems. These technologies enable real-time resource tracking, predictive analysis of crises, and improved interagency communication.

The Effects of the Financial Development on Health (Evidence from Iran and Selected MENA Countries)

2025-06-27T14:08:37+00:00

Background: The health status of people in the community is one of the things that health policy makers are always looking to improve. To achieve high levels of health, identifying the nature of health as well as the factors that influence it is of the utmost importance.

Methods: In this regard, the present study aims to study the impact of factors affecting health using a dynamic panel data method, with an emphasis on financial development. In this research, data and information on Iran and selected MENA countries for the period 2011-2023 were extracted from the World Bank database and the research model was estimated.

Results: Based on the results of model estimation, at a significant level of 5 %, the effect of loans granted to the private sector by the banking system on life expectancy is positive and significant. At a significance level of 5 %, the impact of GDP per capita and the impact of health expenditures on life expectancy have been positive and significant. Also, the effect of energy consumption on life expectancy at birth is negative and statistically significant.

Conclusion: Financial development is one of the most important factors affecting health status, and relevant authorities and institutions should help promote the health of the community by taking measures such as expanding financial inclusion, improving individuals' access to bank credit and facilitating financial transactions. While improving the public access and benefit from financial services, they should also help promote the health of the community.

Lessons Learned from Hospital Outsourcing: A Case Study of Outsourcing a Government Hospital in Isfahan City

2025-06-27T14:08:36+00:00

Background: Outsourcing, as an important strategy in healthcare, can also have its failures, including the case of "Z" Hospital in Isfahan Province, Iran, which engaged in an eight-year partnership between the contractor and the hospital. While the initial phase was successful, the second phase faced numerous obstacles, including legal and judicial disputes that extended until 2024. This research aims to analyze the outcomes and lessons learned from this outsourcing experience.

Methods: This applied research employed a qualitative methodology with a content analysis approach. Data were collected through interviews and a review of hospital documents. Participants in the study were selected using purposive sampling. Interviews were coded using a reductionist approach. The study's novelty lies in its simultaneous examination of multiple perspectives, including those of the client, contractor, hospital staff, and experts.

Results: The outsourcing period at "Z" Hospital was marked by considerable fluctuations, influenced by economic conditions, management changes, and consequent policy shifts at the University of Medical Sciences. The identified challenges were categorized into three main areas: client-related issues, including inadequate pre-outsourcing research, lack of a precise contract, insufficient contractor support, and client inexperience; contractor-related issues, such as poor financial planning regarding bank loans and subsequent bankruptcy; and policy-related issues, including inconsistent government policies during specific periods, such as a lack of support for outsourced hospitals during economic crises and the expropriation of certain contractors at the onset of the Health Transformation Plan.

Conclusion: Outsourcing can address management, quality, and efficiency issues in healthcare. However, without meticulous planning, implementation, and evaluation, it can create substantial challenges for both the client and the contractor. Comprehensive attention to all phases is crucial for successful outsourcing.

Investigating the Causal Relationship between Environmental Sustainability, Economic Development, and Life Expectancy in Iran in Different Time Horizons: Wavelet Transform and Fourier Approximation Approach

2025-06-27T14:08:35+00:00

Background: In the past years, the speed of growth and economic development of countries has significantly increased the destruction of the environment, which has become a big problem for public health. In the development-environment-health triangle, economic development, environmental quality, and community health outputs can be positively and negatively related. On the other hand, this connection and the way if affects can be different in various short-term, medium-term, and long-term time horizons (frequencies). Based on this, the main purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the causal relationship between environmental sustainability, economic development, and health output in Iran in different time horizons.

Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical and applied study. It investigated the causal relationship between the inverse of load capacity factor (index of environmental degradation), per capita income (index of economic growth and development), and life expectancy (index of health output) in different time horizons from 1961 to 2022 using the time series data of Iran. The data used were collected from World Development Indicators of the World Bank. Also, wavelet transformation was conducted to analyze the main time series data for short-term, medium-term, and long-term periods. Estimating the causal relationship between variables was conducted using the Fourier Toda-Yamamoto (F-TY) test, and data analysis was performed using MATLAB _{v24.1.0.2628055} and R _v4.5.0 software.

