Information Needs of Managers and Expert Panels in the Office of Disaster Management and Emergency Medical Services in Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education

Background and The office of disaster management and emergency medical service is one of the most important subdivisions of the Ministry of health. Analyzing the tasks and functions of this office is critical to its evaluation. This study aimed at analyzing the information needs of this office to develop statistical indicators required.
This qualitative-quantitative study was carried out during 2015. The study population included the managers and expert panels in disaster management and emergency medical service in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. We interviewed 14 individuals in different departments within the office and reviewed the administrative tasks and the available documents. After analyzing the data, different information needs of all departments were identified and classified.
According to the administrative tasks and practices, 69 groups of information needs were identified of which 17.4% are not met. 45.3% of the information needs did not have any standard sources or forms to collect the data required.
Lack of standard sources for the most identified information needs, decentralized information systems, and out-of-date information are the major problems of managers and expert panels. So, designing national standard forms to collect data, designing a comprehensive statistics and information system and reviewing current paper forms and databases seem to be essential.