Wave of Patients Moving from Private to Public Hospitals | Out-of-Pocket Payments Below 22% | Two Specialized Hospitals to Open by Year-End

Rising treatment costs have changed patients' referral routes. The deputy for treatment at Iran University of Medical Sciences reports a 40% rise in visits to public hospitals, a development that, coinciding with increased insurance claims, has put additional pressure on public medical centers.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the increase in referrals to government hospitals, the simultaneous spread of influenza and corona virus, dealing with medical violations and receiving under-tables, the condition of hospital beds and the costs of treating special and cancer patients were some of the most important issues that were discussed at the press conference of the vice president of treatment of Iran University of Medical Sciences.

In this meeting, Dr. Yaser Foroughi, Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences, referring to the effect of economic conditions on patients' referral patterns, said: This year, due to the relative increase in treatment tariffs, we are witnessing a change in the approach of patients from private to public hospitals. Referrals to public hospitals have increased by about 40%, and the burden of referrals to private hospitals has decreased by almost the same amount.

He cited economic factors and the increase in treatment costs as the most important reasons for this transfer.

Paying out of patients' pockets has reached less than 22%

Foroughi also explained about the state of medical tariffs: The tariffs have increased by 50-60% this year and due to the inflationary conditions, this increase has made it possible to manage the costs of medical centers to some extent.

According to him, one of the main policies of Iran University of Medical Sciences is to reduce the direct payment of patients, and according to the financial management statistics of the university, the share of patients paying out of pocket in the centers covered by this university has now reached less than 22%.

The vice president of Iran University of Medical Sciences emphasized: According to the president of the university, we should not allow patients to be referred outside the hospital to receive medical services. We have tried to provide the services needed by the patients in the same medical centers.

However, increasing referrals and service delivery costs have created significant financial challenges for public hospitals. Foroughi said: About 90% of our income depends on insurance claims, and now we need more than 10 thousand billion tomans from social security insurance and medical services. On the one hand, medical services and personnel payments must be up-to-date, and on the other hand, the high amount of insurance debt has made the financial management of hospitals very complicated.

The simultaneous spread of influenza and corona with the reopening of schools

In another part of this meeting, the vice-chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences warned about the increase in respiratory diseases in recent weeks and said: We are currently facing a combination of respiratory viruses in the society. Some of the cases are related to influenza and the covid test is also positive in a number of patients.

Referring to the increase in the spread of viral diseases at the same time as the beginning of the academic year, he added: With the reopening of schools, we are witnessing a wave of respiratory diseases and the number of patients is high, but so far no deaths related to this wave have been reported.

Foroughi emphasized: "Corona is no longer the aggressive form of the past, and the society has enjoyed relative safety compared to the early years of the outbreak of this disease, but the care of high-risk groups must still be taken seriously."

According to this official, the elderly, people with underlying diseases, patients with immune system defects and children need more care, especially when dealing with influenza.

Registration of more than 784 thousand surgeries in one year

In describing the extent of medical services of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Foroughi announced: This university is one of the largest universities of medical sciences in the country in terms of the number of centers covered and provides medical services to a population of about 6 million people in Tehran province.

He added: 70 hospitals, including 20 government hospitals, and 50 non-government hospitals, including private, public, non-governmental, and charity, operate under the supervision of the university. The total number of hospital beds under the supervision of the university is 13,705 beds, of which about 11,000 beds are active.

According to the Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences, in 1404, more than 784,000 surgeries were performed in covered hospitals and the number of hospitalizations reached 851,000. Also, more than 6 million outpatient visits and 3 million and 239 thousand emergency visits have been registered.

He also said about the performance of the first five months of this year: During this period, 307,000 surgeries, 336,000 hospitalizations, 3 million outpatient visits, and 1 million emergency room visits have been recorded in medical centers covered by the university.

Foroughi said this statistic shows the high volume of medical services in the area covered by Iran University of Medical Sciences.

Two specialized hospitals will be opened by the end of the year

The vice-chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences announced the construction of 25 new hospitals in the area covered by this university and said: these projects are in various stages of construction, from the beginning of operational operations to more than 97% progress, and by using them, 3,268 beds will be added to the treatment capacity.

Referring to two projects close to operation, he explained: Bab Al-Hawaj burn hospital in Cannes region is on the verge of opening with a physical progress of 98% and it is going to become the main burn treatment center in Tehran. Iran Psychiatric Hospital is also fully ready to open.

According to Foroughi, both centers will operate in the public sector and are expected to be operational before the end of the year.

He emphasized: Patients suffering from burns and psychiatric disorders need specialized services and beds, and the establishment of these two hospitals can compensate for some of the deficiencies in these areas.

Unbalanced distribution of hospital beds in Tehran cities

Referring to the condition of hospital beds in the cities covered by Iran University of Medical Sciences, Foroughi said: One of the important challenges is the unbalanced distribution of treatment facilities according to the population.

He added: Five counties of Mallard, Shahryar, Baharestan, Quds and Rabat Karim are within the university's coverage area, some of which have a very high population and are still facing a shortage of hospital beds.

According to the vice-chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences, the index of hospital beds per thousand population is about 0.18% in Baharestan, 1.03% in Shahryar, 0.46% in Mallard and 0.62% in Quds. While this index reaches 3.42 in Tehran. A high index is a good number.

Referring to the efforts to develop medical services in the cities around Tehran, he said: With the expansion of medical facilities, the referral of patients from these cities to Tehran medical centers has decreased significantly and almost reached zero.

More than 700 violation cases were referred to legal authorities

Another topic of this meeting was monitoring the performance of medical centers and dealing with medical violations, especially receiving amounts outside the tariff or under the table.

In this regard, Foroughi said: About 13 thousand centers and institutes, including medical offices, public and private hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, imaging and dentistry, operate under the supervision of the university.

He added: In the first five months of this year, more than 2,000 visits have been made to medical centers and about 3,000 monitoring measures have been taken. In the same period, more than 700 violation cases have been referred to legal authorities.

Referring to the activity of the Article 11 Commission, the Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences explained: This commission is formed monthly and reviews the complaints registered in the 190 system of the Ministry of Health as well as the direct complaints of the people.

According to him, about 200 cases are reviewed monthly, the majority of which are related to tariff violations, and in more than 90% of cases, the violation is confirmed and the case is sent to the competent authorities for consideration.

Under-the-table can't be solved only by monitoring the universities

Foroughi also said about receiving medical supplies from patients: Medical supplies are a multifaceted issue and the University of Medical Sciences cannot be expected to solve it alone. There is no such ability, nor is dealing with this phenomenon only in the hands of universities.

He considered the formation of a working group with the presence of various institutions as necessary to effectively deal with these violations and added: A small percentage of doctors commit such violations, but their behavior affects the reputation of other doctors as well. Our effort is to deal effectively and firmly with the violators.

According to him, in addition to the vice president of treatment, the police prosecutor's office and the medical system organization also play a role in dealing with professional violations.

On the eve of the Nurses' Week, the Vice President of Medicine of Iran University of Medical Sciences also explained about the human resources situation of the covered hospitals: According to the recruitment levels that we have received from the program and budget organization over the past year, we currently do not have a problem with the shortage of nursing staff.