Effective Implementation of Family Medicine Program in Iran: Requirements and Implementation of Strategies

Indicators such as access and benefit from the comprehensive and basic health services package are improved by primary health care development and using family medicine program and referral chain as an effective strategy. Due to the gap between the rules and policies of the family medicine program and its implementation, this study aims to identify the requirements and strategies for the implementation of the program in Iran.

A qualitative study was conducted in 1400. Participants in the study were policy makers and managers of the Ministry of Health and insurance organizations and faculty members of medical universities. Data were collected based on the interview guide during 10 sessions of focused group discussion and analyzed by using content analysis method.

The implementing requirements for family medicine program were classified into 6 titles (political, cultural-social, economic, educational, managerial and executive) and 27 sub- titles. The required strategies were extracted in 3 titles (management of health care networks in the city and province, implementation of health programs and training of family physicians, managers and the community) and 28 sub-titles.

The results of the study show that executive strategies in program management, monitoring and evaluation should be considered by creating appropriate determination and will. And appropriate executive solutions could be using the capacity of the non-governmental sector in the structure of health care networks, intra-sectoral and inter-sectoral collaborations.