Assessment of Web Portals of Private Hospitals in Tehran, Iran

Today, hospital portals play a key role in the dissemination of information and provision of special services. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of portals of private hospitals in Tehran, Iran, in terms of their content and structure.
This was a descriptive practical study. The research population consisted of the portals (n = 34) of all private hospitals in Tehran. Data gathering tool was a checklist. The data were collected through objective observation. The collected data were presented in number, percentage, and factor and criterion scores.
Research findings demonstrated that portals had favorable conditions in terms of contact information. They were relatively favorable in terms of page design. In addition, the portals were unfavorable in terms of page technical specifications, portal page specification, and public relationship, necessary information for patients, general information and access routes, and financial services. Moreover, they were in poor conditions in terms of patient services, page updates, public services, pharmaceutical services, research, education, and telemedicine.
The results demonstrated that the studied portals generally had an unfavorable status. Thus, it is necessary that the results of the present study be used by the relevant authorities to increase the quality of these portals in terms of usability and services. In this respect, the use of the latest information technology is necessary.