Results: In the short and medium term, there is a positive causal relationship between economic development and life expectancy, and in the long term, there is a two-way causal relationship between these two variables. The existence of a negative causal relationship from environmental destruction to life expectancy is also confirmed only in the long term; which shows that environmental degradation in the long term leads to a decrease in life expectancy through the aggravation of disease and the increase of health expenses. Moreover, in the short and medium term, there is a two-way positive causal relationship between economic development and environmental degradation, which is negative in the long term.

Conclusions: Since in many cases the causal relationship between the investigated variables is not the same in the short, medium, and long term, it is necessary to design and implement applied policies in the fields of economic development, environmental sustainability, and health promotion in each time horizon separately.

The Effect of Health Insurance on the Number of Hospital Admission Days in Iran

2025-06-27T14:08:34+00:00

Background: Providing health services is the most basic function of the health system. Having health insurance means that people can pay less in comparison with not having major medical insurance. Therefore, the aim of this study was the effect of health insurance on the Number of Hospital Admission Days in Iran.

Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted on the micro data of health service utilization survey which was prepared in 2014 by the Health Research Institute in cooperation with the Iranian Statistics Center. The information of 22470 households was collected with household questionnaires (demographic, social and health information) and individual questionnaires (information of household members) and data of 5682 hospitalized patients by stratified sampling method. Data analysis was performed using hierarchical non-linear Poisson regression.

Results: Based on information received from 5682 patients hospitalized in hospitals in the country, the distribution of insurance coverage was such that 2364 people (41.6 %) had social security insurance. The results showed that the relationship between basic social security insurance and background variables and the number of days of hospitalization was statistically significant, but there was no such relationship with supplementary insurance.

Conclusion: The result showed that having supplementary insurance has increased the chance of increasing the number of hospitalization days, and this could indicate that major medical insurance reduces health costs, and subsequently, people use more health services. Therefore, it is suggested that in order to improve the health of the society, all segments of society that do not have basic insurance benefit from major medical insurance by adopting supportive government policies.

Challenges and Strategies in Healthcare Workforce Management: A Scoping Review

2025-06-27T14:08:33+00:00

Objective: Employees’ management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling human resources within an organization, which is of great importance and it is necessary to pay attention to its various dimensions, including the provision, distribution, and retention of employees. In the present study, the challenges and problems in the field of personnel are examined and then solutions to reduce these challenges are discussed.

Information sources and selected methods for study: A scoping review was conducted in August 2023 to identify the challenges faced by healthcare workers and suggest appropriate solutions. The search was performed across English-language databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, as well as Persian-language databases SID and Magiran, and search engines Google Scholar and Google. Title and abstract screening were independently carried out by three authors. After the screening and full-text review, data extraction was performed on 104 relevant studies. Data analysis was conducted using the Ritchie and Spencer framework analysis method.

Results: A total of 27 challenges related to the healthcare workforce were identified and categorized into three domains: recruitment, distribution, and retention. The most critical challenges included unequal distribution of physicians, workforce shortages, job burnout, and migration of healthcare workers, all of which significantly impact the quality of healthcare services. Regarding workforce recruitment, key strategies included utilizing trainees, training non-specialist staff, and expanding educational capacities. To address distribution disparities, policies such as strengthening family physician programs, telemedicine, and offering financial incentives were proposed. In terms of workforce retention, effective solutions included welfare support, psychological counseling, stress management programs, and work-life balance initiatives.

Conclusion: To improve the condition of health workers, policymakers must adopt an integrated, evidence-based approach addressing thethree areas of recruitment, distribution, and retention. Moreover, proposed strategies should be contextualized based on each country's economic, social, and cultural conditions and implemented through intersectoral collaboration and sufficient resource allocation to ensure long-term effectiveness.